“Is it possible to write a poem or are these words just screams of outlaws exiled to the desert?”

—  Dejan Stojanovic

“Is It Possible to Write a Poem?”
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “Is It Possible to Write a Poem”

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Dejan Stojanovic photo
Dejan Stojanovic 278
poet, writer, and businessman 1959

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“Don’t just write words. Write music.”

Gary Provost (1944–1995) American writer

Context: This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.

Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.

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