Tag: Prompts

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A Big Pot of Prompts

A poetry friend and I used to send each other prompts, ten at a time. She was a prolific writer and could write poems for all ten of my prompts pretty much in a day. I used to take one or two of them, and it would take me a week. But I have had poems published that were written from those prompts.

But I noticed during that process that it’s so much easier to write prompts for someone else than generate ideas for yourself. I think  you just relax and let your mind go for it. So, to prove my point, I’m going to write as many prompts as I can in ten minutes. Feel free to dig in if one of them grabs you!

 

  • Think of someone you know who doesn’t seem to quite fit in. What do you imagine they are thinking?
  • Imagine that you wake up in an alternate reality, very close to our own but subtly different. What is the difference? Does it make this reality better or worse?
  • Think about a part of your body you don’t usually give a second thought to. Express your admiration for it.
  • Think about a path. Where is it going to or from? Who might travel it?
  • Imagine you are reading a prophecy. What does it say? Do you want it to come true? Do you not? Why?
  • Write a poem about spices. How do their tastes relate to the way you feel?
  • Write a poem about something below your feet.
  • Which animal do you most feel like today? Describe yourself as that animal.
  • Imagine you are hiding. What are you hiding from? Where are you hiding? What will it take for you to come out?
  • Think about spinning. Wheels, the earth, your mind. Imagine if the spinning stopped for just a second. What would that second be like?
  • Imagine someone is filming a documentary about your life. How would the script sound?
  • Write a personification poem in which you are a vehicle. Does the vehicle enjoy what it does? How does it feel when it is still? How does it feel when it is moving?
  • Think about a negative emotion you felt recently. Describe it, but only in positive terms..
  • Imagine the two most unlikely people who could swap roles. What would happen if they had to?
  • Write a poem in which you die but discover that dying is not all it seems.
  • Write a poem in praise of your favourite food or drink.
  • Describe your favourite sound or sounds.
  • Describe your most treasured possession. Why do you love it?
  • Imagine you are a creator god. What would be your current assessment of your creation?
  • Think about repetition. What would  you do again and again and again if you had the chance? Why? How does your body feel doing this? How does your mind feel?

So there you go! Twenty prompts in ten minutes. (Yes, alright, I jotted them down in ten minutes and then typed them up — I’m not superhuman!) OK — back to not having a clue as to what to write about…

 

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It’s National Poetry Writing Month – Need Some Prompts?

National Poetry Writing Month is approaching fast! Here’s a little self-prompting technique that might just help you to write (or at least start) thirty poems in April.

There are three reasons why writing poetry in April is a good idea.

1 – It’s spring!

2 – It’s always a good idea to write poetry

3 – It’s National Poetry Writing Month

National Poetry Writing Month – or #NaPoWriMo* will see thousands of poets challenging themselves to write a poem a day.  For me, the main issue with this is having thirty ideas, when normally, I have a good idea for a poem once every week or two. Thirty in a row is going to be TRICKY!

There will be daily poem prompts up at www.napowrimo.net to help – but I don’t know about you, I’m a bit contrary and find the idea of a thousand other people writing on the same theme off-putting.

So I thought I’d share my most failsafe self-prompting technique, which I’m planning to use when stuck. It’s really simple, and it really has worked for me in the past!

1.  Choose a novel with a similar feel to poems you like to write

If you like fun poems, choose a fun novel. Romantic poems… you get the drift. I like writing surreal poems, so I chose “The Lefthanded Booksellers of London” by Garth Nix.

2. Randomly extract an adjective, then randomly extract a noun

Stick your finger somewhere random in the book, then read on until you find the FIRST adjective. Repeat, but with a noun. Write them down. My first effort brought me “minor path”.

3. Write a couple of lines inspired by that little phrase. 

It can be as directly or indirectly about it as you like. Don’t think about it too hard. Just give yourself a minute or two.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 four more times

That’s it! Ta-da! You now have a little pot of five poem starters, rather like this:

You don’t have to use them all, and you can repeat the exercise with all kinds of different books through the month – maybe include some non-fiction books as well.

I’ve already got most of a poem from my “minor path” prompt. Actually the poem ended up completely going away from the idea of paths at all but… it got me started.

Good luck and happy writing!

 

* This always reminds me of that joke about what Edward Woodward would be called if the letter D hadn’t been invented. #EWarWooWar

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