what is creative prose writing

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What Is Prose In Writing? Find A Definition And Examples

As a creative writing teacher, a common question I get asked is “what is prose?” The term prose simply refers to spoken or written language. In the context of writing books, it describes a style of written words, distinct from poetry, numbers and metrics.

One of the biggest tasks many writers face is improving their ability to write prose. This guide offers the quickest and easiest solutions.

Below, we take a look at the different styles of writing prose, examples of each one, and advice from expert writers on getting better.

You can jump to the section you’re most interested in below:

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What is prose writing an easy definition, what are the main styles of prose, orwellian prose: the clear pane of glass, florid prose: the stained glass window, can you use a hybrid approach, examples of different styles of prose, 13 tips to help you write clear prose, learn more about writing prose, frequently asked questions (faq), join an online writing community.

So what is prose ?

It’s spoken or written language that does not rhyme or contain numbers. How we think, speak and write would be described as prose. When we write prose, we often apply a grammatical structure.

How Are Prose And Poetry Different?

Prose and poetry are different because poetry applies a rhythmic structure whereas prose follows a more standard mode of written language that follows natural speech patterns—an example being this very article you’re reading now.

Prose and poetry are therefore considered opposites.

What Is Purple Prose In Writing?

Purple prose is when a writer uses too many fancy words or describes things in a flowery, exaggerated way. It’s like adding too much frosting on a cupcake; it might look pretty, but it’s too much and can make it hard to enjoy.

There are a few main styles of writing prose. They are:

• Clear, concise prose, referred to as ‘Orwellian’, or the ‘clear pane of glass’, and;
• Florid, literary prose, referred to as the ‘stained glass window’.
• A hybrid of the two, which is an approach I favour. 

First, we’ll have a look at each, before looking at some examples.

If you’ve ever heard the phrase “good prose is like a window pane” and wanted to know the meaning behind it, here it is.

George Orwell in his essay, Politics and the English Language , set out what he thinks good prose writing ought to consist of, all the while attacking the British political system for the destruction of good writing practices.

Orwell was very much against the over-complication of language, which at the time (1946), was the direction politics was taking, and unfortunately still takes today.

Orwell believed prose should be like looking through a clear pane of glass at the story unfolding on the other side. It should be clear to understand. The writing should be invisible, drawing as little attention to itself as possible. The reader shouldn’t have to stop to re-read a sentence due to poor construction or stumble over a word used in the wrong way.

Words should be chosen because of their meaning, and to make them clearer, images or idioms, such as metaphors and similes, should be conjured. He encouraged the use of ‘newly invented metaphors’ which “assists thought by evoking a visual image”. Orwell encouraged writers to use the fewest and shortest words that will express the meaning you want.

“ Let the meaning choose the word.” 

If you can’t explain something in short, simple terms, you don’t understand it, was his argument. 

A change in the language used by politicians provoked Orwell to write his essay. Pretentious diction, as he called it—words such as phenomenon, element, objective, eliminate and liquidate—is used to dress up simple statements. He blamed politics for this, and how politicians adopt hollow words and phrases, mechanically repeating them over and over until they become meaningless.

I’m sure we can all agree we’re fed up of hearing such phrases. Orwell used ‘stand shoulder to shoulder’ as an example, and more recently we’ve seen Theresa May butcher the phrase ‘strong and stable’. These phrases are vague and bland and do not evoke any imagery, and if you’re a writer, they’re things you ought to avoid, Orwell argued.

Orwell’s Six Rules For Achieving Clear Prose

Orwell provided six rules to remember when writing prose. In following them, he argued, you could achieve clear prose that could be understood and enjoyed by all readers:

• Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print;
• Never use a long word where a short one will do;
• If it is possible to cut out a word, always cut it out;
• Never use the passive [voice] where you can use the active;
• Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent;
• Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

So in summary, Orwellian prose is writing which is short, simple and understandable. And if you’re looking for a simple and effective method of how to write good prose, this is it.

They’re great guidelines to test out with short stories. With that type of narrative writing you need to make every word count, so they’re a great way to get used to them. It’s also a more preferred prose form among many literary agents, publishers , and editors.  

A Video Explainer On Orwellian Prose

If you’d like a more visual explainer on writing Orwellian prose, check out this brilliant video from bestselling author, Brandon Sanderson.

When we explore answers to the question, what is prose writing, one approach we inevitably turn to is the stained glass window—the antithesis to Orwell’s clear pane method.

With a stained glass window approach, you can still see the story on the other side, but the stained glass is colouring it in interesting ways. Language and structure are therefore florid and more creative. And it also tends to lean more heavily on the side of descriptive writing.

It’s used more in literary fiction and requires a mastery of language to pull off well. Brandon Sanderson refers to it as the artist’s style of prose, whereas Orwellian prose he regards as the craftsman’s style.

Above we mentioned the phrase ‘purple prose’. This is an attempt at creating a stained glass window, but the description and structure are poor , rendering the prose incomprehensible.

A blend of the clear pane and stained pane can work well. JRR Tolkien often adopted this, particularly with his descriptions, and other writers, Sanderson and David Gemmell to name but two, like to start chapters in a florid way before transitioning into the clear pane. Sometimes it can depend on the scene.

In fight scenes , for example, simple language is best adopted so the reader’s flow isn’t disrupted. When describing places, people or settings colourful language works well to liven up what would otherwise be quite mundane passages.

My personal preference is toward Orwellian prose writing. Writing should be clear and accessible to all. As writers, that’s what we want—to have our stories read and enjoyed by as many people as possible.

Having spent years working as a lawyer I know it’s not the case, and Orwell’s fears back in 1946 continue to materialise. In the end, I regarded my role as a lawyer as more of a translator of legal jargon. Writing shouldn’t be this way.

So we’ve taken a look at the different styles of prose writing. Now let’s take a look at some examples to better illustrate the different approaches. 

Examples Of A Clear Prose Style

One of my favourite writers of clear prose is Ernest Hemingway. His stories are immersive and gripping because they’re simple to follow. A clear pane of glass approach if ever there was one. 

Here’s an extract from Old Man And The Sea:

“He was happy feeling the gentle pulling and then he felt something hard and unbelievably heavy. It was the weight of the fish and he let the line slip down, down, down, unrolling off the first of the two reserve coils. As it went down, slipping lightly through the old man’s fingers, he still could feel the great weight, though the pressure of his thumb and finger were almost imperceptible.”

You can see here how clear the language is. “Imperceptible” may be the most difficult word used, but it almost doesn’t matter because what has come before it is so clear and vivid, we can picture the scene in our minds. 

Examples Of Flowery Prose

On the other side of the coin, we have flowery prose. One of my favourite writers of florid prose is JRR Tolkien. Some people find The Lord Of The Rings quite challenging to read when they first begin, and I was one of them, and it’s down to Tolkien’s unqiue voice. But once you grow accustomed to it, there’s something quite enchanting about it.

So to illustrate this style, here’s an extract from The Lord of The Rings (Book One):

So far in this guide on how to write prose, we’ve looked at the different approaches. Now we’re looking at the practical side of things—how we actually write great prose. Here are a few writing tips to help you achieve a clear style :

• Resist the temptation to get fancy . We all do it. Only the other day I was going through a story of mine with a friend. I’d written the phrase “after thrice repeating the words,” and he pulled me up on it, and rightly so. “Why not just say ‘after the third time’?” he asked. Simpler, more effective.
• Make good use of nouns and verbs, and refrain from indulging in adjectives and adverb s. Check out my 7 nifty editing tips which look at the impact too many adjectives and adverbs can have on your writing.
• Show don’t tell . This has cropped up a few times on the blog over the past few weeks, and for good reason. Telling the reader how a character feels is boring! Show it! 
• Behead the passive voice . Seek to use active verbs. But this can be harder than it looks. Check out my full guide to passive voice here.
• Use effective dialogue. You can find dialogue writing examples here 
• Try poetry and flash fiction . These facets of the craft will teach you the importance of each and every word. You’ll learn the power a single word can have, how it can provoke images, emotions or memories in the reader’s mind.
• Try using deliberate line breaks . Not only does this break up the wall of text to make it easier on the eye for the reader, it can help you emphasise key points as well as a structural device to build tension and suspense.
• Varying line lengths and sentence structure . This is a good one to help you build rhythm to your writing. Go back through your written prose and see how long each sentence is. If your sentences have similar strcutures, it can help to mix them up. Shorter sentences can help build suspense, longer sentences are useful for explanations and description. Keep this in mind as you go back through and edit, breaking up longer sentences into shorter ones or joining others together.  
• Cut out extraneous words. Remove unnecessary words that balloon sentences. Let’s look at some prose writing examples:

He quickly crossed to the opposite side of the road.

He crossed the road.

Remember Orwell’s rule: if you can cut out a word, do it. When it comes to writing clear prose, less is more . That’s a good guideline to remember.

• Be specific and concrete . Seek to conjure vivid images and avoid vague phrases. Orwell provides a wonderful example from the book Ecclesiastes of how specificity can create vivid images:

“… The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet the bread to the wise, nor yet the riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill …”

• Pay attention to sentence structure, a.k.a. syntax. Sentences of a similar structure disrupt the flow and creates an awful rhythm. Short sentences increase the pace as well as tension, are effective at hitting home points, or signalling a change in tone. A short sentence I’d say is one less than half a line. Be warned: do not overuse them. A short sentence packs a punch, and you don’t want to bludgeon your reader. For an example of short sentences used well, check out Anna Smith Spark’s debut novel The Court of Broken Knives . Then come the medium-length sentences—one to two lines—which keeps the pace at a steady level. Anything over two lines and I’d say that’s a pretty long sentence. Long sentences are useful for pieces of description, slowing the pace or reducing tension. You can even be clever and use them to throw the reader off-guard. Watch out for your use of commas too and keep an eye on syllables. Read your work aloud to reveal these problems.
• Trust your reader . At some stage, we’ve all been guilty of holding the reader’s hand. Seek to create intrigue by withholding details.
• Avoid clichés and be mindful of tropes . It cheapens your writing and gives the reader the impression of laziness.
• What am I trying to say?
• What words will express it?
• What image or idiom (a group of words that establish a meaning that a single word cannot) will make it clearer?
• Is the image/idiom fresh enough to have an effect?
• Could I put it more shortly?
• Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

I’ve included a few other materials for you to further your reading.

Check out this English literature writing guide by the University of Edinburgh

If you’d like to study creative writing , check out this writing course offered by the University of East Anglia. If you’d like more resources like this, you can also check out my online writing classes .

To learn more about using the 5 senses in writing , which is a vital part of prose, check out this guide.

For some of the best tips around on writing a book for the first time , head here. You can find lots of brilliant advice for first time authors. 

A great way to improve your prose is by writing short stories . Head here for a complete guide

Learn about sensory language examples here which can immensely improve your prose.

And head here for advice on when to rewrite your story .

And for more on character development and how to write a plot , head here.

Prose relates to ordinary everyday speech, so it’s arguably easier to write than poetry. However, many writers fall into the trap of writing ‘purple prose’, which is easy to write but not very good to read.

Prose carries with it no formal or set structure. It does, however, apply the general principles of grammar. It often reflects common or conversational speech.

Prose means the ordinary, everyday language that’s spoken or written. It is often distinguished from poetry due to its lack of a rhythmic structure.

In writing, prose relates to any form of written work in which the general rules of grammar and structure are followed. This is distinct from poetry, which follows a more rhythmic structure.

In the context of writing, prose refers to words assembled in a way that we wouldn’t otherwise describe as poetry or non-rthymic.

Written in prose simply means that a piece of text has been written down in a non-rhythmic way.

There are two main types of prose style—George Orwell’s the clear pane of glass, and on the opposite end of the spectrum, the stained glass window. Orwell believed in clear and simple, plain language. The stained glass window, on the other hand, opts for a more florid style.

Thank you for reading this guide on how to write prose. Hopefully, this post has shed light on the mysteries of prose and how you can achieve that clear, readable style.

If you’d like more help with your writing or would like to connect with like-minded writers, why not join my online writing community. There are hundreds of us all sharing advice, tips, calls for submissions, and helping each other out with our stories.  We congregate on Facebook and Discord. To join, just click below. 

If you need any more help with your prose writing, get in contact .

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About author, related posts, how to create a theme for a story, 15 amazing words to describe the moon, with definitions and example sentences, excellent 5 senses examples to empower your writing, 14 comments.

Reblogged this on Richie Billing and commented:

For my 50th post I thought I’d take a look back at the past 5 or so months at what I’ve thrown out into the world for your enjoyment. I was going to share the most popular post to date, but instead I’ve decided to share my personal favourite—the one that’s helped me the most in researching and writing it. So here it is, my guide to writing Orwellian prose.

Thank you to everyone who’s so far subscribed to this blog. It means a hell of a lot. In the months to come I’ll be looking to giveaway more free content and of course keep the articles coming. Here’s to the next 50!

Guess I”m more George Orwel than John Milton … 🙂 Just one thing (from a Jesuit-trained Old Xav with penchant for Latin grammar) The Passive voice gets a lot of ‘bad press’ which IMHO is often undeserved. You use an Active verb when you’re doing somehing. But you still need a Passive verb when someone is DOInG SOMETHING to you! Also: it’s almost impossible to write a grammatical French sentence without using a Reflexive verb. The Reflexive (s’asseoir, ‘to sit’ OR se plaire, ‘to please’) is a variation on Passive. They also use what in English grammar is called the subjunctive Mood, particularly in speech and even when Grammar insists that an Active verb is required … you can’t trust the French! LOL

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Definition of Prose

What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.

Common Examples of First Prose Lines in Well-Known Novels

Examples of famous lines of prose, types of prose, difference between prose and poetry, writing a prose poem, prose edda vs. poetic edda, examples of prose in literature, example 1: the grapes of wrath by john steinbeck.

A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.

Example 2: This Is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold

Example 3: Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

Synonyms of Prose

Post navigation.

Prose: Understanding, Examples & Writing Tips

What is prose.

• Prose classifications
• Examples of prose
• How to write prose
• Tips for writing effective prose

Ever wondered what makes a piece of writing engaging, readable, and relatable? A lot of it has to do with its structure and form. One such form of writing is prose. In this blog, we'll unravel the definition of prose, its various classifications, examples, and even some handy tips for writing effective prose. So, let's jump right in!

At its simplest, the definition of prose refers to any form of writing that doesn't have a strict metrical structure. Unlike poetry, which often relies on rhythm and rhyme, prose follows the natural patterns of everyday speech. Now, let's explore some key characteristics and types of prose.

The Characteristics of Prose

Prose is a versatile form of writing with several distinct characteristics:

• Ordinary Language: Prose uses everyday language, the kind you use when chatting with friends or writing an email. It's easy to understand, without any fancy or poetic elements.
• Structured Sentences: Sentences in prose follow grammatical rules and have a clear beginning, middle, and end. This structure makes prose easy to read and comprehend.
• No Rhyme or Rhythm: Unlike poetry, prose doesn’t have to rhyme or follow a specific rhythm. It flows naturally, just like spoken language.

Types of Prose

Prose can take on many forms, depending on its purpose. Here are a few you may recognize:

• Narrative Prose: This type of prose tells a story. It's what you'll find in novels, short stories, and biographies.
• Nonfiction Prose: This form of prose shares real-life experiences, facts, or ideas. Think newspaper articles, essays, and textbooks.
• Dramatic Prose: Dramatic prose is used in plays and scripts. It's written to be performed, rather than read silently.

Now that we've covered the definition of prose and its types, you're well on your way to understanding this versatile form of writing. Next, we'll look at some examples of prose to solidify your understanding. But we'll save that for our next section. Stay tuned!

Prose Classifications

Having grasped the basic definition of prose, let's move on to the various ways prose can be classified. Understanding these classifications can help you better appreciate the depth and diversity of prose in literature.

Literary Prose

Literary prose is a term often used to describe works of fiction and certain types of creative nonfiction. This classification includes:

• Novels: Long works of fiction with complex plots, subplots, and well-developed characters.
• Short Stories: Brief works of fiction, typically focusing on a single event or character.
• Essays: Short pieces of nonfiction that explore a particular topic from the author's perspective.

Functional Prose

Functional prose refers to writing that serves a practical purpose. This includes:

• Instruction Manuals: Guides that provide step-by-step instructions on how to use a product or perform a task.
• Reports: Formal documents that relay information or results in a structured format.
• Business Letters: Professional correspondence often used in the corporate world.

Conversational Prose

Conversational prose emulates the style and tone of everyday speech. Some examples include:

• Dialogues: Conversations between characters in novels, short stories, or plays.
• Personal Letters: Informal written communication between friends, family, or acquaintances.
• Blog Posts: Informal articles written in a conversational tone, such as this one!

