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a cause to consider
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a cause to consider |
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BrokenSword New Member
since 2007-11-08
Posts 2 |
Hello and howdy  I've been away from most poetry forums for a couple of years, though once upon a time, I posted and enjoyed the web’s poetry forums. I had this idea and wanted to float it past a few communities of poets, to get reader/writer response. What I've endeavored to do, in light of the fact that exposing the masses to poetry and thus getting published is difficult, is write a prose novel which incorporated the same poetry that I grew up with on some of these very forums. What I'm wondering is this; since poetry is not desired (bought, that is) and the circle of those that read/write poetry is small, if there were a poetry-prose bridge, would poets here and perhaps other places, see this as a good cause to rally around, hoping that such projects promote other opportunities for poets to do the same? The knock, from my researching, is that prose should NOT have poetry in it and there are two main reasons; 1)most poetry is not well written (by those novelists that attempt poetry) and therefore, comes off as a joke (esp if the prose is not driven by said poems included) and 2)the poetry is indecipherable to the average prose reader (maybe poet, too, hey?) So, I thought to write something that would make poetry more alive and more integral to the plot. The main issue here stems from research that resulted in only a couple of actual novels that had more than a smattering of poetry. The poetry in these two particular pieces, was part of the novel's vehicle. I'm at a critical point in that I am trying to find my aim relative to agents/publishers/genres. Conventional wisdom says I don't have a chance of doing this. The other small voice is wondering; with all the thousands of websites involved in poetry, would this segment see a prose-poetry novel as something they could support? Sure, there are many personal reasons and benefits for me, but I didn't do this for that reason alone. I seriously think the masses are missing out on a better version of entertainment and world-awareness through poetry. Maybe I’m naive...still, in the uphill battle of trying to get anything in front of an agents/publishers/reader's nose, I'm trying to think outside the box. The literary world is saying no one will want a prose story where poetry is featured and integral. I suppose if I asked those at a non-poetry site this question, the answer would reflect sales totals. But, what about THE community of poets? So, thought I'd crawl out of my self-imposed writer’s cave and see if it's spring yet... Any thoughts? Thank you for any discussion! BrokenSword |
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Essorant Member Elite
since 2002-08-10
Posts 4769Regina, Saskatchewan; Canada |
Indeed, it may be done successfully. Take a look at the Icelandic Sagas. I believe most of all the examples we have of Skaldic verse are those that are preserved among the prose of the Icelandic Sagas. |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
quote: That may well be. But I have had some satisfaction with my own novel, but they [the literary world] didn't really ask the masses, did they? " It matters not this distance now " Excerpt, Yesterday's Love |
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BrokenSword New Member
since 2007-11-08
Posts 2 |
Well, it's hard to say if the arts follow the masses or the other way around, sometimes. Obviously, if the literary buying public demanded more poetry as per novels, we poets would be able to take a stab at making a living (or even cookie jar money) at it. With all the other distractions and advertising for everyone's extra cash, it's easy to see a couple putting down $50 on a dinner out and having a one time moment of satisfaction than to see them pick up perhaps as many as 4 poetry publications that would last for a long time. Even one would be an amazing thing. That's why I thought to try pushing poetry this way. The question should be; would YOU buy a book that has poetry integrally involved? I think like most genres, you'd have to like the basic theme first and the poetry would mesh to enhance the prose (maybe even vice versa at times). They say that the only ones buying poetry are other poets (and even that isn't happening much). That's why I figured since most of us like to read, why not see about combining the two, you know? |
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oceanvu2 Senior Member
since 2007-02-24
Posts 1066Santa Monica, California, USA |
Hi -- The most unlikely things become successful publishing ventures. Tolkein's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings both integrate poetry with the narrative and at least one subtext of these works is about, of all things, linguistics, so who knows? If you want to be "pratical" in order to get published, note that almost all best selling fiction is genre oriented. A guess, and I have no real basis for this guess other than intuition, is that fantasy might be a genre to look at as a poem/prose opportunity. Second, you might think about immediate popularity vs. the long haul. Odd things happen there too. "On the Road," Kerouac's famous novel, was not commercially successful on first publication -- none of his books were. At the same time, in its various editions, the book outsells almost all "best sellers" year in and year out. Norman Mailer's first, and probably "best" novel, has been the sustaining source of his income for sixty years. It was turned down by something like 24 publishers before it found a home... Again, who knew? And none of the above counts. In the end, you write your work the best way you can and see what happens. Anything that tells a good story has a chance in the market place, but it's a free for all. Best, Jim |
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