The next #TWSsprints session will take place in person at Waves Coffee House this Sunday, Apr. 26 at 10:30am PT. Come and sprint your little hearts out with Laura and Candie + other #TWS and writing community members. All are welcome and we look forward to seeing you there. So, save the date!
There is also The League of Canadian Poets’ Poetry Pause, emailed daily to your inbox: poets.ca/offerings/pr...
A7. Ah, yes, line breaks, paragraph breaks and punctuation. Part of it is personal style, part of it depends on the form (e.g. some poets insist there should be no punctuation in #haiku), part of it is knowing the craft/grammar. Personally, I'm a big fan of using punctuation.
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A8. Poetry has been very therapeutic for me, some times more than others. It's something we discuss with frequency at the A Word About Mental Health event. E.g. I just wrote a prose poem type piece about a very sad and tragic event I experienced as a counsellor.
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A1. How I met the inimitable @catrambo.bsky.social was through a workshop they give once in a while and a portion of which they presented at the Surrey Writers Conference about literary devices in genre writing. Invaluable.
I agree, it's nice to do both and I do think that poetry helps improve my other writing. ^ct #TWSOchat
A4. I like that folks use poetry to learn to improve other writing, but it's unproductive to come to an art with an extractive mindset. You have to write poems because you're compelled to write poems! Cross-genre learning comes along the way, but that has to be secondary to loving the art itself.
A5. Concision, precision, repetition and return, musicality, juxtaposition, surprise...
A3. I write poems! In my prose, I use poetry to inspire the shape of short stories and essays.
Save the date for the next #TWSOchat on Sunday, May 10th at 10:30am (PT). We will discuss Revisiting Scrivener after our previous chat and share new things we've learned bout the program. Join in with TWS alumni + mentors to ask q's and share your knowledge. #writerschat #WritingCommnunity
Writers! Give us a follow too/mark in your calendars, so that you will know about the upcoming #TWSsprints and #TWSOchat sessions. Bluesky Sessions: 2nd Sunday of each month -- TWS Bluesky Chats #TWSOchat 4th Sunday of each month -- TWS Writing Sprints #TWSsprints
Big love to the writers participating in today's #TWSOchat on What We Can Learn From Poetry: @jessicaleemcmillan.com @roblucastaylor.bsky.social @candietanaka.bsky.social
Thanks writing friends for joining in on another interesting discussion. As always, thank you for sharing! At TWS we love to hear how your writing is going and what you are finding interesting in the literary world. #TWSOchat #writers #writingcommunity
Please follow the #writers participating in #TWSOchat, this community grows by sharing info + resources. Today we discussed “What We Can Learn From Poetry” ~ I will tweet the writers' handles asap! ^ct #writing #writerschat
Q9. Do you know about Poem-a-Day, the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Receive a poem each day from poets.org, you can sign up on their website. #TWSOchat
A2. Reading is more important than workshopping, by a wide margin. This doesn't mean workshopping isn't helpful, though. I don't think it's true that you only learn about writing poetry from poems, though - reading great prose can teach you a lot about writing poetry, too.
🤣 probably true!
A1. You can learn from poetry that it is the superior art and you should have been writing poems all along 😜.
Q8. Poetry can also be a form of self-care to some writers. In what ways can you imagine this taking place? #TWSOchat
Q7. Poetry is also very visual and uses words sparsely to paint vivid images. Structure wise I love how line breaks become places of pause but in a different way than a period which demonstrates the finality. Poems can flow in ways and defy confinement, it's freedom with words. Thoughts? #TWSOchat
Oh yes, Robert Haas is a great reference for poetry! Thanks for sharing. Reading good poems is essential for writing of all types imho ^ct #TWSOchat
A2. It would be impossible to write good poems—and with any true radar on contemporary concerns—without first reading good poems. I think Robert Hass said a poem is a statement about what a poem should be. #TWSOchat
Have fun and thanks for stopping by! ^ct
I agree good poetry is not easier at all. Going over the same lines over and over again is what's needed and that takes a lot of time and scrutiny as you mentioned. I admire great poetry! #TWSOchat
A1. Poetry encourages syntax variation and clarity. For example, I have begun to use less adjectives in prose as I would poetry. I scrutinize prose sentences with similar intensity. Those who think poetry is easier because it is short are mistaken. It’s excruciating to get the line right. #TWSOchat
Q6. Paying close attention to the ways in which poems are built word by word helps us to examine language and its pacing, meter, rhyme, structure, diction and shape/form. Do you have any favourite poems, poets or style of poetry? #TWSOchat
Q5. What kinds of things can poetry teach us or how can it help guide us through the revision stage in a novel or essay? #TWSOchat
Click on this hashtag #TWSOchat to see the whole conversation for the writing chat and make sure to use it in your replies. Let us know if you have any other questions :) and welcome everyone! #writing #WritingCommunity #writerschat
Q4. This essay on Medium talks about why poetry belongs in your toolbox as a writer. "Words are the raw material of our art form: if you want to become a better writer, paying deep attention to words is necessary — and poetry is a great way to learn how to do that." tinyurl.com/3f4wshr3 #TWSOchat
Q3. If you do use poetry in some way(s) in your literary practice, how do you use it, (reading/writing/both) and in how does it help further your writing skills? #TWSOchat