With these classifications in mind, you'll start to see the breadth of prose in everyday life—from the books on your shelf to the instruction manual for your coffee maker. But how do these different types of prose come to life? Let's delve deeper into some examples in our next section. Stay tuned!

Examples of Prose

Now that you've got a solid understanding of the different types of prose, let's dive into some examples. This should help cement your understanding and give you a more tangible sense of what the definition of prose really entails.

Examples of Literary Prose

When it comes to literary prose, one can't help but think of classic novels. Take, for example, Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." In this novel, Austen's prose is elegant, witty, and deeply revealing of her characters' inner lives. Another example is "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, where the prose is simple yet powerful, and carries a heavy emotional impact.

Examples of Functional Prose

An example of functional prose could be the instruction manual included with your microwave. It's direct, clear, and serves a practical purpose—helping you figure out how to heat up your leftovers! Another example is a business report, such as a quarterly earnings report for a company, which provides structured and factual information about the company's financial performance.

Examples of Conversational Prose

In conversation, we use prose all the time without even realizing it. Think about the last text message you sent—it's likely a great example of conversational prose. Or consider the dialogue in your favorite sitcom. The characters' conversations are examples of prose that are designed to sound natural and spontaneous.

Hopefully, these examples have brought the definition of prose to life for you. Now, onto the fun part: how to write your own prose.

How to Write Prose

Writing prose isn't about fancy words or complex sentences. It's about clarity, rhythm, and meaning. If you've been wondering how to apply the definition of prose to your own writing, here are some steps to get you started.

Choose Your Purpose

First, decide why you're writing. Are you trying to entertain readers with a gripping story? Convey information in a clear and concise way? Or engage in a casual conversation? Your purpose will help shape the style and tone of your prose.

Plan Your Message

Next, consider your message. What do you want your readers to understand, feel or do after reading your prose? Keep this message in mind as you're writing—it will guide your choice of words and sentence structures.

Write with Clarity

When you write prose, strive for clarity. Use simple, everyday words. Make your sentences short and to the point. And remember, it's not about how complicated you can make the sentence, but how easily your reader can understand it.

Revise and Refine

Finally, always take the time to revise and refine your prose. Look for ways to make your writing more clear, concise, and engaging. Remember, the more you practice, the better you'll get at writing prose.

Now, you're ready to take your understanding of the definition of prose and put it into practice. But before you do, let's look at a few tips to make your prose even more effective.

Tips for Writing Effective Prose

Now that you've got a handle on the definition of prose and how to write it, let's delve a little deeper. Here are a few tips that can help make your writing more engaging and effective.

Use Active Voice

Active voice makes your writing more direct and engaging. So, instead of writing "The cake was eaten by the dog," write "The dog ate the cake." It's a simple change, but it can make a big difference in how your writing is received.

Keep Sentences and Paragraphs Short

Long sentences and paragraphs can be hard to follow. So, try to keep your sentences short and sweet. And break up your paragraphs into smaller chunks. This makes your writing easier to read and understand.

Choose the Right Word

Every word matters when you're writing prose. So, choose your words carefully. Use words that are precise and clear. And avoid jargon or overly complicated terms. Remember, your goal is to communicate, not to confuse.

Add Variety to Your Sentence Structures

Varied sentence structures can make your writing more interesting. So, don't be afraid to mix things up. Use short sentences. Use long sentences. Use sentences that start with "And" or "But." The key is to keep your reader engaged and interested.

By applying these tips, you'll be able to write prose that is clear, engaging, and effective. And remember, the best way to improve your prose is to write, write, and write some more. So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start writing!

If you enjoyed this blog post on prose and want to further expand your writing skills, we recommend exploring Daisie's classes . Our platform offers a wide range of workshops and classes, led by experienced professionals, that will help you hone your craft and take your writing to the next level.

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Creative Writing 101

You love to write and have been told you have a way with words. So you’ve decided to give writing a try—creative writing.

The problem is, you’re finding it tougher than you thought it would be.

You have a great story idea , but you’re not sure how to turn it into something people will read.

Don’t be discouraged—writing a compelling story can be grueling, even for veterans. Conflicting advice online may confuse you and make you want to quit before you start.

But you know more than you think. Stories saturate our lives.

We tell and hear stories every day in music, on television, in video games, in books, in movies, even in conversation.

• What is Creative Writing?

Creative Writing is prose that tells a story featuring someone who wants something.

That person runs into trouble and begins an adventure, a journey, or a quest, faces obstacles, and is ultimately transformed—for the good or for the bad.

While Creative Writing can also educate and/or entertain, but it does its best work when it emotionally moves the reader.

• Elements of Creative Writing

Writing a story is much like building a house.

You may have all the right tools and design ideas, but if your foundation isn’t solid, even the most beautiful structure won’t stand.

Most storytelling experts agree, these 7 key elements must exist in a story.

Plot (more on that below) is what happens in a story. Theme is why it happens.

Before you begin writing, determine why you want to tell your story.

What message do you wish to convey?  What will it teach the reader? 

Resist the urge to explicitly state your theme. Just tell the story, and let it make its own point.

Give your readers credit. Subtly weave your theme into the story and trust them to get it.

They may remember a great plot, but you want them thinking about your theme long after they’ve finished reading.

2. Characters

Every story needs believable characters who feel knowable.

In fiction, your main character is the protagonist, also known as the lead or hero/heroine.

The protagonist must have:

• redeemable flaws
• potentially heroic qualities that emerge in the climax
• a character arc (he must be different, better, stronger by the end)

Resist the temptation to create a perfect lead. Perfect is boring. (Even Indiana Jones suffered a snake phobia.)

You also need an antagonist, the villain , who should be every bit as formidable and compelling as your hero.

Don’t make your bad guy bad just because he’s the bad guy. Make him a worthy foe by giving him motives for his actions.

Villains don’t see themselves as bad. They think they’re right! A fully rounded bad guy is much more realistic and memorable.

Depending on the length of your story , you may also need important orbital cast members.

For each character, ask:

• What do they want?
• What or who is keeping them from getting it?
• What will they do about it?

The more challenges your characters face, the more relatable they are.

Much as in real life, the toughest challenges result in the most transformation.

Setting may include a location, time, or era, but it should also include how things look, smell, taste, feel, and sound.

Thoroughly research details about your setting so it informs your writing, but use those details as seasoning, not the main course. The main course is the story.

But, beware.

Agents and acquisitions editors tell me one of the biggest mistakes beginning writers make is feeling they must begin by describing the setting.

That’s important, don’t get me wrong. But a sure way to put readers to sleep is to promise a thrilling story on the cover—only to start with some variation of:

The house sat in a deep wood surrounded by…

Rather than describing your setting, subtly layer it into the story.

Show readers your setting. Don’t tell them. Description as a separate element slows your story to crawl.

By layering in what things look and feel and sound like you subtly register the setting in the theater of readers’ minds.

While they’re concentrating on the action, the dialogue , the tension , the drama, and conflict that keep them turning the pages, they’re also getting a look and feel for your setting.

4. Point of View

POV is more than which perspective you choose to tell your story: First Person ( I, me ), Second Person ( you, your ), or Third Person ( he, she, or it ).

Determine your perspective (POV) character for each scene—the one who serves as your camera and recorder—by deciding who has the most at stake. Who’s story is this?

The cardinal rule is that you’re limited to one perspective character per scene, but I prefer only one per chapter, and ideally one per novel.

Readers experience everything in your story from this character’s perspective.

For a more in-depth explanation of Voice and POV, read A Writer’s Guide to Point of View .

This is the sequence of events that make up a story —in short, what happens. It either compels your reader to keep turning pages or set the book aside.

A successful story answers:

• What happens? (Plot)
• What does it mean? (Theme: see above)

Writing coaches call various story structures by different names, but they’re all largely similar. All such structures include some variation of:

• An inciting incident that changes everything
• A series of crises that build tension
• A resolution (or conclusion)

How effectively you create drama, intrigue, conflict, and tension, determines whether you can grab readers from the start and keep them to the end.

6. Conflict

This is the engine of fiction and crucial to effective nonfiction as well.

Readers crave conflict and what results from it.

If everything in your plot is going well and everyone is agreeing, you’ll quickly bore your reader—the cardinal sin of writing.

If two characters are chatting amicably and the scene feels flat (which it will), inject conflict. Have one say something that makes the other storm out, revealing a deep-seated rift.

Readers will stay with you to find out what it’s all about.

7. Resolution

Whether you’re an Outliner or a Pantser like me (one who writes by the seat of your pants), you must have an idea where your story is going.

How you expect the story to end should inform every scene and chapter. It may change, evolve, and grow as you and your characters do, but never leave it to chance.

Keep your lead character center stage to the very end. Everything he learns through all the complications you plunged him into should, in the end, allow him to rise to the occasion and succeed.

If you get near the end and something’s missing, don’t rush it. Give your ending a few days, even a few weeks if necessary.

Read through everything you’ve written. Take a long walk. Think about it. Sleep on it. Jot notes. Let your subconscious work. Play what-if games. Reach for the heart, and deliver a satisfying ending that resonates .

Give your readers a payoff for their investment by making it unforgettable.

• 14 Types of Creative Writing 

Novels are fiction by definition. Lengths typically fall between 75,000 to 100,000 words. The author must create a story that can carry an entire book.

Novellas usually run between 10,000 and 40,000 words and typically follow a single character’s point of view. Otherwise, they tend to feature the structural and narrative elements of a full-length novel. Example: Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome.

Short Story

Short stories, including super short micro or flash fiction—which can be as short as just a few words, are usually between a thousand and five thousand words and thus must telescope the creative writing techniques and properties of a novel. This creative writing type gained popularity during the 19th century in literary magazines, and many such magazines still carry short stories.

Narrative Nonfiction

Also known as Creative Nonfiction, this form displays techniques and literary styles such as story and tone to convey emotion in nonfiction narratives. A common example is a personal essay.

Biographies capture the stories of individuals whose lives can provide a lesson to readers.

Autobiography

An autobiography is written by the author, about the author, following a chronological account of their life.

As opposed to an autobiography, a memoir emphasizes takeaway value to the reader and is thus theme-oriented. Readers should be able to see themselves in the anecdotes chosen to show life transformation. Creative writing techniques similar to those in a novel will bring the story to life.

Poets use traditional structures such as rhyme, rhythm, and subject matter to tell their stories. They can also experiment with prose-poetry or free verse.

Song lyrics

Song lyrics are another form of poetry, the aim being to tell a story in the fewest, most evocative words possible.

Speeches require creative writing to keep audiences engaged.

A blog is usually based on the writer’s own life and interests. The best ones tell stories readers relate to and interact with.

Journaling, usually intended for the author’s eyes only, can become, in essence, a creatively written diary.

Screenwriting

Screenwriting is a form of scriptwriting specific to television shows, films, and other visual media. Screenwriting relies heavily on dialogue to tell a story, but not exclusively. The writer must include action and response takes.

Playwriting

Playwriting is a form of scriptwriting specific to theater productions, again relying heavily on dialogue and action. Playwriting also requires stage direction suggestions for lighting, sound, and actors.

• 11 Creative Writing Tips

In How to Write a Novel , I cover each step of the writing process:

Come up with a great story idea .

That may sound obvious, but make sure it’s compelling enough to draw you back to the keyboard every day.

Determine whether you’re an Outliner or a Pantser or a Hybrid.

If you’re an Outliner, you prefer to map out everything before you start writing your novel.

If you’re a Pantser, you write by the seat of your pants, putting, as Stephen King advises, interesting characters in difficult situations and writing to find out what happens.

I cover both types and how to structure a novel here .

And though I’m primarily a Pantser, I never start writing a novel without an idea where I’m going — or think I’m going.

Create an unforgettable main character.

Resist the temptation to create a perfect character, even if it’s a superhero. Main characters must exhibit human flaws to make them relatable.

For more on character development, check out my blog posts Your Ultimate Guide to Character Development: 9 Steps to Creating Memorable Heroes , How to Create a Powerful Character Arc , and Character Motivation: How to Craft Realistic Characters .

Expand your idea into a plot.

Regardless of whether you’re a Panster or an Outliner, you need some semblance of a structure.

Dean Koontz calls this the Classic Story Structure (in his How to Write Best-Selling Fiction ):

• Plunge the main character into terrible trouble
• Everything the character does to get out of trouble makes things worse until…
• All appears hopeless
• The qualities the main character develops trying to fix the trouble make him heroic enough to succeed in the end

Conduct your research.

The best fiction must ironically feel believable.

You must research to add flavor and authenticity.

One caveat : Resist the urge to show off your research by loading your story with every esoteric fact you’ve learned. Add specifics the way you would season food. It enhances the experience, but it’s not the main course.

Choose your Voice and Point of View.

Point of View (POV) is more than simply deciding what voice to use:

First Person ( I, me ), Second Person ( you, your ), or Third Person ( he, she, or it ).

It also involves deciding who will be your perspective character, serving as your story’s camera.

The cardinal rule is one POV character per scene .

For a more in-depth explanation, read my post A Writer’s Guide to Point of View .

Start in medias res (in the midst of things).

Grab the reader by the throat on page one.

Avoid what’s called throat clearing—too much scene setting and description. Get to the good stuff—the guts of the story .

The goal of every sentence, in fact of every word , is to compel the reader to read the next.

Intensify your main character’s problems.

Do not give him a break. Remember, conflict is the engine of fiction.

(For more on conflict, read my post Internal and External Conflict: Tips for Creating Unforgettable Characters )

Your main character’s trouble should escalate with his every attempt to fix it.

Make the predicament appear hopeless.

You’ll be tempted to give your protagonist a break, invent an escape, or inject a miracle. Don’t do it!

This darkest, bleakest moment forces your hero to use every new skill and muscle gained through battling those obstacles.

The more hopeless the situation appears, the more powerful your climax will be.

Bring it all to a climax.

This is where your hero faces his toughest test yet. The stakes must be dire, the prospect of failure catastrophic.

The tension that has been building throughout crescendos during an ultimate confrontation, and all the major book-length setups are paid off.

Note: the climax is not the end. The real conclusion ties up loose ends and puts the journey into perspective.

Leave readers wholly satisfied.

A great ending :

• Honors the reader for his investment of time and money.
• Aims for the heart.
• Keeps your hero on stage till the last word.

Don’t rush it.

A fully satisfying ending drops the curtain with a resounding thud.

• More to Think About

1. Carry a writing pad, electronic or otherwise. I like the Moleskine™ notebook . 

Ideas can come at any moment. Record ideas for:

• Anything that might expand your story

2. Start small. 

Take time to learn the craft and hone your skills on smaller projects before attempting to write a book . A book is not where you start; it’s where you arrive.

Journal. Write a newsletter. Start a blog. Write short stories . Submit articles to magazines, newspapers, or e-zines.

Take a night school or online course in journalism or creative writing. Attend a writers conference.

3. Keep perfectionism in its place. 

Reserve it for the editing and revision stage.

While writing, take off that perfectionist cap and just get the story down. At that stage, perfectionism is the enemy of progress.

• Time to Get to Work

Few pleasures in life compare to getting lost in a great story.

Learn how to write creatively, and the characters you birth have the potential to live in readers’ hearts for years.

Are You Making This #1 Amateur Writing Mistake?

Faith-Based Words and Phrases

What You and I Can Learn From Patricia Raybon

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• Literary Terms
• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Write a Prose

I. What is a Prose?

Prose is just non-verse writing. Pretty much anything other than poetry counts as prose: this article, that textbook in your backpack, the U.S. Constitution, Harry Potter – it’s all prose. The basic defining feature of prose is its lack of line breaks:

In verse, the line ends

when the writer wants it to, but in prose

you just write until you run out of room and then start a new line.

Unlike most other literary devices , prose has a negative definition : in other words, it’s defined by what it isn’t rather than by what it is . (It isn’t verse.) As a result, we have to look pretty closely at verse in order to understand what prose is.

II. Types of Prose

Prose usually appears in one of these three forms.

You’re probably familiar with essays . An essay makes some kind of argument about a specific question or topic. Essays are written in prose because it’s what modern readers are accustomed to.

b. Novels/short stories

When you set out to tell a story in prose, it’s called a novel or short story (depending on length). Stories can also be told through verse, but it’s less common nowadays. Books like Harry Potter and the Fault in Our Stars are written in prose.

c. Nonfiction books

If it’s true, it’s nonfiction. Essays are a kind of nonfiction, but not the only kind. Sometimes, a nonfiction book is just written for entertainment (e.g. David Sedaris’s nonfiction comedy books), or to inform (e.g. a textbook), but not to argue. Again, there’s plenty of nonfiction verse, too, but most nonfiction is written in prose.

