Some of my favourite lines are:

"Observe the language well in all you write,
And swerve not from it in your loftiest flight."

Anytime I’ve tried to alter or ignore proper grammar or diction it only received “huh?” from people I’ve shown my work to. I used to try to use certain nouns as verbs, and now I avoid it. I’m not saying one can't break the rules, but for beginners like me, it just looks like I don't know what I’m doing.

"In short, without pure language, what you write/
Can never yield us profit or delight."

Similar to the last point, but I think because language is a common set of characters we use to communicate, sticking to arrangements everyone can understand easily will produce happy readers.

"Take time for thinking; never work in haste;/
"And value not yourself for writing fast.

"A rapid poem with such fury writ,/
"Shows want of judgment, not abounding wit."

I’m still sticking to the “for every 50 words of the final manuscript spend one hour writing rule.” I find that writing fast and furious for a draft is good for the right brain, but that's only the beginning.

"More pleased we are to see a river lead/
"His gentle streams along a flowery mead,
"Than from high banks to hear loud torrent roar,
"With foamy waters on a muddy shore."

Ben Nyberg once said something like the point of fiction isn't to blow the reader out of his seat, but to keep him glued to it.

"Gently make haste, of labour not afraid:/
"A hundred times consider what you’ve said"

The old writing is about re-writing. In drawing it is similar: Once you draw the portrait, you start examining it for problems. Something wrong with the nose? Find out what: To long? To dark? To wide? Then comes in the eraser and a new line is drawn. Better? Worse? Still needs work?

"Polish, repolish, every colour lay/
"And sometimes add, but oftener take way."

The first advice my writing mentor gave me: cut, cut, cut. Sometimes I think this is better said: cut and condense. The less words use to express a thought is usually the better.

"‘Tis not enough when swarming faults are writ,/
That here and there are scatter’d sparks of wit;/
For each object must be fix’d in due place,/
And differing parts have corresponding grace:/
Till, by a curious art disposed, we find/
One perfect whole, of all the pieces join’d."

This is great. The beginning describes a typical first draft for me, with “scatter’d sparks of wit.” The editing process is just about pulling them out and putting them in the right space so each word has “corresponding grace.”

I’m going to memorize this poem (entire copy below).

In creativity rising,

John

THE ART OF POETRY

A poetic guide to writing by John Dryden

Observe the language well in all you write,/
And swerve not from it in your loftiest flight./
The smoothest verse and the exactest sense/
Displeasure us, if ill English give offence:/
A barbarous phrase no reader can approve;/
Nor bombast, noise or affectation love./
In short, without pure language, what you write/
Can never yield us profit or delight./
Take time for thinking; never work in haste;/
And value not yourself for writing fast./
A rapid poem with such fury writ,/
Shows want of judgment, not abounding wit./
More pleased we are to see a river lead/
His gentle streams along a flowery mead,/
Than from high banks to hear loud torrent roar,/
With foamy waters on a muddy shore./
Gently make haste, of labour not afraid:/
A hundred times consider what you’ve said:/
Polish, repolish, every colour lay/
And sometimes add, but oftener take way./
‘Tis not enough when swarming faults are writ,/
That here and there are scatter’d sparks of wit;/
For each object must be fix’d in due place,/
And differing parts have corresponding grace:/
Till, by a curious art disposed, we find/
One perfect whole, of all the pieces join’d.

-=-=-

John Dryden (1631-1700) was an English poet laureate and considered one of the most important dramatists of his time. After joining the Church of Rome he was deprived of all his pensions and honours when William and Marry succeeded James II.

There's much that can be taken from poetry writing and applied to story writing -- and vice versa.