Highways and Backroads - The Poetry of Prose

You see to keep the short story short we need to rely on poetic technique. Density of language, the use of metaphor, imagery, symbolism. Every word counting and every word, phrase, sentence, working harder than ever. That way we can put more into a shorter space. Same number of words, more complexity.

Prose has always used the same elements of poetry but in a less heightened way. Rhythm, rhyme, they are all in there. The longer the work the more space we have to tie things together - to link and interlink - highways and backroads - the more room to explore -

Dead Beat warns you, you need to be able to write poetry to write prose. You need to be able to write prose to write poetry. Carver might tell you, they are one and the same.