III. Examples of Prose

The Bible is usually printed in prose form, unlike the Islamic Qur’an, which is printed in verse. This difference suggests one of the differences between the two ancient cultures that produced these texts: the classical Arabs who first wrote down the Qur’an were a community of poets, and their literature was much more focused on verse than on stories. The ancient Hebrews, by contrast, were more a community of storytellers than poets, so their holy book was written in a more narrative prose form.

Although poetry is almost always written in verse, there is such a thing as “prose poetry.” Prose poetry lacks line breaks, but still has the rhythms of verse poetry and focuses on the sound of the words as well as their meaning. It’s the same as other kinds of poetry except for its lack of line breaks.

IV. The Importance of Prose

Prose is ever-present in our lives, and we pretty much always take it for granted. It seems like the most obvious, natural way to write. But if you stop and think, it’s not totally obvious. After all, people often speak in short phrases with pauses in between – more like lines of poetry than the long, unbroken lines of prose. It’s also easier to read verse, since it’s easier for the eye to follow a short line than a long, unbroken one.

For all of these reasons, it might seem like verse is actually a more natural way of writing! And indeed, we know from archaeological digs that early cultures usually wrote in verse rather than prose. The dominance of prose is a relatively modern trend.

So why do we moderns prefer prose? The answer is probably just that it’s more efficient! Without line breaks, you can fill the entire page with words, meaning it takes less paper to write the same number of words. Before the industrial revolution, paper was very expensive, and early writers may have given up on poetry because it was cheaper to write prose.

V. Examples of Prose in Literature

Although Shakespeare was a poet, his plays are primarily written in prose. He loved to play around with the difference between prose and verse, and if you look closely you can see the purpose behind it: the “regular people” in his plays usually speak in prose – their words are “prosaic” and therefore don’t need to be elevated. Heroic and noble characters , by contrast, speak in verse to highlight the beauty and importance of what they have to say.

Flip open Moby-Dick to a random page, and you’ll probably find a lot of prose. But there are a few exceptions: short sections written in verse. There are many theories as to why Herman Melville chose to write his book this way, but it probably was due in large part to Shakespeare. Melville was very interested in Shakespeare and other classic authors who used verse more extensively, and he may have decided to imitate them by including a few verse sections in his prose novel.

VI. Examples of Prose in Pop Culture

Philosophy has been written in prose since the time of Plato and Aristotle. If you look at a standard philosophy book, you’ll find that it has a regular paragraph structure, but no creative line breaks like you’d see in poetry. No one is exactly sure why this should be true – after all, couldn’t you write a philosophical argument with line breaks in it? Some philosophers, like Nietzsche, have actually experimented with this. But it hasn’t really caught on, and the vast majority of philosophy is still written in prose form.

In the Internet age, we’re very familiar with prose – nearly all blogs and emails are written in prose form. In fact, it would look pretty strange if this were not the case!

Imagine if you had a professor

who wrote class emails

in verse form, with odd

            line breaks in the middle

of the email.

VII. Related Terms

Verse is the opposite of prose: it’s the style of writing

that has line breaks.

Most commonly used in poetry, it tends to have rhythm and rhyme but doesn’t necessarily have these features. Anything with artistic line breaks counts as verse.

18 th -century authors saw poetry as a more elevated form of writing – it was a way of reaching for the mysterious and the heavenly. In contrast, prose was for writing about ordinary, everyday topics. As a result, the adjective “prosaic” (meaning prose-like) came to mean “ordinary, unremarkable.”

Prosody is the pleasing sound of words when they come together. Verse and prose can both benefit from having better prosody, since this makes the writing more enjoyable to a reader.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Autobiography
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Juxtaposition
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

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Guides • Perfecting your Craft

Last updated on Feb 14, 2023

10 Types of Creative Writing (with Examples You’ll Love)

A lot falls under the term ‘creative writing’: poetry, short fiction, plays, novels, personal essays, and songs, to name just a few. By virtue of the creativity that characterizes it, creative writing is an extremely versatile art. So instead of defining what creative writing is , it may be easier to understand what it does by looking at examples that demonstrate the sheer range of styles and genres under its vast umbrella.

To that end, we’ve collected a non-exhaustive list of works across multiple formats that have inspired the writers here at Reedsy. With 20 different works to explore, we hope they will inspire you, too. 

People have been writing creatively for almost as long as we have been able to hold pens. Just think of long-form epic poems like The Odyssey or, later, the Cantar de Mio Cid — some of the earliest recorded writings of their kind. 

Poetry is also a great place to start if you want to dip your own pen into the inkwell of creative writing. It can be as short or long as you want (you don’t have to write an epic of Homeric proportions), encourages you to build your observation skills, and often speaks from a single point of view . 

Here are a few examples:

“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.

This classic poem by Romantic poet Percy Shelley (also known as Mary Shelley’s husband) is all about legacy. What do we leave behind? How will we be remembered? The great king Ozymandias built himself a massive statue, proclaiming his might, but the irony is that his statue doesn’t survive the ravages of time. By framing this poem as told to him by a “traveller from an antique land,” Shelley effectively turns this into a story. Along with the careful use of juxtaposition to create irony, this poem accomplishes a lot in just a few lines. 

“Trying to Raise the Dead” by Dorianne Laux

 A direction. An object. My love, it needs a place to rest. Say anything. I’m listening. I’m ready to believe. Even lies, I don’t care.

Poetry is cherished for its ability to evoke strong emotions from the reader using very few words which is exactly what Dorianne Laux does in “ Trying to Raise the Dead .” With vivid imagery that underscores the painful yearning of the narrator, she transports us to a private nighttime scene as the narrator sneaks away from a party to pray to someone they’ve lost. We ache for their loss and how badly they want their lost loved one to acknowledge them in some way. It’s truly a masterclass on how writing can be used to portray emotions. 

If you find yourself inspired to try out some poetry — and maybe even get it published — check out these poetry layouts that can elevate your verse!

Song Lyrics

Poetry’s closely related cousin, song lyrics are another great way to flex your creative writing muscles. You not only have to find the perfect rhyme scheme but also match it to the rhythm of the music. This can be a great challenge for an experienced poet or the musically inclined. 

To see how music can add something extra to your poetry, check out these two examples:

“Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen

 You say I took the name in vain I don't even know the name But if I did, well, really, what's it to ya? There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah 

Metaphors are commonplace in almost every kind of creative writing, but will often take center stage in shorter works like poetry and songs. At the slightest mention, they invite the listener to bring their emotional or cultural experience to the piece, allowing the writer to express more with fewer words while also giving it a deeper meaning. If a whole song is couched in metaphor, you might even be able to find multiple meanings to it, like in Leonard Cohen’s “ Hallelujah .” While Cohen’s Biblical references create a song that, on the surface, seems like it’s about a struggle with religion, the ambiguity of the lyrics has allowed it to be seen as a song about a complicated romantic relationship. 

“I Will Follow You into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie

 ​​If Heaven and Hell decide that they both are satisfied Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks Then I'll follow you into the dark

You can think of song lyrics as poetry set to music. They manage to do many of the same things their literary counterparts do — including tugging on your heartstrings. Death Cab for Cutie’s incredibly popular indie rock ballad is about the singer’s deep devotion to his lover. While some might find the song a bit too dark and macabre, its melancholy tune and poignant lyrics remind us that love can endure beyond death.

Plays and Screenplays

From the short form of poetry, we move into the world of drama — also known as the play. This form is as old as the poem, stretching back to the works of ancient Greek playwrights like Sophocles, who adapted the myths of their day into dramatic form. The stage play (and the more modern screenplay) gives the words on the page a literal human voice, bringing life to a story and its characters entirely through dialogue. 

Interested to see what that looks like? Take a look at these examples:

All My Sons by Arthur Miller

“I know you're no worse than most men but I thought you were better. I never saw you as a man. I saw you as my father.” 

Arthur Miller acts as a bridge between the classic and the new, creating 20th century tragedies that take place in living rooms and backyard instead of royal courts, so we had to include his breakout hit on this list. Set in the backyard of an all-American family in the summer of 1946, this tragedy manages to communicate family tensions in an unimaginable scale, building up to an intense climax reminiscent of classical drama. 

💡 Read more about Arthur Miller and classical influences in our breakdown of Freytag’s pyramid . 

“Everything is Fine” by Michael Schur ( The Good Place )

“Well, then this system sucks. What...one in a million gets to live in paradise and everyone else is tortured for eternity? Come on! I mean, I wasn't freaking Gandhi, but I was okay. I was a medium person. I should get to spend eternity in a medium place! Like Cincinnati. Everyone who wasn't perfect but wasn't terrible should get to spend eternity in Cincinnati.” 

A screenplay, especially a TV pilot, is like a mini-play, but with the extra job of convincing an audience that they want to watch a hundred more episodes of the show. Blending moral philosophy with comedy, The Good Place is a fun hang-out show set in the afterlife that asks some big questions about what it means to be good. 

It follows Eleanor Shellstrop, an incredibly imperfect woman from Arizona who wakes up in ‘The Good Place’ and realizes that there’s been a cosmic mixup. Determined not to lose her place in paradise, she recruits her “soulmate,” a former ethics professor, to teach her philosophy with the hope that she can learn to be a good person and keep up her charade of being an upstanding citizen. The pilot does a superb job of setting up the stakes, the story, and the characters, while smuggling in deep philosophical ideas.

Personal essays

Our first foray into nonfiction on this list is the personal essay. As its name suggests, these stories are in some way autobiographical — concerned with the author’s life and experiences. But don’t be fooled by the realistic component. These essays can take any shape or form, from comics to diary entries to recipes and anything else you can imagine. Typically zeroing in on a single issue, they allow you to explore your life and prove that the personal can be universal.

Here are a couple of fantastic examples:

“On Selling Your First Novel After 11 Years” by Min Jin Lee (Literary Hub)

There was so much to learn and practice, but I began to see the prose in verse and the verse in prose. Patterns surfaced in poems, stories, and plays. There was music in sentences and paragraphs. I could hear the silences in a sentence. All this schooling was like getting x-ray vision and animal-like hearing. 

This deeply honest personal essay by Pachinko author Min Jin Lee is an account of her eleven-year struggle to publish her first novel . Like all good writing, it is intensely focused on personal emotional details. While grounded in the specifics of the author's personal journey, it embodies an experience that is absolutely universal: that of difficulty and adversity met by eventual success. 

“A Cyclist on the English Landscape” by Roff Smith (New York Times)

These images, though, aren’t meant to be about me. They’re meant to represent a cyclist on the landscape, anybody — you, perhaps. 

Roff Smith’s gorgeous photo essay for the NYT is a testament to the power of creatively combining visuals with text. Here, photographs of Smith atop a bike are far from simply ornamental. They’re integral to the ruminative mood of the essay, as essential as the writing. Though Smith places his work at the crosscurrents of various aesthetic influences (such as the painter Edward Hopper), what stands out the most in this taciturn, thoughtful piece of writing is his use of the second person to address the reader directly. Suddenly, the writer steps out of the body of the essay and makes eye contact with the reader. The reader is now part of the story as a second character, finally entering the picture.

Short Fiction

The short story is the happy medium of fiction writing. These bite-sized narratives can be devoured in a single sitting and still leave you reeling. Sometimes viewed as a stepping stone to novel writing, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Short story writing is an art all its own. The limited length means every word counts and there’s no better way to see that than with these two examples:

“An MFA Story” by Paul Dalla Rosa (Electric Literature)

At Starbucks, I remembered a reading Zhen had given, a reading organized by the program’s faculty. I had not wanted to go but did. In the bar, he read, "I wrote this in a Starbucks in Shanghai. On the bank of the Huangpu." It wasn’t an aside or introduction. It was two lines of the poem. I was in a Starbucks and I wasn’t writing any poems. I wasn’t writing anything. 

This short story is a delightfully metafictional tale about the struggles of being a writer in New York. From paying the bills to facing criticism in a writing workshop and envying more productive writers, Paul Dalla Rosa’s story is a clever satire of the tribulations involved in the writing profession, and all the contradictions embodied by systemic creativity (as famously laid out in Mark McGurl’s The Program Era ). What’s more, this story is an excellent example of something that often happens in creative writing: a writer casting light on the private thoughts or moments of doubt we don’t admit to or openly talk about. 

“Flowering Walrus” by Scott Skinner (Reedsy)

I tell him they’d been there a month at least, and he looks concerned. He has my tongue on a tissue paper and is gripping its sides with his pointer and thumb. My tongue has never spent much time outside of my mouth, and I imagine it as a walrus basking in the rays of the dental light. My walrus is not well. 

A winner of Reedsy’s weekly Prompts writing contest, ‘ Flowering Walrus ’ is a story that balances the trivial and the serious well. In the pauses between its excellent, natural dialogue , the story manages to scatter the fear and sadness of bad medical news, as the protagonist hides his worries from his wife and daughter. Rich in subtext, these silences grow and resonate with the readers.

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Perhaps the thing that first comes to mind when talking about creative writing, novels are a form of fiction that many people know and love but writers sometimes find intimidating. The good news is that novels are nothing but one word put after another, like any other piece of writing, but expanded and put into a flowing narrative. Piece of cake, right?

To get an idea of the format’s breadth of scope, take a look at these two (very different) satirical novels: 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

I wished I was back in the convenience store where I was valued as a working member of staff and things weren’t as complicated as this. Once we donned our uniforms, we were all equals regardless of gender, age, or nationality — all simply store workers. 

Keiko, a thirty-six-year-old convenience store employee, finds comfort and happiness in the strict, uneventful routine of the shop’s daily operations. A funny, satirical, but simultaneously unnerving examination of the social structures we take for granted, Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman is deeply original and lingers with the reader long after they’ve put it down.

Erasure by Percival Everett

The hard, gritty truth of the matter is that I hardly ever think about race. Those times when I did think about it a lot I did so because of my guilt for not thinking about it.  

Erasure is a truly accomplished satire of the publishing industry’s tendency to essentialize African American authors and their writing. Everett’s protagonist is a writer whose work doesn’t fit with what publishers expect from him — work that describes the “African American experience” — so he writes a parody novel about life in the ghetto. The publishers go crazy for it and, to the protagonist’s horror, it becomes the next big thing. This sophisticated novel is both ironic and tender, leaving its readers with much food for thought.

Creative Nonfiction

Creative nonfiction is pretty broad: it applies to anything that does not claim to be fictional (although the rise of autofiction has definitely blurred the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction). It encompasses everything from personal essays and memoirs to humor writing, and they range in length from blog posts to full-length books. The defining characteristic of this massive genre is that it takes the world or the author’s experience and turns it into a narrative that a reader can follow along with.

Here, we want to focus on novel-length works that dig deep into their respective topics. While very different, these two examples truly show the breadth and depth of possibility of creative nonfiction:

Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward

Men’s bodies litter my family history. The pain of the women they left behind pulls them from the beyond, makes them appear as ghosts. In death, they transcend the circumstances of this place that I love and hate all at once and become supernatural. 

Writer Jesmyn Ward recounts the deaths of five men from her rural Mississippi community in as many years. In her award-winning memoir , she delves into the lives of the friends and family she lost and tries to find some sense among the tragedy. Working backwards across five years, she questions why this had to happen over and over again, and slowly unveils the long history of racism and poverty that rules rural Black communities. Moving and emotionally raw, Men We Reaped is an indictment of a cruel system and the story of a woman's grief and rage as she tries to navigate it.

Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker

He believed that wine could reshape someone’s life. That’s why he preferred buying bottles to splurging on sweaters. Sweaters were things. Bottles of wine, said Morgan, “are ways that my humanity will be changed.” 

In this work of immersive journalism , Bianca Bosker leaves behind her life as a tech journalist to explore the world of wine. Becoming a “cork dork” takes her everywhere from New York’s most refined restaurants to science labs while she learns what it takes to be a sommelier and a true wine obsessive. This funny and entertaining trip through the past and present of wine-making and tasting is sure to leave you better informed and wishing you, too, could leave your life behind for one devoted to wine. 

Illustrated Narratives (Comics, graphic novels)

Once relegated to the “funny pages”, the past forty years of comics history have proven it to be a serious medium. Comics have transformed from the early days of Jack Kirby’s superheroes into a medium where almost every genre is represented. Humorous one-shots in the Sunday papers stand alongside illustrated memoirs, horror, fantasy, and just about anything else you can imagine. This type of visual storytelling lets the writer and artist get creative with perspective, tone, and so much more. For two very different, though equally entertaining, examples, check these out:

Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

"Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine and valleys of frustration and failure." 

This beloved comic strip follows Calvin, a rambunctious six-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger/imaginary friend, Hobbes. They get into all kinds of hijinks at school and at home, and muse on the world in the way only a six-year-old and an anthropomorphic tiger can. As laugh-out-loud funny as it is, Calvin & Hobbes ’ popularity persists as much for its whimsy as its use of humor to comment on life, childhood, adulthood, and everything in between. 

