Editing Prose (section)

== Qualities ==
Prose usually lacks the more formal metrical structure of the [[Verse (poetry)|verse]]s found in traditional [[poetry]]. It comprises full grammatical sentences (other than in [[stream of consciousness]] narrative), and paragraphs, whereas poetry often involves a [[meter (poetry)|metrical]] or [[rhyme|rhyming]] scheme. Some works of prose make use of rhythm and verbal music. Verse is normally more systematic or formulaic, while prose is closer to both ordinary, and conversational speech.

In [[Molière]]'s play ''[[Le Bourgeois gentilhomme]]'' the character [[Monsieur Jourdain]] asked for something to be written in neither verse nor prose, to which a philosophy master replies: "there is no other way to express oneself than with prose or verse", for the simple reason that "everything that is not prose is verse, and everything that is not verse is prose".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2992/2992-h/2992-h.htm |title=Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme |work=English translation accessible via Project Gutenberg |access-date=2010-01-31}}</ref>

American novelist [[Truman Capote]], in an interview, commented as follows on prose style:
{{Quotation|I believe a story can be wrecked by a faulty rhythm in a sentence— especially if it occurs toward the end—or a mistake in paragraphing, even punctuation. [[Henry James]] is the maestro of the semicolon. [[Ernest Hemingway|Hemingway]] is a first-rate paragrapher. From the point of view of ear, [[Virginia Woolf]] never wrote a bad sentence. I don't mean to imply that I successfully practice what I preach. I try, that's all.<ref name=Hill1>{{cite journal|last1=Hill|first1=Pati |title=Truman Capote, The Art of Fiction No. 17|journal=The Paris Review|volume=Spring-Summer 1957|issue= 16|url=http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4867/the-art-of-fiction-no-17-truman-capote|access-date=18 February 2015}}</ref>}}

=== Types ===
{{See also|Prose types}}
Many types of prose exist, which include those used in works of [[nonfiction]], [[Prose poetry|prose poem]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RzunYckU4woC | title=Great American Prose Poems | publisher=Simon and Schuster | author=Lehman, David | year=2008 | isbn=978-1439105115}}</ref> [[alliterative prose]] and [[Literature|prose fiction]].

* A prose poem – is a composition in prose that has some of the qualities of a poem.<ref>{{cite dictionary| url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prose%20poem|title=Prose poem|dictionary=Merriam-Webster|access-date=2012-05-27}}</ref>
* [[Haikai prose]] – combines [[haiku]] and prose.
* [[Prosimetrum]] – is a poetic composition which exploits a combination of prose and [[verse (poetry)|verse]] (''metrum'');<ref name="braund">[[Susanna Braund|Braund, Susanna]]. "[http://www.paulyonline.brill.nl/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/prosimetrum-e1010870 Prosimetrum]". In Cancil, Hubert, and Helmuth Schneider, eds. ''Brill's New Pauly''. Brill Online, 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2015.</ref> in particular, it is a text composed in alternating segments of prose and verse.<ref name="pepp1">Brogan, T.V.F. "Prosimetrum". In Green et al., pp. 1115–1116.</ref> It is widely found in Western and Eastern literature.<ref name="pepp1" /> 
* [[Purple prose]] – is prose that is so extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw excessive attention to itself.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Word a Day – purple prose |url=http://www.wordsmith.org/words/purple_prose.html |website=Wordsmith.org |access-date=26 December 2014}}</ref>

===Divisions===
Prose is divided into two main divisions:
*[[Fiction]]
*[[Non-fiction]]