
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