From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell 

"I shall tell you where we are. We're in the most extreme and utter region of the human mind. A dim, subconscious underworld. A radiant abyss where men meet themselves. Hell, Netley. We're in Hell." 

Comics aren't just the realm of superheroes and one-joke strips, as Alan Moore proves in this serialized graphic novel released between 1989 and 1998. A meticulously researched alternative history of Victorian London’s Ripper killings, this macabre story pulls no punches. Fact and fiction blend into a world where the Royal Family is involved in a dark conspiracy and Freemasons lurk on the sidelines. It’s a surreal mad-cap adventure that’s unsettling in the best way possible. 

Video Games and RPGs

Probably the least expected entry on this list, we thought that video games and RPGs also deserved a mention — and some well-earned recognition for the intricate storytelling that goes into creating them. 

Essentially gamified adventure stories, without attention to plot, characters, and a narrative arc, these games would lose a lot of their charm, so let’s look at two examples where the creative writing really shines through: 

80 Days by inkle studios

"It was a triumph of invention over nature, and will almost certainly disappear into the dust once more in the next fifty years." 

Named Time Magazine ’s game of the year in 2014, this narrative adventure is based on Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. The player is cast as the novel’s narrator, Passpartout, and tasked with circumnavigating the globe in service of their employer, Phileas Fogg. Set in an alternate steampunk Victorian era, the game uses its globe-trotting to comment on the colonialist fantasies inherent in the original novel and its time period. On a storytelling level, the choose-your-own-adventure style means no two players’ journeys will be the same. This innovative approach to a classic novel shows the potential of video games as a storytelling medium, truly making the player part of the story. 

What Remains of Edith Finch by Giant Sparrow

"If we lived forever, maybe we'd have time to understand things. But as it is, I think the best we can do is try to open our eyes, and appreciate how strange and brief all of this is." 

This video game casts the player as 17-year-old Edith Finch. Returning to her family’s home on an island in the Pacific northwest, Edith explores the vast house and tries to figure out why she’s the only one of her family left alive. The story of each family member is revealed as you make your way through the house, slowly unpacking the tragic fate of the Finches. Eerie and immersive, this first-person exploration game uses the medium to tell a series of truly unique tales. 

Fun and breezy on the surface, humor is often recognized as one of the trickiest forms of creative writing. After all, while you can see the artistic value in a piece of prose that you don’t necessarily enjoy, if a joke isn’t funny, you could say that it’s objectively failed.

With that said, it’s far from an impossible task, and many have succeeded in bringing smiles to their readers’ faces through their writing. Here are two examples:

‘How You Hope Your Extended Family Will React When You Explain Your Job to Them’ by Mike Lacher (McSweeney’s Internet Tendency)

“Is it true you don’t have desks?” your grandmother will ask. You will nod again and crack open a can of Country Time Lemonade. “My stars,” she will say, “it must be so wonderful to not have a traditional office and instead share a bistro-esque coworking space.” 

Satire and parody make up a whole subgenre of creative writing, and websites like McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and The Onion consistently hit the mark with their parodies of magazine publishing and news media. This particular example finds humor in the divide between traditional family expectations and contemporary, ‘trendy’ work cultures. Playing on the inherent silliness of today’s tech-forward middle-class jobs, this witty piece imagines a scenario where the writer’s family fully understands what they do — and are enthralled to hear more. “‘Now is it true,’ your uncle will whisper, ‘that you’ve got a potential investment from one of the founders of I Can Haz Cheezburger?’”

‘Not a Foodie’ by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (Electric Literature)

I’m not a foodie, I never have been, and I know, in my heart, I never will be. 

Highlighting what she sees as an unbearable social obsession with food , in this comic Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell takes a hilarious stand against the importance of food. From the writer’s courageous thesis (“I think there are more exciting things to talk about, and focus on in life, than what’s for dinner”) to the amusing appearance of family members and the narrator’s partner, ‘Not a Foodie’ demonstrates that even a seemingly mundane pet peeve can be approached creatively — and even reveal something profound about life.

We hope this list inspires you with your own writing. If there’s one thing you take away from this post, let it be that there is no limit to what you can write about or how you can write about it. 

In the next part of this guide, we'll drill down into the fascinating world of creative nonfiction.

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What is Prose? Definition, Examples of Literary Prose

Prose is a form of written language that does not have a formal meter structure. Prose more closely mimics normal patterns of speech.

What is Prose?

Prose is a style of writing that does not follow a strict structure of rhyming and/or meter. Prose uses normal grammatical structures. Elements of prose writing include regular grammar and paragraph structures that organize ideas, forgoing more stylistic and aesthetic forms of writing found in poetry and lyrics.

Prose can include normal dialogue, speeches, novels, news reports, etc. Prose is distinguished from poetry which uses line breaks and has meter that tends to defy normal grammar rules.

In today’s literature, most stories are told in prose. There is no longer much emphasis on the oral tradition of storytelling, to which verse was very well suited. Since print came to be commonplace, storytellers tend to rely on prose to tell their stories because of the freedom it allows.

Different Types of Prose

There are different genres of writing that use prose style. Here are a few:

Nonfiction Prose

Nonfiction is a work of writing that is based on fact. Examples of nonfiction include memoirs, essays, instructions, biographies, etc.

Fiction Prose

Fiction is a genre of writing that is imagined or untrue. Novels use prose in order to tell stories. Subgenres of fiction can include fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, etc.

Heroic Prose

Heroic prose uses the hero archetype in order to tell stories of bravery and travel in which good triumphs over evil. These stories are meant to be recited orally. Heroic prose may use tricks such as rhyme and a slight rhythmic structure in order to enhance the effects of being read out loud but are not the same as the ancient hero tales which were written in strict poetic verse.

Prose Poetry

Prose poetry uses certain poetic qualities in order to add a lyrical or aesthetic value to the writing. However, it stops short of any regular or strict metered form. This style of writing creates bolder emotional effects and often relies on metaphors and imagery in order to create similar reactions in readers that poetry would, while still maintaining the prose style.

The Function of Prose

Prose provides a loose structure for writers which offers freedom and creativity in expression. With prose, a writer can be as imaginative and creative as they want—or they can write very dryly in order to convey a specific point. It all comes down to the writer’s purpose and intended effect. With prose, the sky is the limit.

Ultimately, prose is an efficient way to write and convey ideas. There is a reason why news reporters and journalists write in prose—they can clearly express details, key facts, and updates in a way that is accessible to all. If everything was written in poetry/verse, there might be some conflicts in how news and important messages were spread.

Examples of Prose in Literature

In fiction, prose can be manipulated in order to create very specific stylistic effects. For example, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights tends to use long, winding sentence structures in order to convey the tendency to become obsessive, which is a trait found in several characters.

This writing, however, was nothing but a name repeated in all kinds of characters, large and small—Catherine Earnshaw, here and there varied to Catherine Heathcliff, and then again to Catherine Linton. In vapid listlessness I leant my head against the window, and continued spelling over Catherine Earnshaw—Heathcliff—Linton, till my eyes closed; but they had not rested five minutes when a glare of white letters started from the dark, as vivid as spectres—the air swarmed with Catherines; and rousing myself to dispel the obtrustive name, I discovered my candle wick reclining on one of the antique volumes, and perfuming the place with an odour of roasted calf-skin.

Speeches are another place where prose is used to convey ideas. Consider the “No Easy Walk to Freedom” Speech by Nelson Mandela :

You can see that there is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow again and again before we reach the mountain tops of our desires.

Essays are also written in prose. The philosopher Sir Francis Bacon , who influenced founders of the American colonies, wrote the essay “On Nobility” in which he speaks on nobility in government.

For nobility attempers sovereignty, and draws the eyes of the people, somewhat aside from the line royal. But for democracies, they need it not; and they are commonly more quiet, and less subject to sedition, than where there are stirps of nobles. For men’s eyes are upon the business, and not upon the persons; or if upon the persons, it is for the business’ sake, as fittest, and not for flags and pedigree.

Recap: What is Prose in Literature?

Prose is the style of writing that does not use a metered format like poetry does. It more closely resembles normal patterns of speech, with normal grammatical structures such as full sentences and paragraphs.

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Novel writing ,

9 tips for writing perfect prose.

By Harry Bingham

How To Write Prose- The Best Way

When you send your work off to an agent, the agent’s first look will be fast, smart and brutal.

They’ll ask, “Do I even like the concept for this book?” And they’ll ask, “Can this person write? Does this feel like the prose style of a serious, professional author?”

If the answer to either of those questions is in the negative, you’re on the path to rejection, no matter how hard you’ve worked on all the rest of your manuscript.

Well, we’re not going to address the issue of ideas in this post (though you could check out our comments in our article on writing an elevator pitch , if you’re worried, or see what we have to say about  checking and developing your ideas .)

We’re going to deal with the second of the things that an agent (or their assistant) has uppermost in their mind when they consider your submission.

Quite simply, they’re thinking:

Can this person write?

Agents see hundreds of manuscripts and you’ll need yours to say, from that very first page and paragraph, “Yes, this is good prose. You are in the hands of a confident, capable writer. You will not be wasting your time with what follows.”

What are you aiming for? You are aiming for prose that is:

If you can check those three boxes, you’re doing fine. John Grisham isn’t some kind of prose writing superstar. Nor is Suzanne Collins. Nor is Stephen King. Their genius all lies elsewhere.

9 Ways To Perfect Your Prose Style:

• Avoid clichés.
• Be accurate.
• Keep it short.
• Trust your reader.
• Cull your adjectives.
• Mix your rhythms.
• Ditch the modifiers, let the verbs do the work.
• Use unexpected words to shock readers into understanding.
• Ask for help.

If you can write clear, economical and precise prose – and it isn’t hard to do – you’re basically forcing the agent to read on. To judge your novel on its merits. To give your story a chance.

Here’s what you need to do.

Not sure what prose writing is ? It’s basically the opposite of poetry. Any novel is written in prose. So is the text in any newspaper. So is the letter you write to your bank or your doctor or your secret lover. When novelists talk about prose style, they really just mean the way you write. Does your writing sound good or bad? Does it do the job you want it to do? Or does the way you express things always let you down? Wikipedia has more on  what prose is , if you want to know that.

Kill Clichés

Cliché is the enemy of every author. And you recognise it when you see it, right? We’re talking about things like this:

• His eyes were blue enough to swim in.
• She felt a sharp pain, as though cut by a knife.
• The breeze whispered softly through gently waving trees.

It’s like watching a movie we’ve all seen before. It’s language that’s stale, old, past its sell-by date.

But cliche creeps in all over the place. The flame-haired passionate redhead? She’s an old, overused stereotype.

The midnight hostage exchange in a deserted warehouse? Seen it, read it.

The rose-covered cottage with a smiling old lady and lots of home-made cakes. Yep, nothing new there.

The simple fact is that wherever you grab for pre-made stereotypes – scenes, people and settings that we’ve seen a million times before – you bore your reader that tiny bit. You  distance  them from the text, when what you want is to hug them close.

So, look for cliches everywhere.

Then kill them.

Need more help?  We have a brilliant video tutorial on Cliches – it’s part of our How To Write course and is available free to members of Jericho Writers. If you’re serious about writing, you probably want to consider joining us. You get tons of free learning materials, live online classes, an active and supportive community, and so much more besides.  Learn more  or  join us .

Be Accurate

Let’s start with an example. Consider this sentence:

She lay in the early morning light listening to the roar of traffic softly rising like mist in the streets.

What do you think of that? Good? Bad? Half and half?

I hope you said that it’s an awful sentence, because it is. If I were an agent and I encountered this sentence on page 1 of a submission, I would read no further. Why? Because the writer isn’t in control of their language and that proves to me that they aren’t yet ready to go pro.

So let’s see what’s wrong.

“ She lay in the early morning light ” – that’s fine. Nothing wrong with that.

“ listening to the roar of traffic ” – yep, OK. (Although why is there a roar of traffic in the early morning? Unless there’s a very specific setting which answers that question, I worry that we’re not really dealing with  early  morning here, in which case why say so?)

“ softly rising like mist in the streets ” – OK, that’s where this sentence collapses completely. If traffic roars, it can’t softly rise. You could have a murmur of traffic doing something softly. Or a roar of traffic doing something loudly or violently. But  roar + soft  just doesn’t work. The two ideas are fighting each other.

And that’s not all of it. Mist doesn’t rise, it just hangs. It’s a stationary image, not a moving one. So that’s another fail.

And why say ‘ In the streets ‘? Obviously cars are in streets (so why bother to remind us?) And if you want to talk about a slow-rising mist, then isn’t that more naturally a rural metaphor? In which case the word  streets  again introduces an awkwardness.

In short, the writer of that sentence failed the Accuracy test, because they weren’t sure enough what they wanted to say and ended up just serving up a mess.

Oh, and if you think I’m being picky here, then I admit it:

YES! I’m picky.

So should you be. Prose style  matters –  and it’s good that it matters!

Books are made out of sentences and sentences are made out of words. If you’re not very picky indeed about your word choices and sentence constructions, you will never be (or deserve to be) a real professional author. So be picky. It’s the first ingredient of success.

Keep It Short

When you write, treat your manuscript as though you had to pay 10p a word for the privilege of writing. Look at this paragraph, for example:

He walked slowly away, trying not to make any kind of sound. His feelings were in a turmoil, roiling and boiling, a tumult of emotion. He couldn’t help reiterating to himself again and again that he had done the right thing; that he had done everything he could. He insisted to himself that she, too, would surely see this one day.

Ugh. Let’s try that again. Here’s the same example, tightened up.

He crept away, his feelings in turmoil. He had done the right thing, he told himself. One day, she would see this, too.

Almost a third of the length. And everything about it is better. It doesn’t just say it faster, it says it better. In the first version, all that verbiage just got in the way.

And again: you just can’t be too picky here.

Let’s say you had a sentence in your book that was 12 words long, when it could say the same thing in just 9-10 words. Would you make the change? Or would you just think, nah, who cares?

I certainly hope that you said you’d make the change, because look at it like this. What if you write a 120,000 word book that could be reduced to 90 or 100,000 words  without losing any material content ? That book would be 20-30,000 words overweight . . . and would be way too baggy for any top-end literary agent to get involved with. But you will only cut that 20-30,000 word surplus by finding the 2-3 unnecessary words in that 12 word sentence and cutting them out. That’s what that part of the editing process is all about. There are no shortcuts.

In short: good writers work at their writing. Getting your prose style right is all about acute attention to detail.

If a bad sentence bothers you, you just need to keep going until you get it right.

You have to care about your sentences – because your entire novel is made of them!

If you’re not open to  cutting your work  in service of your novel, making it the best you can, we’re in trouble.

Trust Your Reader

Another amateurish trait is that of not trusting the reader. We get many clients who write something rather like the following:

He rolled in agony. Fire shot through every limb. He felt like screaming out in pain. His entire face was distorted with the grotesque effort of not shouting out.

That uses many very forceful words (agony, fire, screaming, distorted, grotesque). You don’t need that many words to do the job. It’s as though the writer of this snippet doesn’t trust the reader to get the point, so he/she keeps making the same point again and again like some classic pub bore. Readers will ‘get it’, as long as you write in clear, forceful, non-repetitive language.

Here’s another example.

What do you think of the following little dialogue / micro-scene?

“Yes?” I nudged. “Yes, only . . .” she hesitated, then stopped completely. Waved her hands at me to signal she was done, or that I should look away. Some gesture like that. “So, yes, we should invite him?” “Of course. Fine. Whatever you want. It’s not like I care.”

We don’t know what’s going on here of course – presumably, if we read this in a book, we’d have more background to make sense of it all. But it’s pretty clear, isn’t it, that the woman here has some set of quite strong, deep emotions about the guy they might or might not invite to something – and she’s not that keen to talk about what she feels.#

And you got all that, without the writer having to spell anything out at all. The writer just dropped stuff on the page and let you figure it out.

So now take a look at this way of doing things:

“Yes?” I nudged her, anxious to know what she would think. “Yes, only . . .” she hesitated, then stopped completely. She waved her hands at me to signal something. I guess she was quite conflicted about me inviting him. Maybe she was a little bit angry, plus a little embarrassed. Her body language was more than consistent with these two emotions, so I decided that I should try to clarify the situation in order to identify her opinions more precisely. “So, yes, we should invite him?” I said, hoping that this time I would get a more detailed answer. “Of course. Fine. Whatever you want. It’s not like I care.” But although she said she didn’t care, it was evident to me that she did. As a matter of fact, when she spoke the words “whatever you want”, it struck me that maybe she was being passive-aggressive, that although she  said  “whatever you want”, maybe what she actually means was, “No, I’d prefer not to see him.”

That’s terrible, right?

