Prompts Inspired by and Publishing Resources from Jason B. Crawford

Hi all, I’ve started a blog post with prompts but wanted to include a friend’s artwork. My photos of the pictures didn’t turn out, so she will send me the original photos and I will have another blog post coming soon.

So instead I wanted to share a spreadsheet of contests and submission deadlines that Jason B. Crawford kindly posted.

I so appreciate their generosity. Check out their website if you would like to read their poetry, which I cannot recommend enough. My God, “Ode to the Soil” is amazing.

For the first prompt, write an ode to something normally considered mundane or unlovely. Surprise yourself (and your readers) by viewing the subject with a new lens.

The next prompt is to use “But you, you greet every body like a new / meal” as a ghostline, but have the “you” be something other than the soil or a grave or anything associated with death. Remember to erase the line and credit the poet.

For the third prompt, describe in a poem or story what you (or a character) would make if you/the character pushed out all the sorrow from within.

The final prompt is address a poem to a historical figure beginning or ending with the line “All this to say, I am jealous of your lack of / remorse.” Remember to use quotation marks around or italicize the line and give credit to the poet.

Good luck submitting! Have fun writing!

Mother’s Day—Prompts Inspired by Diane Seuss

Happy Mother’s Day if you celebrate it. If not, there’s always Mothra.

I love how unsentimental this Diane Seuss poem is, all without losing tenderness, and the opening lines are so, so good.

For the first prompt, make a list of all the places in which you had called out for your mother or wished for safety and see where that takes you, in either a story or poem.

The second prompt is to find a way to incorporate diarrhea or other messy biological function within a serious poem because I was so amazed by Chen Chen incorporating shitting into a love poem. And this poem certainly does that, and also so effectively connects a cesarean with peeling peaches.

For a third prompt, use the last line “Do you see how I persist in telling you about the flowers when I mean to describe the rain” for a ghostline. Remember to erase the line and give credit to the poet.

This last prompt is to write a poem or story using the following words: “pool,” “knife,” “flesh,” “caves,” “ground,” “underbelly,” “train,” “layer,” “solitude,” “dresses” and “rain.” Try to use the nouns as verbs and vice versa.

Bonus prompt: Write a “Happy Mothra Day” poem.

Good luck! Have fun writing!

World of Poetry Reading video

Here is the link to the recording of the World of Poetry reading. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks!

Let’s Start Editing Those 30/30 poems!

So you’ve written 30 new poems or five or none or you have a backlog of poems you’ve set aside. Great! It’s good to let them sit for a while and look at them again with fresh eyes.

There are all sorts of “rules” to writing and editing. But rules are often annoying and unnecessarily restrictive. Look at what others recommend and find what strategies work best for you.

This shirt sums up my attitude towards prescriptive guides, but I thought these recommendations were good guidelines to consider as well as Carmen Giménez Smith’s suggestions. Honestly, I love learning about the processes amazing writers use.

For me, reading poems aloud, particularly to other people (sorry, Don and friends!), helps me find the rough spots—the convoluted wording, problematic line breaks, missing words and confusing grammar/syntax. Even better is to have someone else read your poem aloud—that will really show whether the line breaks and structure work on the page for a reader.

Perhaps the admin for the UN’s account should have had someone read over the hashtags. Oops!

Btw, I once used IUD instead of IED in a poem—not the kind of imagery I’d intended—so I can sympathize.

For line breaks (my weakest area for years), try to end on a strong verb or image. If you are rhyming in your poem don’t let the end rhyme dictate the entire line, or you may lose the necessary surprise. With all the focus on the end words, it’s easy to let articles and prepositions build up for the first word of your lines. See what you can rearrange or cut.

Titles, oof. Remember that they need to hook readers. Ask yourself if you would choose to read this poem if its title were listed on a table of contents with other poems. Try to use the title to give additional context to the poem without giving spoilers. Yes, this can be difficult to balance. It’s all practice and developing your own voice/style and strategies. Some poets use the title as the first line of the poem, which can be fun. It can be helpful to look to the center or maybe three or four lines from the bottom of a poem to find its “heart” (I am unsure who recommended this, perhaps Alexis Rhone Fancher, but I heard it in Eric Morago’s workshop).

