…on Poetry and Fiction
Line of Communication
written by: Phyllis P. Colucci
@FictionTarot
Poetry – Poetry is simply “words” served upon life’s platter by every poet; feast or famine, every poem means something to someone.
Fiction – Fiction imitates life. It is full of special characters, created and developed by the writer, who live in a world controlled by the writer. Fiction takes readers on journeys, perhaps never travelled before.
Let’s look at poetry. Can anyone write poetry? If you have loved, lost, laughed, cried, smiled, frowned, saw, heard, tasted, smelled, touched, then you most certainly can put those feelings and emotions into words. Poetry is a “line of communication” between the mind and heart and the written page. If you can figure out how to open up that line of communication, you will have accomplished what many others had hoped to do, yet feared to try.
If you can unlock the thoughts in your mind and the emotions in your heart, and just let those feelings possess you, your line of communication will magically open, as it transports all that you are to the “written page”. A page that will welcome you with open arms, hold your secrets until you are ready to reveal them, caress everything you write with loving hands, comfort you like an old friend, love you like family, listen to your every word, no matter how boring you may seem at first; and then just allow you to talk, to write, to change your mind, to rearrange your thoughts, to feel, to be – until you are ready to open yourself up, reveal who you are, and share your most precious poems with the world.
Now let’s take a look at fiction. Fiction is a world of make-believe brought to life. The author creates the characters in his/her image, and places them in a world of his/her creation. It is the most magical accomplishment in the universe. These characters become your friends, your family, your lovers, your enemies – whomever you wish them to be. Each one is unique to your own liking, and each one will exist in the world you created; living, loving and feeling everything you desire in order to take your story to the heights of perfection.
The setting can be one familiar to you, or some far away place you travelled to in the past. The plot will fall into place as you develop your characters and storyline, sometimes never knowing where the story is going until you are actually there. Once the story reaches its climax, and there is no turning back, you will have no choice but to move forward as well. As the creator, it is now your choice as to where to bring the lives of the characters in your work of fiction. So you move them all to a conclusion that will excite your readers. Will your characters lose a life’s battle, or succeed wonderfully? Will they die off from illness or murder, or will they live on in good health and happiness? Will they find romance, or experience lost love? Will they win in the end and walk off into the sunset, or leave the reader hanging on until you write the second series in this work of fiction? Your call, dear author. Make it wisely.
Now, as in poetry, here is the same question. Can anyone write fiction? Again, my feeling on this – if you can live life, find love in all forms, maintain friendships, relationships, and have great conversations with people, you can create good fiction. Fiction closely imitates life. If you’ve experienced lands near and far, created memories in your mind and heart, shared those memories with those closest to you – then, once again, that line of communication will magically open and transport you to the “written page”. You will most definitely be welcomed there with open arms. What you write and how you go about it, is totally up to you. But can you do it? Absolutely.
In my writing, I find putting more dialogue in the storyline and less narrative, brings the characters and the story to life. It moves the plot along seamlessly, placing the reader in the middle of the action, allowing them to experience your fiction as if they were reading a play or watching a movie. So, as you see, it’s all up to you. Every author has a unique writing style, but every author is capable of travelling that line of communication from their mind and heart, to the “written page”. I believe most people can accomplish this as well, on different levels.
One word of advice on writing poetry and/or fiction, as I see it, is to view the world through emotion and spirit. Always be in tune to your surroundings and the people you come in contact with on a daily basis. That is where you will find your triggers to creativity. I believe that is the focus for many writers, and that is the lesson non-writers would be blessed to learn and embrace. Don’t just walk through life. Feel it, mingle with it, hold hands with it, dance with it – and then write about the journey.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
All you writers (and non-writers) out there, think of poetry and fiction as a “line of communication” from your mind and heart, to the “written page”.
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