prosecentered

Prosecentered is an adjective used to describe works, styles, or approaches in which prose constitutes the primary medium or focus. It indicates a preference for sustained written narration and the craft of sentence-level writing over alternative forms such as poetry, visual storytelling, or highly typographic experimentation.

In literary criticism, a prose-centered work emphasizes narrative prose, syntax, rhythm, and diction, often shaping its effect through paragraph structure and voice rather than verse, stage directions, or graphic elements. Critics may contrast prose-centered texts with poetry-centered or image-centered works to highlight different governing principles of form.

The term also appears in discussions of writing pedagogy and editorial practice. In long-form journalism, essays, and instructional texts, a prose-centered approach prioritizes clarity, cohesion, and readability, guiding sentence length, cadence, and paragraph breaks.

Origin and usage: Prosecentered is a coinage formed from prose and centered, and is not yet a widely standardized term in major dictionaries. It tends to surface in scholarly articles, literary blogs, or editorial discussions as a descriptive label rather than a formal category.

Related concepts include prose style, narrative prose, and text-forward writing. The label remains context-dependent and may carry different implications in literary criticism, digital publishing, and instructional design.