Does Writing Poetry Help With Novel Writing?

After moving to Orlando I, like most people, had tons of boxes to unpack. On unpacking a container of books I found an old notebook that I had used to write poems. Following recommendations from a book entitled Writing Poetry From The Inside Out, for a period of time, I wrote a poem a day using a template that required me to use four key words. The poems created were called poem sketches. Periodically, over several years, I wrote a multitude of poems, some good, some not so good.
    Over this period of time I found poetry actually helped with my novel writing the way warmups help an athlete before a competition. There were several specific ways poetry helped me in my novel writing:

• Helped with metaphors and similes
• Provided a sense of accomplishment
• Provided writing practice in general
• Helped with the idea of creating a theme
• Was relaxing and enjoyable (if you’re not writing to publish the poem)
• Aided in finding my voice
• The discipline of writing a poem daily translated into writing daily to complete a novel

If you're a novelist and haven't done it, try writing poetry on a regular basis. You may find that your prose improves.

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