Poetry and Prose

Writers can have many different hats, and each one helps to make their writing stronger. I enjoy fiction writing the most, but before I published my first novel, I wrote non-fiction articles in magazines. They were quicker projects while I was teaching. However, the first piece I had published was actually a poem. I was in the eighth grade at the time.

I enjoy writing. Period. Every form of writing has helped teach me the craft and made me a better writer. Poetry, with the necessity to choose exact words, helps firm up any writing. I plan to continue writing poems for as long as I can write because I love it all -- novels, non-fiction, and poetry.

In fact, I've toyed with the idea of publishing a collection of poetry. I know poetry doesn't sell anymore, but that's not the main reason I write. I am a writer; it's what I do. It fulfills me. I haven't felt the time is right, but if and when I do, I would like to release a book of poetry. Who knows? There may be a resurgence in the popularity of poems sometime in the future.

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