Also remember that your first lines will determine whether someone will continue reading. It’s often hard to really get a poem started, and I often need an on-ramp to the “real” poem. If this is the same for you, see what you can cut. And try not to include too much in one poem.

While you need to pull a reader in, don’t forget that the last lines are the lens through which the entire poem will be remembered (this is I heard in Brendan Constantine’s workshop).

Back to cutting, you will often hear the phrase “kill your darlings.” It may ease the pain if you keep a document of cut lines to use later.

Make sure the form fits your message. If you are using a single column, perhaps try couplets or quatrains. Experiment to see what works best for you.

Most of all, keep reading and find what you like. Try to expand beyond just a few poets or one style of writing and borrow techniques from many writers so that you develop a unique voice. And listen to yourself. In a recent workshop, I received conflicting advice on what lines to cut for an editing exercise (cutting from a 40-line poem to a 20-line poem to just 10 lines). I listened and appreciated the suggestions, but I was the one who decided. At other times, I just hand a poem over. I learn a lot that way too.

Ultimately, you need to listen to yourself. Some of the advice I’ve received was counterproductive because the readers/listeners didn’t understand my intent. As I’ve developed as a writer, I’ve found that unhelpful advice is often a sign that I hadn’t succeeded and need to rework a section. Sometimes people just like different kinds of poetry, and that is the beauty of writing and reading: there is something out there for everyone.

If a poem or story still isn’t working for you, remember everyone has had that same experience at least once—this blog post for example.

For today’s exercise, create your own cheat sheet for editing. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, make a list of what you should consider first for a deep revision and then a final check for grammar and minor issues. Take that list and use it to revise a particularly rough poem that you wrote at least a week ago.

As with refilling a beanbag chair, things can go all over the place. Good luck with pulling it all together.

Have fun editing!

World of Poetry event tomorrow!

I am so excited to be included. It will be televised live in the morning California time, but evening in Bangladesh. I will post the link for the recording tomorrow or the next day. I hope you will join. <3

Last Day of 30/30–Final Prompt and Inspiration

Congratulations whether you wrote 30 poems, one, or none. We have made it through another month, another day, and still want to write. That is success. So let’s celebrate one of the best poems ever.

For your first prompt, write about your pet, the sillier the better. Bonus points if you provide a drawing.

The second prompt is to write a limerick or equally fun poem to end the month on.

And the last prompt for the month is to write an instructional manual for your writing process. After you finish, erase words or phrases so that the reader is forced to fill in those blanks.

Good luck and be good to yourself!

Cabbage Dreams—Twitter Prompt

We all had dreams of being professional baseball players, ballerinas, singers or perhaps, less realistic, dragons as I did. For many of us these dreams faded, but perhaps rather than dissipating they‘ve been absorbed into the environment.

For the first prompt, describe what happened to one of your dreams and what sprouted from it. Or focus more on the plant. Did all of your childhood hopes grow into an apple tree? Describe the taste of your dreams.

The second prompt is to begin with a childhood memory of cooking or eating a particular food with family, shift into a realization or correction of a previous misunderstanding and end with a callback to that food or memory of family.

For the last prompt, write a persona poem from this cabbage dancer.

Good luck writing! Have fun!

Ekphrastic Prompt Stolen from Chen Chen

Happy Sunday and happy 23rd day of 30! Let’s start the week (or celebrate the weekend) with a prompt from Chen Chen and write an ekphrastic poem.

For a second prompt, reimagine the world in which humans never left the oceans, that it is dolphins and other sea creatures who became our partners/helpers in civilization. Will we be kinder, wiser, or will be tool-wielding sharks?

For a third prompt, describe what creature you wish could carry you and where do you want to go.

So of course this painting made me think of Catbus of My Friend Totoro. So for another prompt, take a character from the movie and write a narrative poem from that character’s perspective.

And a bonus prompt:

Instead of the Knights of the Round Table, what group would meet around this table? Or make it an ekphrastic. Your choice. Rule wisely

Good luck and have fun!

Cheating Off of Todd’s Test—Stolen Prompts

I freaking love Todd Dillard’s prompts, so I am posting a couple here. Btw, he has entire threads of prompts. This first one is one I hope to write today:

I love how these instructions can push me into a new direction, and sometimes I need a poem recipe rather than a think-of-something-blue kind of suggestion. And even the title is included! By day 22, I need this kind of help.

