In an article on Writer’s Digest, Moriah Richard continues the blog’s series on mistakes writers make. In this post, Richard says writers make a big mistake when they dismiss the chance to read or write in forms other than straight prose.
Richard says learning to write poetry helped her become a better prose writer. “I learned so much about word choice, dramatic tension, and especially how to engage someone’s senses from writing poetry,” she writes. She also credits acting classes for helping her improve her writing. “I’d always loved writing dialogue, but when you’re reading script after script and discussing with others how they interpret a character based solely on dialogue and a few stage directions, it can be very eye-opening,” she says. “It allowed me to be more subtle with my fiction characters’ voices and helped me to include more than just speech to flesh out a character. Even small details like a character calmly setting down their beer bottle before getting up to join in on a bar fight can tell the reader so much about who that character is.”
Richard suggests asking for recommendations for poetry books, especially if you aren’t familiar with the form. Once you choose some work, keep notes as you read. What images, words, or phrases strike you? How does a poem make you feel?
She also recommends you read some non-fiction, to explore how the writer makes a connection between the subject and reader. And she again suggests reading scripts. As you read, visualize the scene, analyze the dialogue and stage directions. What do they tell you about the characters? How do setting and props factor into the plot? How does the writer balance a scene with many characters?