And it’s terrible, partly, because this version of the dialogue massively breaks the “keep it tight” rule. But it’s also terrible because it just lectures the reader in this horrible heavy-handed way on stuff that the reader can perfectly well figure out for themselves.

It’s even worse than that, actually, because in the first example, all the nuances of the situation were left open to the reader to figure out. In the second example, all that clunky explanation just crushes the nuances underfoot.

The moral of this story?

Trust your reader . They’re smart like that.

(And get more  dialogue help , if you want it.)

Cull Those Adjectives

To stick with this theme, and especially when it comes to descriptive writing, double adjectives are almost always a no-no. The second adjective almost always weakens the first.

You want an example? OK, so take a look at this:

He leaned over the black iron railings, the coarse grey cloth of his sleeve catching on the sharp, treacherous spike.

Deleting any superfluous adjective improves this description straightaway:

He leaned over the iron railings, the coarse cloth of his sleeve catching on the sharp spike.

That’s better, right?

But I hope you notice that we can go one step better again. Every sentence needs nouns and verbs, while adjectives are definitely optional. And in many cases, a sentence just doesn’t need any adjectives at all.

So in fact, the best way to write that sentence would be simply:

As he leaned over the railings, his sleeve caught on the spike.

Good writers use adjectives sparingly. And if you’re in doubt, write the sentence without the adjectives and see if it works better. If it’s actually missing something then reinsert the adjective. Your prose will instantly tighten and feel more alive, more taut.

Want more help on descriptive writing? Then get it  here  and  here .

Mix Your Rhythms

Short sentences are strong. So use them. But too many? All short sentences? They’ll irritate the reader. You’ll annoy them. A lot.

Aren’t you annoyed already? I bet you are.

Equally, if you work with only longer sentences, you risk losing the reader, who’ll miss that bit of grit, of sharpness, that shorter sentences bring.

The same thing applies across the board.

• Description is great, but too much of it? Every small thing described? You’ll lose the reader.
• Abstract nouns are great – but big blocks of them? You’ll lose the reader.
• Emotional language is great. It’s a big part of why we read. But constant examination of every small emotion? Yep, you know what I’m going to say: you’ll lose the reader.

The secret, always, is variety – and flexing your language according to the mood and moment of your story.

So if your hero gets brutally dumped by his long time partner? Then look in detail at his emotions!

But if you’re in the middle of a tense action scene? Now’s probably not the time for all that.

Of course, it sounds obvious if you put it like that, but it’s not always so obvious as you write your text. One great trick, used by plenty of pro authors,is to read your work aloud. If it starts to grate with you, or if the rhythms seem awkward to say, then stop and rewrite!

It’ll be worth your time, guaranteed!

Free Plotting Worksheets

Make the hardest part of writing easier with our free plotting worksheets.

Work Those Nouns, Work Those Verbs!

Look at these examples, and figure out what’s wrong with them:

• He said loudly, raising his voice so she could hear it across the field.
• She jumped high in the air.
• He said as quietly as he could.

In most cases, of course, you’ll do better to simply cut out the adverbs (the things that describe the action – like  loudly ,  high , and  quietly ). English is rich in vocabulary so in most cases, there are neater ways to say what you’re after. For example:

• He called to her (adding,  across the field  if you want).
• She leaped.
• He whispered.

I’m not saying those replacements are always better – you have to use your judgement given the particular place you are in your story. But as a rule of thumb? Ditch the modifiers and let the verbs do the work.

There’s a similar trick to see whether your nouns (words for objects) are working hard enough for you. Compare these two examples:

• He passed her some food, on an old white plate.
• He gave her lamb tagine. Big scoops of it, mounded on a plate of old porcelain, with a faded floral rim.

The first sentence is very bland, partly because all of the components words are very bland. If you listed all the commonest words in the English language, them  pass, food, old, white , and  plate  would surely be amongst their number.

The second sentence has some much less common words,  lamb, tagine, scoops, mounded, porcelain, faded, floral, rim . Because those words are less common, they feel tangier to the reader. They burn brighter in the reader’s imagination.

Again, I’m not saying you can use this trick all the time – your judgement has to come first; sometimes simple is good – but it’s worth bearing in mind. If you read over your prose and find it a little bland or lacking in energy, then giving (especially) your nouns and verbs a big more zing will make a huge difference.

Do you find this helpful?  We have some brilliant video tutorials on prose writing – they’re part of our How To Write course and the whole thing available free to members of Jericho Writers. If you’re serious about writing, you probably want to consider joining us. You get tons of free learning materials, live online classes, an active and supportive community, and so much more besides.  Learn more  or  join us . We’d love it if you did!

Add Some Little Flashes Of Genius

You’ll occasionally find a phrase that perfectly captures something: an unexpected word use that shocks a reader into understanding. Here are some dazzling examples of what we mean:

“A quick succession of busy nothings.” “One moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.” “I shall be dumped where the weed decays, and the rest is rust and stardust.”

These are snippets from writers of genius – Jane Austen, Graham Greene, and Vladimir Nabokov. Never try forcing this on your every paragraph or page (they didn’t). Only a scatter of diamonds here and there has effect, so go for it, if you can.

And if that seems a bit daunting to begin with, then start small.

The main trick in writing well is simple: You just have to care enough.

We mean that pretty literally.

Let’s say, there’s something you want to convey. Something, let’s say, about those moments of transition in childhood, when new possibilities suddenly open up.

You’re talking about a semi-magical moment, so it would be great if you could find a description that had a little magic to it. But how to do it?

The answer is, you write something and see how you feel about it. Maybe this, for example:

It was one of those moments in childhood, that suddenly seemed rich in possibility.

That’s OK, right, but not exactly magical. So just let your imagination find what you are trying to say? What is it that for you conveys that idea of ‘rich in possibility’?

As soon as you ask that question, you might start finding some answers. For example:

It was one of those moments in childhood, where the future suddenly bloomed, like a field full of poppies. A moment in childhood, where a window swung open, letting in the sunshine, letting in the future.

Or of course, you might end up with something like Greene’s own version:

“One moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.”

Bear in mind, he probably didn’t write that sentence cleanly at the first time of asking. He probably wrote something, felt it wasn’t quite right, then fiddled with the sentence until he was happy.

That’s how writers write. Dissatisfaction + more work = the route to better writing!

Get Writing Help

I hope you know by now that Jericho Writers is a club for writers  just like you .

We have a ton of helpful advice to offer. There are free courses. Free films. Free webinars where you can ask agents and authors real questions about your work. There’s a community full of writers like you exchanging questions and comments on each other’s work.

And once you take out your (low cost, cancel-any-time) membership, everything within the club is absolutely free to members. It’s like you get access to the world’s best resource bank for writers, and pay just a fraction of what it would cost to buy those things outright.

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What is Prose — Definition and Examples in Literature

• What is a Poem
• What is a Stanza in a Poem
• What is Dissonance
• What is a Sonnet
• What is a Haiku
• What is Prose
• What is an Ode
• What is Repetition in Poetry
• How to Write a Poem
• Types of Poems Guide
• What is an Acrostic Poem
• What is an Epic Poem
• What is Lyric Poetry

P rose can be a rather general literary term that many use to describe all types of writing. However, prose by definition pertains to specific qualities of writing that we will dive into in this article. What is the difference between prose and poetry and what is prose used for? Let’s define this essential literary concept and look at some examples to find out.

What is Prose in Literature?

First, let’s define prose.

Prose is used in various ways for various purposes. It's a concept you need to understand if your goal to master the literary form. Before we dive in, it’s important to understand the prose definition and how it is distinguished from other styles of writing. 

PROSE DEFINITION

What is prose.

In writing, prose is a style used that does not follow a structure of rhyming or meter. Rather, prose follows a grammatical structure using words to compose phrases that are arranged into sentences and paragraphs. It is used to directly communicate concepts, ideas, and stories to a reader. Prose follows an almost naturally verbal flow of writing that is most common among fictional and non-fictional literature such as novels, magazines, and journals.

Four types of prose:

Nonfictional prose, fictional prose, prose poetry, heroic prose, prose meaning , prose vs poetry.

To better understand prose, it’s important to understand what structures it does not follow which would be the structure of poetry. Let’s analyze the difference between prose vs poetry.

Poetry follows a specific rhyme and metric structure. These are often lines and stanzas within a poem. Poetry also utilizes more figurative and often ambiguous language that purposefully leaves room for the readers’ analysis and interpretation.

Finally, poetry plays with space on a page. Intentional line breaks, negative space, and varying line lengths make poetry a more aesthetic form of writing than prose. 

Take, for example, the structure of this [Why] by E.E. Cummings. Observe his use of space and aesthetics as well as metric structure in the poem. 

E.E. Cummings Poem

E.E. Cummings may be one of the more stylish poets when it comes to use of page space. But poetry is difference in structure and practice than prose. 

Prose follows a structure that makes use of sentences, phrases, and paragraphs. This type of writing follows a flow more similar to verbal speech and communication. This makes it the best style of writing to clearly articulate and communicate concepts, events, stories, and ideas as opposed to the figurative style of poetry.

What is Prose in Literature? 

Take, for example, the opening paragraph of JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye . We can tell immediately the prose is written in a direct, literal way that also gives voice to our protagonist . 

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.

From this example, you can see how the words flow more conversationally than poetry and is more direct with what information or meaning is being communicated. Now that you understand the difference between poetry, let’s look at the four types of prose.

Related Posts

• What is Litotes — Definition and Examples →
• Different Types of Poems and Poem Structures →
• What is Iambic Pentameter? Definition and Examples →

Prose Examples

Types of prose.

While all four types of prose adhere to the definition we established, writers use the writing style for different purposes. These varying purposes can be categorized into four different types.

Nonfictional prose is a body of writing that is based on factual and true events. The information is not created from a writer’s imagination, but rather true accounts of real events. 

This type can be found in newspapers, magazines, journals, biographies, and textbooks. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl , for example, is a work written in nonfictional style.

Unlike nonfictional, fictional prose is partly or wholly created from a writer’s imagination. The events, characters, and story are imagined such as Romeo and Juliet , The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , or Brave New World . This type is found as novels, short stories, or novellas .

Heroic prose is a work of writing that is meant to be recited and passed on through oral or written tradition. Legends, mythology, fables, and parables are examples of heroic prose that have been passed on over time in preservation. 

Finally, prose poetry is poetry that is expressed and written in prose form. This can be thought of almost as a hybrid of the two that can sometimes utilize rhythmic measures. This type of poetry often utilizes more figurative language but is usually written in paragraph form. 

An example of prose poetry is “Spring Day” by Amy Lowell. Lowell, an American poet, published this in 1916 and can be read almost as hyper short stories written in a prose poetry style. 

The first section can be read below: 

The day is fresh-washed and fair, and there is a smell of tulips and narcissus in the air.

The sunshine pours in at the bath-room window and bores through the water in the bath-tub in lathes and planes of greenish-white. It cleaves the water into flaws like a jewel, and cracks it to bright light.

Little spots of sunshine lie on the surface of the water and dance, dance, and their reflections wobble deliciously over the ceiling; a stir of my finger sets them whirring, reeling. I move a foot, and the planes of light in the water jar. I lie back and laugh, and let the green-white water, the sun-flawed beryl water, flow over me. The day is almost too bright to bear, the green water covers me from the too bright day. I will lie here awhile and play with the water and the sun spots.

The sky is blue and high. A crow flaps by the window, and there is a whiff of tulips and narcissus in the air."

While these four types of prose are varying ways writers choose to use it, let’s look at the functions of them to identify the strengths of the writing style. 

What Does Prose Mean in Writing

Function of prose in literature.

What is prose used for and when? Let’s say you want to tell a story, but you’re unsure if using prose or poetry would best tell your story.

To determine if the correct choice is prose, it’s important to understand the strengths of the writing style. 

Direct communication

Prose, unlike poetry, is often less figurative and ambiguous. This means that a writer can be more direct with the information they are trying to communicate. This can be especially useful in storytelling, both fiction and nonfiction, to efficiently fulfill the points of a plot.

Curate a voice

Because prose is written in the flow of verbal conversation, it’s incredibly effective at curating a specific voice for a character. Dialogue within novels and short stories benefit from this style.

Think about someone you know and how they talk. Odds are, much of their character and personality can be found in their voice.

When creating characters, prose enables a writer to curate the voice of that character. For example, one of the most iconic opening lines in literature informs us of what type of character we will be following.

Albert Camus’ The Stranger utilizes prose in first person to establish the voice of the story’s protagonist. 

“Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure. The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP SYMPATHY. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday.”

Build rapport with the reader

Lastly, in addition to giving character’s a curated voice, prose builds rapport with the reader. The conversational tone allows readers to become familiar with a type of writing that connects them with the writer. 

A great example of this is Hunter S. Thompson’s Hell’s Angels . As a nonfiction work written in prose, Thompson’s voice and style in the writing is distinct and demands a relationship with the reader.

Whether it is one of contradiction or agreement, the connection exists through the prose. It is a connection that makes a reader want to meet or talk with the writer once they finish their work. 

Prose is one of the most common writing styles for modern writers. But truly mastering it means understanding both its strengths and its shortcomings. 

Different Types of Poems

Curious about learning about the counterpart to prose? In our next article we dive in different types of poems as well as different types of poem structures. Check out the complete writer’s guide to poetry types up next. 

Up Next: Types of Poems →

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Prose Type: What are 10 Different Prose Types in Creative Writing?

1. biography, 2. autobiography, 3. folktale.

• 6. Fable

9. Short Story

When discussing the eminent components of  literature , we do take into consideration the mode through which a piece of work is presented. While doing so, one gets introduced to terms like Prose and  Poetry  which later become the center of the talk. These are two such forms through which almost all of the literature encompass.

To elucidate and encounter the difference between the two, one can easily understand Prose as being the  writing  that we see in our daily lives that does not follow any metrical structure and is written in the form of sentences and paragraphs. Poetry, on the other hand, can be seen as a literary work that caters to aesthetics, follows a certain style and  rhythm , and is expressed in stanzas.

Continue reading this article to develop a deeper understanding of the 10 Prose type with  examples .

What is a Prose?

Prose can simply be defined as the form of writing which is specifically of pragmatic  nature , following a proper grammatical structure. Unlike Poetry it does not follow any fixed metrical parameters and is expressed in the form of sentences and paragraphs in a lucid manner. It often aims at conveying the message by following a  narrative  structure. Prose can be of various  types  like biography, folktale, autobiography,  fables , and many more. 10 of its types are discussed below.

A thorough description of a person’s life is referred to as his/her Biography.

It is a kind of prose that is full of basic information about all the highs and lows in a person’s life, including anecdotes and memoirs. A biography tells the tale of the person’s personal experiences with life,  relationships , work, and all other things. You are the major lead of your biography and it tells your truth to the world. Biographies fall under the category of non- fiction . When written in-depth, we know it as legacy writing.

A biography can also be portrayed or presented in various forms of media, from literature to film. An accredited biography can only be written with the permission, cooperation, and participation of the person or the person’s  family  or successors. It is the story of a person’s life narrated and drafted by him or her but perfected and written by another person.       

Biography Example:  The Life of Samuel Johnson (By James Boswell)

This is a perfect example of the  English   language . Boswell was well acquainted with Samuel Johnson and has created a masterpiece of biography for the late  writer  and the readers.

Autobiography is also a kind of prose and as the term suggests, it is the self-written account of one’s life.

It is very similar to a biography, except it is written by the same person whose story it is about. For example, if I write the story of my life by myself completely, then it will be referred to as an autobiography. The person can also seek guidance or help from another writer or hire a  ghostwriter  if required.

Autobiography Example:  The Story of My Life by Helen Keller is the best example of an autobiography as it captures it all and that too perfectly.

Folktale is a popular or legendary story, familiar to a specific group or culture reflecting their values and ideas. They are usually passed down verbally from one generation to another. These stories carry a moral or lesson to be absorbed by the audience. Folktales have many types like fables, tall tales, ghost stories, or religious tales.

Folktale Example:  The Pied Piper and The Frog King are popular folktales both impart valuable lessons. The Frog King is one of the oldest German folk tales. In the story, a princess promises a frog that she will make him her companion if he retrieves her favourite toy from the bottom of the deep  spring . The moral of The Frog King is that one should honour their promises and will be rewarded. The frog honoured his promise to retrieve the ball and the princess (unwillingly) honoured her promise to the frog. His curse was broken, and she got a fancy new husband.

Myth is a traditional story or tale full of symbols. These superficially relate to reality or actual events and are especially associated with religious beliefs and traditions. The key figures in myths are gods, demigods, or supernatural humans with unrealistic powers and talents entangled in extraordinary events or circumstances in an unknown period.

Myth Example:  Pandora’s Box is an artifact in  Greek mythology  connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod’s Works and Days.

