09-08-2011, 07:45 AM
Leanne,
True. Every rule is a guideline. I mostly see the preposition/conjunction breaks done by people who are doing it by "gut feel". It's one of the classic know the rule before you break it thing. Everything has to be a deliberate choice. It may turn out to be a poor choice but it should always be a choice. I do like the white space thing sort of an extended stanza/strophe break. There are times that that can be really effective. I think you're dead on on variety. You need to try to be surprising. If your reader can be lulled and they begin reading your poem like its a long car ride and they can't remember the last ten miles than you've lost something important.
True. Every rule is a guideline. I mostly see the preposition/conjunction breaks done by people who are doing it by "gut feel". It's one of the classic know the rule before you break it thing. Everything has to be a deliberate choice. It may turn out to be a poor choice but it should always be a choice. I do like the white space thing sort of an extended stanza/strophe break. There are times that that can be really effective. I think you're dead on on variety. You need to try to be surprising. If your reader can be lulled and they begin reading your poem like its a long car ride and they can't remember the last ten miles than you've lost something important.
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson