Descriptions

Aside from writing my novel, I am working on some poem ideas that I had jotted down a while ago. I think that poetry is harder than just writing a novel because it requires a special depth to it. Refer to this quote by Anton Chekhov:

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

I like what Mark Twain said about finding the right word, because it is important, especially in poetry:

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” 

I used to write poetry for fun, but I later started to write it in a way that taught the reader something and made him/her feel emotions. If I am to accomplish this, I have to reach great depth. There was a poet that I read about last week who only wrote one poem each year because he wanted to perfect it. He didn't want to just publish a poem, he wanted to write a masterpiece.

I sometimes struggle with good descriptions. I like to know exactly what is happening before I go into further detail, especially when you contemplate the complexity of my storyline. I write a movie script, literally. Then I add the details to make it interesting for the reader.