They do not exist.

I'm sorry to all the 'prose poets' out there, but you're just shams.
Prose and poetry are opposites, which is why they're been seperated into their own categories for centuries.
Prose is a solid chunk of text, seperated into sentences and paragraphs. It's what the majority of writing is considered.
Poems have line breaks, stanzas, they are 'broken prose.' Poetry includes sonnets, haikus, and song lyrics.
The problem with Prose Poets is that they've cleverly noticed that a singular paragraph of writing isn't enough to be published, and instead of expanding on it or breaking it down and creating a real poem from it, they decide to be 'abstract' and 'radical' by calling it a prose poem.

I say no. That's just a load a crap.
There may be such a thing as prose with lyrical quality, rhyme, meter, etc (I know, I've done it) but that is not a poem. Poems, by definition, have stanza and line breaks. 'Prose poems' don't even have the decency to decide what they are...

Anyone got a thought?

Since this is one of those places... I figured I'd lay down my two cents about the issue of Fanfiction.

Now, to be completely fair, there is such a thing as good Fanfiction. Stories that don't try to rearrange plotlines, change characters, insert impossibilities (couples, situations, etc), and that are generally interesting and well written. The unfortunate truth is that I've only ever found one of these Fanfictions, and that was a few years ago.

It's not just the fact that they are being unoriginal that bothers me, it's mostly just... everything.
1. Characters who would never, EVER get into a relationship with anyone for any reason are suddenly falling in love left and right, usually with custom characters that are supposed to represent the author.
2. Impossible plotlines are introduced into the world that was otherwise perfectly content with its own limits, or people really go for the kicker and try to twist the existing plotline into something unrecognizable. Either way, it pains me.
3. Changing other aspects about main characters already introduced in the real story. Something like, I dunno, Ishida from Bleach wearing gang clothes or something. It's just wrong.
and, of course...
4. Unoriginality. While I fully support diving into someone's world and tinkering around in an unused portion of it, most fanfictions rely heavily upon the existing plotline and characters instead of doing something innovative and daring.

Now, as I said, I know not all Fanfics are like this, but it's just the majority. And it bugs me...

I read this a while back at http://www.sfwa.org/writing/genre2.htm and it raises an interesting problem.
... So-called "literary" novels (I really really hate that term, because it implies that anything not made according to that model is not "literary," i.e., not art and not worthy of the attention paid to art, but we're stuck with the phrase until something better comes along) . . .

So, what should we call these literary novels? Should they be mainstream (aah, but that would imply that most people are buying these, and they're selling at a greater rate than other genres, which I don't think is entirely true)?
Any other ideas?

  You know what really sucks? Posts and messages written with bad grammar in mind about no interesting topic.
Like: hey wat up? u g2g or ul be a losr hahaha ur dum
  I'm so glad we haven't got any of that here.

This ought to get some attention... maybe. At least I hope it does. Here goes.

Free Verse is not poetry. Free verse is some ass rambling on and pressing the 'enter' key whenever it looks convenient. And though it doesn't go hand in hand with free verse, 'I'm Crazy' poetry is also not poetry. It's stupidity. No, blood is not good, no there aren't voices in your head, yes you're just starved for attention. 

Besides, using poetry to get attention is old school. Especially 'dark' (Translation: Idiotic) Poetry. It's hilarious that noncomformist poets are just conforming to a different social group. 

Back to the point. Free verse is not poetry because it generallly lacks poetic elements. Metaphor and simile appear occasionally, but meter and rhyme don't. Therefore, it's not poetry... you can't leave out elements and still call free verse poetry. It'd be like me writing a short story that was four thousand pages long and saying 'it's a short story, just without the short'.

Thoughts?

Have any of you tried to create a fantasy or synthetic language for characters or a culture in a story?
How did you go about it?
I used to make languages based around our standard english alphabet, minus certain redundant letters (w, x, c, y, etc.).
When I read the thesis on language creation at http://www.angelfire.com/ego/pdf/ng/lng/ , I found that there's a lot more to it than that.

I didn't even knopw about fricatives, affricates, approximates or any of that stuff before reading this.

The genre that about which I've heard the most naysay is romance, without a doubt. Harlequin stuff. What I want to know is why? 

I know why I don't like many romance novels. Ordinary plots with stock characters, impossible situations portrayed as real-life situations, and (ladies pardon me for this one) I've always hated the 'strong, independent, modern woman who is in control of her life' character. That's usually the main character, of course. The reason I dislike them so much is because they're manipulative and egotistical, sexist, and rude. 

What do you think?

I think the literary genre of forum posts sucks out loud. It is a genre devoid of book covers and binding, paper, and completely lacks for professionally mundane artwork. Plus, it's just too sporadic.

Alright, here's a leap of faith. 

I think that Tolkien's fantasy sucks... unless the writer is J.R.R. Tolkien himself.

I look at the massive success that Tolkien's work has achieved, (much akin to George Lucas' by the way) and I think that, in a lot of ways, the myth has grown larger than the man. Especially now that those godforsaken movies are out, the hype machine has caused Tolkien's world to become a worldwide phenomenon of mass gathering, much like a large-scale bug zapper.

I once sat down and tried to figure out why the Middle-Earth thing became so popular. It hit me quite suddenly, that it was not the characters (who were largely forgettable, stock characters) or the story itself (which was also largely unoriginal if one has ever read norse mythology)... it was the setting. Not the elves and treefolk and various taken-from-mythology races, but the detailed social system existing on Midgard, I mean, Middle-earth. It was the political heirarchies, the history behind something as insignificant as a group of hairy short people who liked maps. The setting was rich with background on just about everything, which allowed a person to sink into that world. That is the true magic of fantasy.

Now, I told you that to tell you this. Standard fantasy stories that rely largely on the magical characters and their powers and interaction, while moving them around in a standard setting, just don't have that pizzazz. This is why Tolkien elves irritate me so much... because they're his, not yours. I think that the way to make a good story, is to base it in a good place.

Moral: Don't just borrow someone else's fantasy world. 

Just trying to get things started.