Legend stories are a subgenre of folktales. The legend may be a traditional story or a group of stories with a sound message for the audience. Also, legends are about a person or a place. Earlier, the term Legend was used for telling a tale about a saint. These are quite similar to folktales in content. They may include supernatural beings, elements of mythology, or explanations of natural phenomena, but they are linked with a particular locality or person and are told as a matter of antiquity.

Legend Example:  Some well-known legends are

• The tales of Odysseus from Ancient Greece,
• Beowulf from the Norse lands,
• King Arthur from Old England,
• The famous Robin Hood,
• The  Bigfoot .

6 .  Fable

A fictional work of literature featuring inanimate objects or forces of nature,  animals ,  plants , or legendary creatures having humanlike attributes. A fable is written in prose or verse, to highlight human foolishness and flaws or mistakes. These have a moral or lesson weaved into the story and are often explicitly planned at the end as a concise maxim or saying.

Fable Example:  A splendid example is The Panchatantra, a Sanskrit compilation of beast fables. Animal Farm by George Orwell is an excellent novel depicting the situation of Russia post-war through animals in a satirical form.

A parable is a brief, educational story, written in the form of prose or verse, that explains one or more informative lessons or teachings. It differs from a fable as fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as key figures, whereas parables have human characters. A parable is a kind of metaphorical analogy. Parables in literature impart a moral lesson to the readers. It is excellent for teaching because stories are easier to recall with clarity and interest.

Prose Type Parable Example: “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” warns against lying because of its impending consequences.

A novel is a long literary fictional work, usually written in the form of prose. A novel is a book telling a single tale penned creatively with human experience and exposure. The novel has several chapters, each chapter is connected or linked to the other through a sequence of events and has a specific setting and tone. We have a large number of genres of novels available which have encompassed various styles and types, some of them are picaresque,  comedy ,  drama , romance, gothic, epistolary, and many more.

Prose Type Novel Example:  The  Harry Potter series  by J.K. Rowling.

As the name suggests, a short story is a fictional prose narrative that is shorter than a novel. A short story has only one or few events and passages, has few characters and few to no chapters. The form encourages conservation of setting, concise narrative, and the omission of a complex  plot ; character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounters but is seldom fully developed.

Prose Type Short Story Example:  “ A Christmas Carol ” by Charles Dickens and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.

A piece of writing that lets the author present his/her ideas and feelings or argument. An essay doesn’t necessarily have to be formal or have a system to follow, it usually deals with its topic in a more personal manner, putting out its  point of view .

Some of the popular essays are :

• David Sedaris
• Kookaburra, 
• Zadie Smith – Fail Better
• Virginia Woolf – Death of the Moth.

Hope you enjoyed knowing about these prose types. Check out  9 genres of Poetry  to learn about different  poetry genres .

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What is Prose in Writing?

Written by Haley Boyce

Prose is art. The way a writer uses language to tell a story. It lacks formality yet requires attention to detail. Writers manipulate the structure of sentences to elicit an emotional response from their readers. When a writer tells a story in ordinary, everyday language they are giving you their best in prose. 

Translated from its original form in Latin, prosa oratio , prose means straightforward. 

This is not to say that prose is reserved for research papers or delivering scientific data, only that prose serves a direct purpose of telling something to the reader. What that something is, however, is up to you. 

What are the Different Types of Prose?

Prose is one of those things that has so many examples that it becomes almost difficult to define. On one hand, the beauty of prose is that it really is everywhere you look. On the other hand, its definition can feel complex or ambiguous because of how expansive those examples can be. The following are some of the areas where you will (and have undoubtedly already) experienced prose.

There’s a big, fat chance that you’ve spent a good chunk of your life calling a book a novel just because it had a bunch of pages. Get ready for your mind to be blown: All novels are books, but not all books are novels. A novel is a fiction book with an approximate minimum of 200 pages. 

Examples of prose include literally any and every fiction book that exists. 

Prose in novels tells a story with all elements of plot, and the author works to create a story that moves you with their characters, conflict, word choice, and varied sentence structure. Whether an example of prose is good or bad is purely subjective. 

Newspapers and other informational texts

Prose is present in any place where a story is being told, and that includes the news or any other form of printed information like journals or periodicals. For examples of prose in informational text, read the Los Angeles Times , the New Yorker , People magazine, or Yahoo news skim the surface of informational texts. 

Let’s be real, not all speeches are great. Some hold an audience captive and leave them inspired to make some sort of change. Others are frightening in their ideals, out of touch with their audience, or just miss the mark completely. For examples of great speeches, check out TED talks, State of the Union addresses from past presidents, or (for a humorous tone) celebrity roasts. 

Fairy tales

Cinderella , The Little Mermaid , Jack and the Beanstalk , The Gingerbread Man , Hansel and Gretl , Rumplestiltskin . . . the list is infinite. All of these are examples of prose because they tell a story without conforming to meter, as poems do. Rather they have all elements of plot and a unique message and tone. 

Interpersonal communication

Conversation counts as prose! See how it really is everywhere? 

Because prose is (again) informal, everyday language that tells a story, conversations that we have with our friends count as prose. 

When the holidays roll around and you’re recounting that time your front tire blew out on the freeway, how you met your partner, or what happened when your dog saw a squirrel and wound up taking you on a walk around the neighborhood instead of the other way around – all of those stories are prose. The next time you tell a story out loud, think about the points in your story that you emphasize or embellish. These are elements that inflate your prose with the breath of life. 

When it comes to writing prose, author’s compose without the restraints imposed on poetry. Where poetry tells a story by relying on syllables and word pronunciation to set the meter, prose is basically an all out free-for-all. To solidify your understanding of prose, compare some examples of the genres above with some of the following poems, which contain something prose does not: Meter. 

• Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day , by William Shakespeare (iambic pentameter)
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas , by Dr. Seuss (anapestic tetrameter)
• The Raven , by Edgar Allan Poe (trochaic octameter)
• ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas , by Clement Clarke Moore (anapestic tetrameter)
• Because I Could Not Stop for Death , by Emily Dickinson (common meter)
• Rime of the Ancient Mariner , by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (ballad)
• Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater , by Mother Goose (trochaic tetrameter)

What are the Elements of Prose?

As we briefly discussed above, prose should have the elements of plot in order to have any substance. The five elements of plot are:

Exposition: This is where the reader learns the basic gist of the story. The main characters are introduced, the setting is established (town, era, social class, etc.), and the reader gets an idea of what’s going on. 

Rising action:  This is where the reader learns the basic gist of the story. The main characters are introduced, the setting is established (town, era, social class, etc.), and the reader gets an idea of what’s going on. 

Climax: Ask any teacher and they’ll tell you verbatim, “Climax is the most exciting part of the story.” But sometimes that’s hard to pinpoint when the story is an emotionally charged one that lacks as much physicality as an action-packed plot. Instead, look at the climax as the point in the story where the conflict starts to change. The main character’s view of the problem begins to look different and they might start to see the tiniest opening to work their way out of the problem they are in. 

Falling action: Sometimes referred to as complications, the falling action is one or several small problems that keep the main character from reaching a resolution to their rising action. 

This exemplifies falling action or complications because just when we think the main character has found a resolution to the conflict, a problem gets in their way. The rope ladder breaking is a problem, but it is small in comparison to the major conflict of the main character being at the top of a volcano when it begins to erupt. 

Conclusion:  This is often misrepresented as the end of the story. However, a conclusion (or resolution) is how the rising action is solved. So, while many stories near their end once the conflict is resolved, the author tends to use a few more pages or short chapters to tie up the loose ends of subplots. Where and how a conflict is resolved, and where it is placed in a story, is entirely up to the author. 

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Good Prose

• May 25, 2020

This week, we're digging deep into wordcraft with an ultimate guide to writing good prose. As ever, our thanks to the Alliance of Independent Authors members who contribute to the creation of these guides. In particular this week, ALLi blog and conference manager Sacha Black , who has literally written the book on this topic. And particular thanks to  Julie-Ann Corrigan, Julie Day, Richard Deakin, Chrissy Harrison, Dan Holloway, LK Hunsaker, H.B Lyne, Karen Myers, Patricia M Osborne, Kristina Proffitt, Jane Steen and Debbie Young ,

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Good Prose: How to Improve

ALLi conference and blog manager, Sacha Black

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

King is famed for the above quote but I think it's misleading. While reading a lot is important, it's an entirely passive form of learning. In my humble opinion, there's only so much you can learn passively. Of course, reading in whatever format it occurs in is essential as a writer, but there are two types of reading. Reading for escapism, and reading for knowledge.

I'm more of a fan of Malcom Gladwell's ethos: you need 10,000 hours of  intentional  practice to become world-class in a particular field. I think we learn a lot faster when we read with the intention to pick up new tools and techniques for our writer's tool belt.

When I read, I underline anything that stands out, for good reasons or bad. Next, “How” and “why” are my friends. As I gather sentences from the stories I read, I save them up for later analysis. When it comes to deconstructing the good stuff, I like to ask myself questions like:

• How did the author create this effect? (and what literary devices did they use to make it?)
• How did that juxtaposition create a secondary meaning?
• Why did the author choose this point of view? Why didn’t they choose another?
• Why did they use that exact word and not another?
• How does that repetitive use of alliteration impact the flow of the sentence?

And on and on the questions go.

This type of detailed deconstruction isn't for everyone but I'm a word nerd and I love going deep into analysis.

Of course, you may prefer to dive straight into professional feedback and learn from the things an editor picks up. If you're interested in learning more about the types of professional editing, there's a fab post on the ALLi blog here .

The Anatomy of Prose Textbook and Workbook

Writing Good Prose: Three Mistakes to Avoid

There are no rules in prose, you can get away with virtually anything. Including not using a full stop — you only have to look at Mike McCormack's 272 page Solar Bones to know that, the whole thing is one sentence! But there are some tactics that sharpen your descriptions and sentence level craft. So here are 3 things to avoid in your prose.

Mistake 1 – Repetition

Okay, sure, everyone knows their first draft will be riddled with repetition. But usually, writer's think of repetition as crutch words or phrases they unintentionally repeat multiple times. For example, just, but, so, that, look, hand, eye, glance, walk.

But what about the other, more subtle forms of repetition?

Different Words, Same Meaning — writers often unintentionally use different words to describe the same thing. For example, describing cold temperatures multiple times with words like chill, icy, cool.

Same Words, Different Meaning — the flip side of that repetition is using the same word in a different context. For example, the hum of a bee and the hum of a car's engine.

Duplicated Archetypes — duplicated character types. For example, do you have two mentors? Are there an unnecessary number of allies? Of course, sometimes these duplications are needed. But more often than not, you can condense the duplicated characters into one more effective and efficient character that readers can get to know better.

Duplicated Personality Traits — likewise, look for repetition in personality type. Have you got two sarcastic divas? Or two brooding gentlemen? Do you really need two? Or would it be more effective to have one?

Name, Name, Name — we all have biases. Which is why you should always check your character names. More often than not you'll have named characters with similar-sounding names or names all beginning with the same letter. If you have Natalie and Nancy or Tony and Tom, your readers are probably going to get confused.

Opening and Closing of Scenes — check the opening (and closing) lines of your scenes. If you have four scenes back to back all opening with a location description, or all starting with dialogue, or all starting with inner monologue, you need to edit out the repetition.

Mistake 2 – Filtering

Filtering is an easy one to add into your narration by accident. Essentially, filtering is when you, the author, add in unnecessary narration, causing the reader to be removed one step from the character. Your reader should ideally see the story though the eyes of your protagonist or narrator. But when you add in narration, the reader steps out from the hero's eyes and watches them from the side.

Filter words include things like:

Let's show this in practice.

With Filtering:

I heard an owl hooting in the trees and a moment later I saw the canopy leaves rustle as if replying.

Your readers don’t need to read the word “heard” or “saw” because the action of hearing and seeing is implied in the description of the sound. Okay, so what does it look like when you remove the filtering?

Without Filtering:

An owl hooted in the trees and a moment later the canopy leaves rustled as if replying.

Of course, there are no rules with prose, and you don’t have to remove every instance of filtering, especially if removing it will impact the meaning of your sentence.

Mistake 3 – No Scene Anchoring

A lack of scene anchoring is one of the fastest ways to disengage a reader.  But what is it?  Scene anchoring is the process of grounding a reader in your story.  Every time you open a new scene or chapter, your reader needs to know three things in order to stay grounded in your story.

• W ho is telling the story? If you write stories from multiple points of view (POV) it's even more important to be clear who is narrating this scene. If you write in first person, then this is a little more obvious.
• W here are the characters? Are they in space? Are they in a castle on another world? Are they in the local cafe? The reader needs to know.  This is even more important if your characters have moved location between scenes. Your reader may have put your book down at the end of the last scene break, so they'll need a refresher.
• W hen are they? Whether  time has passed or not since the last scene, don’t expect your readers to know. They aren’t mind-readers. Be clear. Let them know how much time has passed.

Writing Good Prose: Sentence Level Characterization

I often get asked how you create characterization at the sentence level, be it through description, dialogue or otherwise. The biggest factor in showing the differences in your character's personalities, is to show  their personalities and let it influence your word choices.

On Description

For example, let's say we have two characters viewing a town parade as I do in my book 10 Steps to Hero: How to Craft a Kickass Protagonist.

Character 1 sees the parade like this:

“They move like a current, each person flowing past the next. Supposedly united in their cause, but as they chant and sing for solidarity, it sounds like the melody of mourners. I see the tiny fractures, the gaps they leave between each other, the scattered looks, the fear of isolation. Each of them is drowning in a swelling crowd, and yet, despite the mass of bodies, they’re all fighting alone.”

Character 2 sees the parade like this:

“The villagers weave through the street brandishing placards like rifles. They’re soldiers marching into their last battle. The war-drum beat of their feet grinds into my ears, rattling my teeth and making my blood boil.”

Character 1 is clearly melancholy. They use longer words and longer sentences with more punctuation than character 2. Character 1 chooses to use descriptive words like: fractures, isolation, scattered, mourners, drowning. All words that someone who was happy-go-lucky wouldn't choose to use.

Character 2 on the other hand, is completely different. They use words like: blood, boil, marching, drum, grind. These words are far shorter than character 1's choices. They're also more onomatopoeic, creating louder, more violent sounds. The sentences are shorter and choppier, all things that combine together to give you the impression of a much angrier character.

It's the same parade, just viewed through the eyes of two different characters. If you want to bring your characters alive at the sentence level, dig deep into their personalities and allow those traits to influence your sentence-level choices.

On Dialogue

The same is very much true of dialogue.

If, for example, you have a pompous government official, or an equally pompous academic professor. They're likely to have a vocabulary that's drowning in superfluous words. They might use words in day to day conversation like: In addition, however, furthermore, therefore, I'll conditionally agree and on and on.

But if you have a character in a gang, the chances are they'd never use those words, but may have some gang-specific words, or even made up words that only have meaning to gang members.

Likewise, if you have a sarcastic character, they're likely to be witty and throwing verbal take downs at every available opportunity. So when you approach dialogue, in order to make sure your characters are differentiated, consider how their personality could impact the things they say and the words they choose to speak.

If you enjoyed these tips, then you can find stacks more in my latest book, The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences.

Writing Good Prose: Member Tips

We asked the ALLi membership what their top tips were for improving their prose. Here's what they said:

“Practice by writing flash fiction. It forces you to be economical with your words and pick the words with the most punch!”  H.B Lyne  “Try to cut at least 10% from your word count, whatever it is. Even just doing this with a sample chapter will help you home in on superfluous words and retrain yourself to write more succinctly. It's amazing how many words you can cut without losing sense or clarity, while actually improving the power of the prose overall. Keep speech tags to a minimum. Try taking them all out and only put them back in if it's not clear who is saying what. It's amazing how many are completely unnecessary.” Debbie Young  “Read out aloud. Always.” Julie-Ann Corrigan   “Recognize words you know you use too much, especially verbs. E.g., I know that my characters often smile or raise their eyebrows.” Julie Day  “Replicating natural speech in your prose is the fastest way to connect with your reader, so listen to how other people speak. Not just those you know, but those you come across on public transport, in shops, or in restaurants. Different classes and cultures use language differently. The best way to emulate that is to listen.” Kristina Proffitt  “Find and highlight weak words and crutch words so you can work through and target them, or see how many you have on a page, for instance.” Chrissey Harrison  “Vary sentence structure and length. Stop making all sentences short for “easy reading.” Readers are quite capable of processing more than ten words at a time.” LK Hunsaker  “It's not just prose; it's rhetoric. It should have rhythm and movement. Look to vary your sentence length and structures accordingly. Then think of the simple rhetorical rules of folk tales — repetition for emphasis, letting the reader/auditor do some of the work (objective prose generating subjective emotions), restraint.” Karen Myers  “Look for “throat-clearing” phrases at the beginning of sentences–you probably don't need them. See how often you can cut “that” out of your sentences. If there's an “and” in the middle of your sentence, can you chop it into two shorter sentences?” Jane Steen  “Write in the immediate so it shows and not tells. Don’t be afraid to get feedback from other writers – it’s the editing and layering that brings the prose to life.” Patricia M Osborne  “Use assonance and alliteration and rhythm as in poetry. See Hemingway's story opening: “In the fall the war was always there.” /or the opening of ULYSSES: “Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.” Richard Deakin “For me, writing better prose is often about rhythm and cadence. The way we construct our sentences can convey as much and enliven our writing as much as the words we use. I use music analogies a lot, but this is somewhere it really applies. Think of the basic rhythm of prose like the classic Pixies song. Quiet-loud-quiet. Time to think, to anticipate – explosion – time to reflect. Not at the level of story (though that too) but sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph.”  Dan Holloway 

Thank you for your innovative articles . I wish l could keep in touch with you for more update!

