Whether it’s the sweep of a stanza or the careful construction of a scene, there’s a curious intimacy in the act of writing. For years, I was a poet first. My early writing life was laced with line breaks, metaphor, and breath. And much of my prose still is! Though I now straddle the worlds of poetry and prose, it was poetry that first whispered the secrets of storytelling into my ear.

If you’re a fiction writer looking to improve your craft, let me share this: poetry might just be your greatest ally. In this post, I’ll explore how writing poetry taught me to write better fiction, and how it can do the same for you.

Poetry made me fall in love with language again

When I first began writing poetry, it was all about the feel of the words in my mouth. Poetry demands attention to the granular. The shape of a syllable, the weight of a pause. It trains your ear to listen, not just to what is said, but how it’s said.

This linguistic sensitivity transformed how I wrote fiction. No longer were my sentences simply vessels for plot, they became textured, musical, living things. Dialogue gained rhythm. Descriptions sparkled. Pacing grew tighter and more deliberate.

Tip for fiction writers: Read your prose aloud. If it trips the tongue or falls flat, a poetic ear can help re-tune your sentences until they sing.

Poetry taught me the power of the unsayable

One of the most potent lessons poetry offers is restraint. Poets know that what’s not said can be just as powerful as what is. A line break, a white space, an image left unexplained—these tools leave room for the reader to feel, infer, participate.

In fiction, it’s so easy to over-explain. Every motive, every metaphor spelled out, just in case the reader missed it. But poetry taught me to trust the reader’s intuition. To let subtext breathe. To embrace the unsaid.

In your fiction: Instead of telling your reader how a character feels, can you show it with a single evocative image? Could a metaphor carry the emotional weight?

Poetry sharpened my editing skills

In poetry, editing is essential. A poem is a distillation; a world in a thimble. Every word must earn its place. This ruthless economy taught me to cut with clarity and intention. It made me fearless about trimming the fluff.

(This is something I’m definitely still working on!)

When I applied this to fiction, my drafts began to breathe. Scenes felt tighter. Dialogue snapped. Descriptions carried more punch with fewer words. Learning to edit like a poet made me a far stronger novelist.

Try this: Take a chapter of your fiction and edit it as if it were a poem. Ask: Is every word necessary? Could I say this more elegantly? More precisely?

Poetry gave me a new perspective on character

Poetry isn’t always narrative, but when it touches story, it does so with depth and immediacy. A poem often captures a character in a single breath; a gesture, a contradiction, a whisper of longing. It taught me to see people not just as vehicles for plot, but as living, breathing metaphors of human experience.

In fiction, this deepened my characterisation. Instead of outlining traits, I asked: What image sums this person up? What does their silence say? What contradictions live within them?

Character exercise: Write a poem about your character—from their perspective or yours. It can be messy, abstract, strange. But it might unlock something truer than a character sheet ever could.

Poetry expanded my speculative imagination

Speculative fiction thrives on what-ifs, on bending the real into something wondrous or unsettling. And what better training ground for that than poetry? A single poem can make a mountain speak, or conjure a god from dust. Poetry taught me to build worlds in just a few lines—worlds that feel strange yet emotionally precise.

When I moved into speculative fiction, I didn’t want worldbuilding to feel like an info-dump. I wanted it to feel like mood. Like myth. Poetry helped me root fantasy in feeling, and it helped me translate surreal concepts into something visceral and believable.

For speculative writers: Try describing your world as if it were a dream you half-remember. What colours linger? What sounds echo? Let poetry guide the atmosphere.

Poetry made me braver

In poetry, you write with your whole self. There’s nowhere to hide. That kind of honesty – raw, strange, lyrical – seeps into your fiction over time. Suddenly, you’re writing weirder, truer stories. You’re no longer chasing trends but tapping into something uniquely your own.

For me, poetry gave me the courage to write speculative fiction that leaned into the uncanny. It helped me fuse myth and metaphor, to weave emotion into fantastical settings. Poetry whispered: Trust your voice. Be wild.

To all fiction writers out there: Let your weird out. Poetry teaches us that there’s beauty in the strange, in the overlooked, in the half-said. Fiction needs that same courage.

Final thoughts: why every fiction writer should read (and write) poetry

Even if you never publish a poem, the act of writing them will shape you. It will sharpen your tools, heighten your awareness, and deepen your storytelling. If you’re looking to improve your fiction craft, consider poetry your secret apprenticeship. I still do it regularly, even if it’s just a little haiku here and there. I post quite a few of them on my Instagram!

Here are a few simple ways to start:

• Read one poem a day. Let the language seep in.
• Write a poem before each writing session as a warm-up.
• Choose a short story and reimagine it as a poem. What changes?
• Attend a local open mic or poetry reading—immerse yourself in spoken word rhythm.
• Keep a ‘poetry journal’ of striking lines or images to inspire fiction scenes.

You don’t have to choose between poetry and fiction. Let them hold hands. Let them teach each other. And most importantly—let them teach you.

So, can poetry help me to be a better fiction writer?

Yes. Yes, yes yes! Because f you’re googling any of the following questions, this post was written with you in mind:

• How can poetry help me write better fiction?
• What’s the link between poetry and prose?
• How to write better dialogue?
• How to improve characterisation in fiction?
• How to tighten and edit fiction writing?
• What creative writing exercises help develop my fiction voice?
• How to write speculative fiction with emotional depth?

Poetry holds answers to all of these. All you have to do is put pen to paper, and try.

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Want more tips on writing across genres and exploring the emotional heart of your stories?
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