Hey everyone! I’m back with a new post and a new series and recently graduated from University! *begins fanfare* Now I have more time to spend writing this blog and enjoying time to write something that isn’t a paper again. This new series is about prose. I hope that some of the posts can help someone to improve and continue on their writing journey. So, without further ado…
Prose: What is Prose?
There are many different definitions of prose, and some differ in small parts one from another. But the basic overall definition of prose is; written language that does not follow rhyming or meter structure. Meaning, it’s not poetry. Using this loose definition, we can understand that basically everything that is not poetry falls under this definition of prose. This can include everything from fiction, non-fiction, essays, etc.
One of the definitions I’ve heard of prose is also writing that uses normal speech in writing. This is a very good addition to the previous definition of prose. I have had people refute that this is not necessarily true based on older fiction written in earlier time periods like Austin, Dickens, and others. But I would argue that the prose written at that time might have been the writing of normal speech at the time. There are certainly some different rules or grammar that apply specifically to writing rather than speech but overall I think this is a good and easy way to remember what prose is.
There are certainly very specific characteristics of prose that apply to prose and not to poetry. Those are the things that we will discuss throughout this series and the next couple of months. These characteristics such as voice, writing style, and other small writing rules that are applicable specifically to prose.
Poetry of course also has writing rules but they are very different than the writing rules that apply to prose. Poetry rules apply more generally to the rhythmic structure or the meter but since prose has neither rhythmic structure nor meter the rules are a bit different.
There isn’t much more to what prose is than that. Just know that the next time someone tells you about prose, know that they could be talking about anything but poetry. Hopefully throughout the rest of this series you will be able to understand more about the actual rules of prose and how they apply.
That’s all for this post. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, become a blog page member, share, and follow me on social media at the link on the bottom of the page. And remember,
Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next week!
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