Practice flash fiction? Lol

I’ve never had a problem.wjth writers block and I’ve been writing all different kinds of things upto 5000-8000 words a day for years before deciding, I’m gonna be a writer.

I cannot be succinct for the life of me.

I just know starting anything as flash fiction that it will expand and expand and there is no way to stop myself other than stab myself in both eyes with my pen, lol.

Even then I start recording audio notes, lmao.

I will try flash fiction again or stab myself in both eyes trying.

I really Enjoy this , I wish I could keep in touch with you always

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What is Prose? Definition, Examples of Prose

Home » The Writer’s Dictionary » What is Prose? Definition, Examples of Prose

Definition of prose: Prose is often defined as straightforward rather than poetic writing.

What is Prose?

When identifying a piece of writing as prose, the piece should be written in a typical, straightforward manner. It will follow grammatical structures rather than a meter or verse pattern.

Examples of Prose in Writing

Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City , is a work of nonfiction that utilizes prose when describing the effect the fair had on the local hospitals:

• “With so many people packed among the steam engines, giant rotating wheels, horse-drawn fire trucks, and rocketing bobsleds, the fair’s ambulances superintended by a doctor named Gentles were constantly delivering bruised, bloody, and overheated visitors to the exposition hospital.”

Mark Haddon also writes using prose in his novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time when his teenaged protagonist finds his neighbor’s murdered dog:

• “It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears’s house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead.”

Different Types of Prose

While prose can be broadly defined as straightforward writing that resembles everyday spoken word, there are categories that prose can be broken into: nonfiction, fictional, heroic, and poetry.

Nonfictional prose writings are pieces that are written that contain mostly facts but may contain pieces of fictional information for literary purposes. Many memoirs can be described as nonfictional prose because the writers often include fictional information to make their life stories more interesting for the readers.

Fictional prose is writing that is entirely made up by the authors such as in short stories or in novels. These are pieces such as J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series or Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Heroic prose pieces are written or oral stories that follow the traditional structure used by oral expressionists such as Homer’s The Illiad and The Odyssey . Both of these pieces include such structures as an invocation to the Muses or epithets that are used in oral storytelling.

Prose in poetry refers to works that include large amounts of poetic devices such as imagery, alliteration, and rhythm but are still written in a straightforward manner rather than in verse form.

The Function of Prose

Prose is used when the writer wants to tell a story in a straightforward manner. It should be used when the writer wants their writing to resemble everyday speech.

Examples of Prose in Literature

Here are some examples of prose in literature:

Nonfictional prose can be found in Zora Neale Hurston’s autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road because the piece is told in a straightforward manner:

• “I was born in a Negro town. I do not mean by that the black back-side of an average town. Eatonville, Florida, is, and was at the time of my birth, a pure Negro town—charter, mayor, council, town marshal and all.”

Fictional prose is used in John Kennedy Toole’s only novel A Confederacy of Dunces :

• “ Ignatius himself was dressed comfortably and sensibly. The hunting cap prevented head colds. The voluminous tweed trousers were durable and permitted unusually free locomotion.”

Dramatic prose can be found in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare often uses prose in this play when servants talk to show their lack of education and has higher-class characters talk in verse form. Here a servant speaks:

• “Now I’ll tell you without asking: my master is the great rich Capulet; and if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray, come and crush a cup of wine. Rest you merry!”

Define prose: Prose is writing that resembles everyday speech. It is straightforward, ordinary language rather than following a meter or rhythmic pattern like poetry.

Final example of prose:

Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem is written using the ordinary language found in prose:

• “It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil.”

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A Creative Guide to Prose in Writing

Table of Contents

What is prose ? That’s the first question that comes to mind when trying to write spoken language in its ordinary form.

Prose is a term used to describe any written work following a basic grammatical framework. Sometimes a single sentence has the power to evoke a particular mood and propel you into the story. Yet many writers are unsure how to articulate that feeling into a cohesive line and description.

So, what is prose, and how does it function in writing? Here’s a creative guide to help you understand in detail.

What Is Prose?

Prose is a written language with natural flow and patterns inherent in regular speech. It is a type of writing that does not adhere to a specific rhyme, structure, or meter pattern. It uses common grammatical structures and arranges ideas in a simplistic manner. Prose avoids creative and aesthetic styles of writing seen in poetry or song lyrics.

Examples of prose include books, standard dialogues, news stories, and more. Prose is different from poetry in that it employs line breaks and has a meter that defies conventional grammatical norms.

Now that we’ve addressed the question: what is prose? Let’s explore some of its functions.

What Is the Function of Prose in Writing?

Prose allows writers to express themselves freely and creatively. The purpose of prose is to add and modify the meaning of the piece and create a fluid, expressive narrative for the reader.

It usually uses descriptive language to concretely explain something abstract or intangible. Prose can also help convey background information about the story’s characters, setting, and time.

It’s a way to transition the audience and provide a lasting impression of the text, making them want more.

Types of Prose in Writing

More often than not, writers follow some essential grammatical rules in writing prose. What is prose can sometimes be difficult to define as it is divided into different categories. There are four different forms of prose, each focusing on the mechanics or emotions of what we’re saying.

1. Nonfictional prose

Nonfictional prose is a form of writing that usually presents events and activities in factual, objective terms.

Nonfictional prose is not expressive and is generally free of opinion and authorial interpretation. It is descriptive, neutral, or factual. A nonfiction writer is typically concerned with truth, accuracy, and conveying information clearly.

2. Fictional prose

This type of prose tells a story based on imagination, using made-up characters and events.

It’s very flexible in that the author isn’t limited by the laws of science, the passage of time, or the bounds of real life. They are free to create while offering a uniquely original experience.

3. Heroic prose

Heroic prose uses a pattern of heroism to depict stories of valor and adventure. These stories are usually meant to be recited orally.

This is prose in which there is a clear action or scene that takes place from the protagonist’s point of view. It also has a fast-paced and action-filled story.

4. Prose poetry

Certain poetic elements are used in prose poetry to give the composition a lyrical or artistic worth. Prose poetry is a way to express the emotions and feelings of the author.

It is a way to convey the inner workings of your heart through written words. Preserving the prose structure, this type of writing delivers a stronger emotional impact on the readers.

The prose in writing does not follow one particular type. It can refer to everything from the narrative and argumentative to journalistic pieces and even poetry.

That being said, there are a few key types that are recognized and used most often. These include nonfictional prose, fictional prose, and heroic prose.

Prose poetry is also a form of prose in writing which is typically used in short poems and has rhyme. This article will enhance your understanding of what prose is and how it functions.

Pam is an expert grammarian with years of experience teaching English, writing and ESL Grammar courses at the university level. She is enamored with all things language and fascinated with how we use words to shape our world.

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Home > ETD > Doctoral > 5736

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Pastoral prose and civic engagement: crafting the call to the public square.

Christopher Ian Thoma , Liberty University Follow

Rawlings School of Divinity

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Lucien Fortier

activism, attitudinal shift, Christianity, church, communication, creative writing, culture, engagement, influence, newsletter, pastor, public square, state, trust, Two Kingdoms

Disciplines

Communication | Practical Theology

Recommended Citation

Thoma, Christopher Ian, "Pastoral Prose and Civic Engagement: Crafting the Call to the Public Square" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects . 5736. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5736

This thesis explores the relationship between creative writing techniques employed by pastors and congregational engagement in the public square. The central thesis posits that if pastors incorporate creative writing methods in extended weekly communications with congregants, then the necessary factors for engagement in the public square will be fostered, leading to attitudinal shifts demonstrated by increased congregational interest or participation in civil affairs. Through an extensive literature review, the thesis fairly examines historical and contemporary views of church and state, the Two Kingdoms doctrine, concepts relative to public square participation, Christianity’s waning cultural influence, communication science, developmental theory, literature familiarity, theological foundations for creative communication, and the potential benefits and challenges of employing such writing techniques within a religious context. Built on best practices in research, the thesis then presents an intervention in which nine pastors from nine different congregations employed a uniquely crafted writing rubric once a week for twelve weeks. Prior to the writing effort, the congregations were surveyed to detect initial perceptions relative to public square engagement. The same survey was administered and synthesized at the study’s conclusion to detect attitudinal shifts. Prior to and throughout the intervention, participating pastors joined in four seminars designed to cultivate, enhance, and maintain their participation toward the effort’s goal. Overall, this study resulted in an attitudinal shift while simultaneously contributing to a deeper understanding of the importance of Christian engagement in the public square and the role of pastors in fostering such engagement. Residually, and practically, it provides insight for engendering trust between pastor and parishioner.

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The Watchlist: June 2024

From HarperVia | The Tyranny of Flies by Elaine Vilar Madruga, translated from the Spanish by Kevin Gerry Dunn | Fiction | 256 pages | ISBN 9780063330733 | US$18.99

What the publisher says: “Growing up on a Cuba-esque Caribbean island, Casandra, Calia, and Caleb endure life under two tyrannies: that of their parents, and the Island’s authoritarian dictator, Pop-Pop Mustache. Papa was the dictator’s former right-hand man. Now, he’s a political pariah and an ugly parody of a tyrant, treating his home as a nation which he rules with an iron fist.”

What Emily Tarr of the Southern Bookseller Review says: “This really took me by surprise. Incredibly funny, in a way so unique to its horror and its political and familial commentary, that it feels almost illegal to laugh but also impossible not to.”

What I say: If you can read this novel without forevermore thinking of Fidel Castro as “Pop-Pop Mustache,” you’re a stronger reader than me. In an introduction also translated by Kevin Gerry Dunn, Cristina Morales calls this novel “a fable that’s dark, slick, and salacious,” an observation with which I concur completely. And the imagery that Elaine Vilar Madruga uses throughout—especially the way insects recur, both as symbols of death and decay and as literal obstacles for the characters to navigate—lends this an even more visceral quality.

From Sublunary Editions | Territories of the Soul/On Intonation by Wolfgang Hilbig, translated from the German by Matthew Spencer | Poetry | 80 pages | ISBN 9781955190886 | US$16.00

What the publisher says: “Published during the twilight years of the GDR, these collections find the renowned East German writer grappling with tectonic changes inside and around him. Moving between lyric poetry, personal essay, and gothic horror, Territories of the Soul/On Intonation showcases Hilbig’s remarkable versatility and depth of feeling.”

What translator Matthew Spencer says: “Without nostalgia, Hilbig looks back on his youth in the mining country of Thuringia and his first halting attempts at poetry. He ruminates on the family he left behind and the disgust he feels at the shallow consumer society of the West. These are familiar subjects for Hilbig, but the compact and eclectic nature of this collection makes it stand out, and that was what drew me to these slim and substantial books . . .”

What I say: Over the last decade, anglophone readers have had the opportunity to encounter Wolfgang Hilbig’s fiction, which drips with atmosphere, a stunning sense of place, and an oppressive industrial gloom. June is a good month for Hilbig aficionados; in addition to this newly translated work, Two Lines Press is publishing Isabel Fargo Cole’s translation of Under the Neomoon . The short pieces in Territories of the Soul/On Intonation aren’t easy to describe; “prose poems” is probably the most accurate, but even that phrase feels a little lacking. And yet this also feels like the tautest distillation of a certain element of Hilbig’s prose, as quotes like this demonstrate: “it is extraordinarily reassuring to walk the neatly raked passageways between the graves while the weather is fine, then to unite the narrow paths with broad ones, and soon into the streets . . .”

From And Other Stories | Purity by Andrzej Tichý , translated from the Swedish by Nichola Smalley | Fiction | 128 pages | ISBN 9781913505981 | US$19.95

What the publisher says: “The stories in Purity take the reader through cities and suburbs, apartments and streets, to find characters struggling to survive in modern society: a man has an outburst on a bus; a fugitive finds insight in a color wheel; a social realist kills his friend with a hammer; a thief finds himself in books. And cleaners reluctantly go on cleaning.”

What Noel Gardner at Buzz says: “ Purity is at its most coldly satisfying when Andrzej Tichý’s prose is at its most unexpurgated. . . . At their most unsettling, these stories—ranging in length from less than three pages to more than sixty—approach the alluring psychodramas of Dennis Cooper.”

What I say: Do you enjoy your short fiction with bleak imagery, unsettling twists, and characters discovering their capacity for antisocial behavior? Welcome to Andrzej Tichý’s Purity , then. There’s a staccato quality to some of the prose, via Nichola Smalley’s translation. Consider this, from “Strength and Unity”: “My eyes are closed. It gets dark and then it gets light. This is happening now. I’m crying. He’s laughing. We’re as one, it feels like.” It’s a highly focused look at lives in crisis and the bad decisions made to resolve them.

From Seagull Books | The Emperor by Makenzy Orcel, translated from the French by Nathan H. Dize | Fiction | 160 pages | ISBN 9781803093666 | US$21.00

What the publisher says: “Part crime fiction, part fable gone awry, The Emperor invites readers to follow the narrator’s life as he moves from the Haitian countryside to the sprawling city, learning about the corruptible nature of power in his quest for freedom.”

What David Keymer at Library Journal says: “The narrator in this novel waits in his bedroom for the police to arrest him for murder as his thoughts retreat to his childhood . . . Events don’t coalesce neatly as in a plotted novel but rather provide a Kafkaesque take on life in an unstable land as they unfold.”

What I say: The Emperor kicks off with the sound of knocking and our narrator commenting, “It’s not the police. Not yet.” It’s an almost archetypal setup, and the rest of the book turns back time to reveal how the narrator came to be a “lone, unarmed man” awaiting the arrival of the police. It’s a story of ambition and frustration, following the protagonist’s journey from humble roots to a city with wider possibilities and far more dangers on offer.

What the publisher says: “ Living Things follows four recent graduates—Munir, G, Ernesto, and Álex—who travel from Madrid to the south of France to work the grape harvest. Except things don’t go as planned: they end up working on an industrial chicken farm and living in a campground, where a general sense of menace takes hold.”

What Rob Doyle at The New York Times says: “Hachemi’s is the sort of writing that compulsively interrogates itself as writing, in which literary theorizing runs alongside the storytelling. The chapters are named after novels, and the offhand prose, translated by Julia Sanches, bristles with bookish name-dropping and the kind of brash, blanket disparagement of other writers befitting an angry young man.”

What I say: Can a novel walk the thin line between puckishness and tragedy? There’s a borderline-metafictional quality to Living Things , including a narrator commenting repeatedly on the nature of fiction and the difference between it and reality. (To wit: “reality—unlike a life story—doesn’t have to conform to the narrative demands of readers.”) Even as it builds up this divide, it also embraces its contradictions, playing with structure and tonal shifts. “I’m not your average narrator,” the narrator states at one point—and this novel is stronger for it.

Looking for more reading suggestions? Check out Tobias Carroll’s recommendations from last month.

Disclosure: Words Without Borders is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you use the links above to make a purchase.

Copyright © 2024 by Tobias Carroll. All rights reserved.

Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll is the author of the short story collection  Transitory and the novel  Reel .

The Watchlist: May 2024

From “wretchedness”, 10 translated books from haiti to read now.

Fall 2024 Semester

Undergraduate courses.

Composition courses that offer many sections (ENGL 101, 201, 277 and 379) are not listed on this schedule unless they are tailored to specific thematic content or particularly appropriate for specific programs and majors.

• 100-200 level

ENGL 151.S01: Introduction to English Studies

Tuesday and Thursday, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Sharon Smith

ENGL 151 serves as an introduction to both the English major and the discipline of English studies. In this class, you will develop the thinking, reading, writing and research practices that define both the major and the discipline. Much of the semester will be devoted to honing your literary analysis skills, and we will study and discuss texts from several different genres—poetry, short fiction, the novel, drama and film—as well as some literary criticism. As we do so, we will explore the language of the discipline, and you will learn a variety of key literary terms and concepts. In addition, you will develop your skills as both a writer and researcher within the discipline of English.

