Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

How would I extend a line in poetry?

+0
−0

I'm writing a villanelle as a school project and one of my lines is too short. Can somebody give me tips on how to extend the line?

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/42676. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

1 answer

+0
−0

A line that refuses to be the right length is one of the struggles with writing poetry. Here's how I (try to) deal with it.

Consider what it is you're saying, in that line, and in the lines around it. Can you use different words to express the same idea? Can you replace a word with a longer synonym? For one syllable, can you add some interjection, like 'oh' or 'lo!'? If you're lacking more than one syllable, perhaps you can add some sort of 'and X'? Can you add an adjective to a noun, or an adverb to a verb?

In the end, it all boils down to try to say the same thing using different words.

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »