Chapter 17 Line Breaks

Formal integrity and haunting poetic beauty are of paramount importance. It is the responsibility of the Newspoet to maintain high standards of formal integrity. In addition to the Responsible Scansion guidelines, the Newspoetry Policy and Procedures on Formal Integrity in Poetry and Prose sets forth the following limitations which apply to all Newspoets. Line breaks are those inexplicable carriage returns, or, as is relevant to electronic political poetry, break tags or paragraph tags (stanza breaks).

Newpoetry staff members appointed for any period of time other than on a twelve-month basis are allotted no line breaks except for specific approved poetic forms. They must write, therefore, only prose. Full-time Newspoetry staff members appointed on a twelve-month basis receive twenty-four line breaks per appointment year; part-time Newspoetry staff members appointed on a twelve-month basis receive twenty-four line breaks at the percentage of their appointment (based on an eight-hour day) per appointment year. Line breaks are arranged to accommodate the convenience of the Newspoet with the approval of the unit leader. A maximum of forty-eight line breaks may be accumulated and carried over into the new appointment year. During a partial-year appointment, line breaks are prorated. Line breaks used in the composition of poetry written in forms approved by the unit leader, are considered a part of the annual allowance.