ENGL 201.ST1 Composition II: The Mind/Body Connection

In this section of English 201, students will use research and writing to learn more about problems that are important to them and articulate ways to address those problems. The course will focus specifically on issues related to the mind, the body and the relationship between them. The topics we will discuss during the course will include the correlation between social media and body image; the efficacy of sex education programs; the degree to which beliefs about race and gender influence school dress codes; and the unique mental and physical challenges faced by college students today. In this course, you will be learning about different approaches to argumentation, analyzing the arguments of others and constructing your own arguments. At the same time, you will be honing your skills as a researcher and developing your abilities as a persuasive and effective writer.

ENGL 201.S10 Composition II: Environmental Writing   

Monday/Wednesday/Friday 1-1:50 p.m.

Gwen Horsley

English 201 will help students develop the ability to think critically and analytically and to write effectively for other university courses and careers. This course will provide opportunities to develop analytical skills that will help students become critical readers and effective writers. Specifically, in this class, students will:

• Focus on the relationships between world environments, land, animals and humankind.
• Read various essays by environmental, conservational and regional authors.
• Produce student writings. 

Students will improve their writing skills by reading essays and applying techniques they witness in others’ work and those learned in class. This class is also a course in logical and creative thought. Students will write about humankind’s place in the world and our influence on the land and animals, places that hold special meaning to them or have influenced their lives and stories of their own families and their places and passions in the world. Students will practice writing in an informed and persuasive manner, in language that engages and enlivens readers by using vivid verbs and avoiding unnecessary passives, nominalizations and expletive constructions.

Students will prepare writing assignments based on readings and discussions of essays included in "Literature and the Environment " and other sources. They may use "The St. Martin’s Handbook," as well as other sources, to review grammar, punctuation, mechanics and usage as needed.

ENGL 201.13 Composition II: Writing the Environment

Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-10:45 a.m.

Paul Baggett

For generations, environmentalists have relied on the power of prose to change the minds and habits of their contemporaries. In the wake of fires, floods, storms and droughts, environmental writing has gained a new sense of urgency, with authors joining activists in their efforts to educate the public about the grim realities of climate change. But do they make a difference? Have reports of present and future disasters so saturated our airwaves that we no longer hear them? How do writers make us care about the planet amidst all the noise? In this course, students will examine the various rhetorical strategies employed by some of today’s leading environmental writers and filmmakers. And while analyzing their different arguments, students also will strengthen their own strategies of argumentation as they research and develop essays that explore a range of environmental concerns.

ENGL 201 Composition II: Food Writing

S17 Tuesday and Thursday 12:30-1:45 p.m.

S18 Tuesday and Thursday 2-3:15 p.m.

Jodi Andrews

In this composition class, students will critically analyze essays about food, food systems and environments, food cultures, the intersections of personal choice, market forces and policy and the values underneath these forces. Students will learn to better read like writers, noting authors’ purpose, audience organizational moves, sentence-level punctuation and diction. We will read a variety of essays including research-intensive arguments and personal narratives which intersect with one of our most primal needs as humans: food consumption. Students will rhetorically analyze texts, conduct advanced research, reflect on the writing process and write essays utilizing intentional rhetorical strategies. Through doing this work, students will practice the writing moves valued in every discipline: argument, evidence, concision, engaging prose and the essential research skills for the 21st century.

ENGL 221.S01 British Literature I

Michael S. Nagy

English 221 is a survey of early British literature from its inception in the Old English period with works such as "Beowulf" and the “Battle of Maldon,” through the Middle Ages and the incomparable writings of Geoffrey Chaucer and the Gawain - poet, to the Renaissance and beyond. Students will explore the historical and cultural contexts in which all assigned reading materials were written, and they will bring that information to bear on class discussion. Likely themes that this class will cover include heroism, humor, honor, religion, heresy and moral relativity. Students will write one research paper in this class and sit for two formal exams: a midterm covering everything up to that point in the semester, and a comprehensive final. Probable texts include the following:

• The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Middle Ages. Ed. Alfred David, M. H. Abrams, and Stephen Greenblatt. 9th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
• The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Sixteenth Century and Early Seventeenth Century. Ed. George M. Logan, Stephen Greenblatt, Barbara K Lewalski, and M. H. Abrams. 9th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
• The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century. Ed. George M. Logan, Stephen Greenblatt, Barbara K Lewalski, and M. H. Abrams. 9th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
• Gibaldi, Joseph. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
• Any Standard College Dictionary.

ENGL 240.S01 Juvenile Literature Elementary-5th Grade

Monday, Wednesday and Friday noon-12:50 p.m.

April Myrick

A survey of the history of literature written for children and adolescents, and a consideration of the various types of juvenile literature. Text selection will focus on the themes of imagination and breaking boundaries.

ENGL 240.ST1 Juvenile Literature Elementary-5th Grade

Randi Anderson

In English 240 students will develop the skills to interpret and evaluate various genres of literature for juvenile readers. This particular section will focus on various works of literature at approximately the K-5 grade level. We will read a large range of works that fall into this category, as well as information on the history, development and genre of juvenile literature.

Readings for this course include classical works such as "Hatchet," "Little Women", "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Brown Girl Dreaming," as well as newer works like "Storm in the Barn," "Anne Frank’s Diary: A Graphic Adaptation," "Lumberjanes," and a variety of picture books. These readings will be paired with chapters from "Reading Children’s Literature: A Critical Introduction " to help develop understanding of various genres, themes and concepts that are both related to juvenile literature and also present in our readings.

In addition to exposing students to various genres of writing (poetry, historical fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, picture books, graphic novels, etc.) this course will also allow students to engage in a discussion of larger themes present in these works such as censorship, race and gender. Students’ understanding of these works and concepts will be developed through readings, research, discussion posts, exams and writing assignments designed to get students to practice analyzing poetry, picture books, informational books and transitional/easy readers.

ENGL 241.S01: American Literature I

Tuesday and Thursday 12:30-1:45 p.m.

This course provides a broad, historical survey of American literature from the early colonial period to the Civil War. Ranging across historical periods and literary genres—including early accounts of contact and discovery, narratives of captivity and slavery, poetry of revolution, essays on gender equality and stories of industrial exploitation—this class examines how subjects such as colonialism, nationhood, religion, slavery, westward expansion, race, gender and democracy continue to influence how Americans see themselves and their society.

Required Texts

• The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Package 1, Volumes A and B Beginnings to 1865, Ninth Edition. (ISBN 978-0-393-26454-8)

ENGL 283.S01 Introduction to Creative Writing

Steven Wingate

Students will explore the various forms of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction and poetry) not one at a time in a survey format—as if there were decisive walls of separation between then—but as intensely related genres that share much of their creative DNA. Through close reading and work on personal texts, students will address the decisions that writers in any genre must face on voice, rhetorical position, relationship to audience, etc. Students will produce and revise portfolios of original creative work developed from prompts and research. This course fulfills the same SGR #2 requirements ENGL 201; note that the course will involve a research project. Successful completion of ENGL 101 (including by test or dual credit) is a prerequisite.

ENGL 283.S02 Introduction to Creative Writing

Jodilyn Andrews

This course introduces students to the craft of writing, with readings and practice in at least two genres (including fiction, poetry and drama).

ENGL 283.ST1 Introduction to Creative Writing

Amber Jensen, M.A., M.F.A.

This course explores creative writing as a way of encountering the world, research as a component of the creative writing process, elements of craft and their rhetorical effect and drafting, workshop and revision as integral parts of writing polished literary creative work. Student writers will engage in the research practices that inform the writing of literature and in the composing strategies and writing process writers use to create literary texts. Through their reading and writing of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction, students will learn about craft elements, find examples of those craft elements in published works and apply these elements in their own creative work, developed through weekly writing activities, small group and large group workshop and conferences with the instructor. Work will be submitted, along with a learning reflection and revision plan in each genre and will then be revised and submitted as a final portfolio at the end of the semester to demonstrate continued growth in the creation of polished literary writing.

• 300-400 level

ENGL 424.S01 Language Arts Methods grades 7-12  

Tuesday 6-8:50 p.m.

Danielle Harms

Techniques, materials and resources for teaching English language and literature to middle and secondary school students. Required of students in the English education option.

AIS/ENGL 447.S01: American Indian Literature of the Present 

Thursdays 3-6 p.m.

This course introduces students to contemporary works by authors from various Indigenous nations. Students examine these works to enhance their historical understanding of Indigenous peoples, discover the variety of literary forms used by those who identify as Indigenous writers, and consider the cultural and political significance of these varieties of expression. Topics and questions to be explored include:

• Genre: What makes Indigenous literature indigenous?
• Political and Cultural Sovereignty: Why have an emphasis on tribal specificity and calls for “literary separatism” emerged in recent decades, and what are some of the critical conversations surrounding such particularized perspectives?
• Gender and Sexuality: What are the intersecting concerns of Indigenous Studies and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and how might these research fields inform one another?
• Trans-Indigeneity: What might we learn by comparing works across different Indigenous traditions, and what challenges do such comparisons present?
• Aesthetics: How do Indigenous writers understand the dynamics between tradition and creativity?
• Visual Forms: What questions or concerns do visual representations (television and film) by or about Indigenous peoples present?

Possible Texts

• Akiwenzie-Damm, Kateri and Josie Douglas (eds), Skins: Contemporary Indigenous Writing. IAD Press, 2000. (978-1864650327)
• Erdrich, Louise, The Sentence. Harper, 2021 (978-0062671127)
• Harjo, Joy, Poet Warrior: A Memoir. Norton, 2021 (978-0393248524)
• Harjo, Sterlin and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs (selected episodes)
• Talty, Morgan. Night of the Living Rez, 2022, Tin House (978-1953534187)
• Wall Kimmerer, Robin. Braiding Sweet Grass, Milkweed Editions (978-1571313560)
• Wilson, Diane. The Seed Keeper: A Novel. Milkweed Editions (978-1571311375)
• Critical essays by Alexie, Allen, Cohen, Cox, King, Kroeber, Ortiz, Piatote, Ross and Sexton, Smith, Taylor, Teuton, Treuer, Vizenor, and Womack.

ENGL 472.S01: Film Criticism

Tuesdays 2-4:50 p.m.

Jason McEntee

Do you have an appreciation for, and enjoy watching, movies? Do you want to study movies in a genre-oriented format (such as those we typically call the Western, the screwball comedy, the science fiction or the crime/gangster, to name a few)? Do you want to explore the different critical approaches for talking and writing about movies (such as auteur, feminist, genre or reception)?

In this class, you will examine movies through viewing and defining different genres while, at the same time, studying and utilizing different styles of film criticism. You will share your discoveries in both class discussions and short writings. The final project will be a formal written piece of film criticism based on our work throughout the semester. The course satisfies requirements and electives for all English majors and minors, including both the Film Studies and Professional Writing minors. (Note: Viewing of movies outside of class required and may require rental and/or streaming service fees.)

ENGL 476.ST1: Fiction

In this workshop-based creative writing course, students will develop original fiction based on strong attention to the fundamentals of literary storytelling: full-bodied characters, robust story lines, palpable environments and unique voices. We will pay particular attention to process awareness, to the integrity of the sentence, and to authors' commitments to their characters and the places in which their stories unfold. Some workshop experience is helpful, as student peer critique will be an important element of the class.

ENGL 479.01 Capstone: The Gothic

Wednesday 3-5:50 p.m.

With the publication of Horace Walpole’s "The Castle of Otranto " in 1764, the Gothic officially came into being. Dark tales of physical violence and psychological terror, the Gothic incorporates elements such as distressed heroes and heroines pursued by tyrannical villains; gloomy estates with dark corridors, secret passageways and mysterious chambers; haunting dreams, troubling prophecies and disturbing premonitions; abduction, imprisonment and murder; and a varied assortment of corpses, apparitions and “monsters.” In this course, we will trace the development of Gothic literature—and some film—from the eighteenth-century to the present time. As we do so, we will consider how the Gothic engages philosophical beliefs about the beautiful and sublime; shapes psychological understandings of human beings’ encounters with horror, terror, the fantastic and the uncanny; and intervenes in the social and historical contexts in which it was written. We’ll consider, for example, how the Gothic undermines ideals related to domesticity and marriage through representations of domestic abuse, toxicity and gaslighting. In addition, we’ll discuss Gothic texts that center the injustices of slavery and racism. As many Gothic texts suggest, the true horrors of human existence often have less to do with inexplicable supernatural phenomena than with the realities of the world in which we live. 

ENGL 485.S01: Undergraduate Writing Center Learning Assistants 

Flexible Scheduling

Nathan Serfling

Since their beginnings in the 1920s and 30s, writing centers have come to serve numerous functions: as hubs for writing across the curriculum initiatives, sites to develop and deliver workshops and resource centers for faculty as well as students, among other functions. But the primary function of writing centers has necessarily and rightfully remained the tutoring of student writers. This course will immerse you in that function in two parts. During the first four weeks, you will explore writing center praxis—that is, the dialogic interplay of theory and practice related to writing center work. This part of the course will orient you to writing center history, key theoretical tenets and practical aspects of writing center tutoring. Once we have developed and practiced this foundation, you will begin work in the writing center as a tutor, responsible for assisting a wide variety of student clients with numerous writing tasks. Through this work, you will learn to actively engage with student clients in the revision of a text, respond to different student needs and abilities, work with a variety of writing tasks and rhetorical situations, and develop a richer sense of writing as a complex and negotiated social process.

Graduate Courses

Engl 572.s01: film criticism, engl 576.st1 fiction.

In this workshop-based creative writing course, students will develop original fiction based on strong attention to the fundamentals of literary storytelling: full-bodied characters, robust story lines, palpable environments and unique voices. We will pay particular attention to process awareness, to the integrity of the sentence and to authors' commitments to their characters and the places in which their stories unfold. Some workshop experience is helpful, as student peer critique will be an important element of the class.

ENGL 605.S01 Seminar in Teaching Composition

Thursdays 1-3:50 p.m.

This course will provide you with a foundation in the pedagogies and theories (and their attendant histories) of writing instruction, a foundation that will prepare you to teach your own writing courses at SDSU and elsewhere. As you will discover through our course, though, writing instruction does not come with any prescribed set of “best” practices. Rather, writing pedagogies stem from and continue to evolve because of various and largely unsettled conversations about what constitutes effective writing and effective writing instruction. Part of becoming a practicing writing instructor, then, is studying these conversations to develop a sense of what “good writing” and “effective writing instruction” might mean for you in our particular program and how you might adapt that understanding to different programs and contexts.

As we read about, discuss and research writing instruction, we will address a variety of practical and theoretical topics. The practical focus will allow us to attend to topics relevant to your immediate classroom practices: designing a curriculum and various types of assignments, delivering the course content and assessing student work, among others. Our theoretical topics will begin to reveal the underpinnings of these various practical matters, including their historical, rhetorical, social and political contexts. In other words, we will investigate the praxis—the dialogic interaction of practice and theory—of writing pedagogy. As a result, this course aims to prepare you not only as a writing teacher but also as a nascent writing studies/writing pedagogy scholar.

At the end of this course, you should be able to engage effectively in the classroom practices described above and participate in academic conversations about writing pedagogy, both orally and in writing. Assessment of these outcomes will be based primarily on the various writing assignments you submit and to a smaller degree on your participation in class discussions and activities.

ENGL 726.S01: The New Woman, 1880–1900s 

Thursdays 3–5:50 p.m.

Katherine Malone

This course explores the rise of the New Woman at the end of the nineteenth century. The label New Woman referred to independent women who rebelled against social conventions. Often depicted riding bicycles, smoking cigarettes and wearing masculine clothing, these early feminists challenged gender roles and sought broader opportunities for women’s employment and self-determination. We will read provocative fiction and nonfiction by New Women writers and their critics, including authors such as Sarah Grand, Mona Caird, George Egerton, Amy Levy, Ella Hepworth Dixon, Grant Allen and George Gissing. We will analyze these exciting texts through a range of critical lenses and within the historical context of imperialism, scientific and technological innovation, the growth of the periodical press and discourse about race, class and gender. In addition to writing an argumentative seminar paper, students will complete short research assignments and lead discussion.

ENGL 792.ST1 Women in War: Female Authors and Characters in Contemporary War Lit

In this course, we will explore the voices of female authors and characters in contemporary literature of war. Drawing from various literary theories, our readings and discussion will explore the contributions of these voices to the evolving literature of war through archetypal and feminist criticism. We will read a variety of short works (both theoretical and creative) and complete works such as (selections subject to change): "Eyes Right" by Tracy Crow, "Plenty of Time When We Get Home" by Kayla Williams, "You Know When the Men are Gone" by Siobhan Fallon, "Still, Come Home" by Katie Schultz and "The Fine Art of Camouflage" by Lauren Johnson.