And because I am not a totally ungrateful asshole, here is his website where you can find his poems, which I love.

Good luck and have fun!

Write that Tree Poem—Stolen Prompt

I am terribly behind on prompts (and poems), so here is one from Perugia Press. I will have another post up this weekend. Sorry, everybody!

We are often told to avoid writing about the moon or trees, but a new approach or angle can create a surprising poem. Good luck!

Carry Us through April—Prompts Inspired by Joy Harjo

If you are keeping up with writing a poem every day this month, then congratulations. If you are like me, then perhaps we will catch up, and even if we don’t we have been writing and reading other poets, celebrating their techniques. So let’s turn to a great poet and poem to keep us motivated.

Joy Harjo’s “The Creation Story” is so lovely that I would like to dwell within some of its stanzas, although my house is also in danger of stones that I myself am throwing. I found Twila Newey’s photograph of the poem—with its burst of light at the corner—perfect.

The first prompt is more of a Mad Lib writing exercise rather than a prompt; the resulting poem will be too close to the source material for it to stand alone unless you revise significantly.

• Take the first stanza and replace “love” and “light” with your own nouns.

• For the second stanza substitute your own dependent clause for “when my entrails dangle…”

• In the third, replace “ashamed” with your own adjective and the infinitive phrase with your own.

• Keep the first line of the fourth stanza but change the rest.

• In the fifth, replace “stars” and “words” with your own nouns, choose a location other than “house” and substitute “calcium” and “blood” with your own ingredients.

• Repeat the location and list what threatens it for your sixth stanza.

• The seventh stanza is your own blessing or prayer or wish.

• The last line follows the structure but replace “transfix” and “love” with a different verb and noun.

See what you have now. If one of the stanzas seems to work for you—and you have changed the structure and the language significantly enough—use that for your first line(s). Do still give an attribution to the poet.

The second prompt is to create a list of couplets, pairs of what you either do or do not fear and unexpected consequences. Vary the wording and structure from the original but do credit the poet for your inspiration.

The third prompt is to describe what you want your words to do—to carry another through a day, to plug the hole in a levee, to prick a careless reader, what?

Good luck!

Anthology Launch This Tuesday!

I am happy to be included in the Anaheim Poetry Review anthology and will be at the launch Tuesday the 11th at 5pm.

Abecedarian Your Saturday—Prompts Inspired by Laura Kolbe

I love the abecedarian form—it offers so many possibilities. Although a very old form that can be found in religious texts, the abecedarian with its lines, or even stanzas, arranged in alphabetically, has fabulous modern examples, such as Natalie Diaz’s “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation.”

Your first prompt is to write your own abecedarian. Abecedarians are often relegated to poems for children, but they certainly can have dark themes and complex structures. Nor do they need to be acrostics, as Laura Kolbe demonstrates in her “Buried Abecedarian for Intensive Care.”

The second prompt is to explain a medical procedure or to define a related set of medical or scientific terms. Use repetition and play with the structure. See what happens when you use quatrains or couplets and then compare to a single stanza or a prose poem. What works best for you and why?

For a third prompt, use the line “when you hope the machine lied” for a ghostline. Or perhaps use another of my favorites “when the gauze smells like gin and tonic” or one that resonates with you.

Good luck writing!

Todd Dillard’s Poem Recipe—A Prompt

Todd’s instructions will lead to a better poem than many of those I’ve written, so write this. Modify the ingredients as necessary though: name a different music group or list an album, cite a mathematical theorem, and/or describe a moment of shame.

Bonus prompt: use a recent photo you took that contains a reflection of yourself and write an ekphrastic (your image may be indistinct).

Bonus bonus prompt: use this photo for an ekphrastic poem, emphasizing texture.

Good luck with 30/30!

Happy 1/30!–Borrowed Twitter Prompt from Jared Beloff

This is the first day of the 30/30 challenge for National Poetry Month and my brain is mush, so here is A poem prompt from Jared Beloff.

Bonus prompt: If you were a plant in a nursery, what would your label be? That is your title. Now go!

Good luck!

Tomorrow Starts NaPoWriMo: 30 Poems in 30 Days

Yes, another April is upon us. It is National Poetry Month, full of readings, celebration, and the challenge to write a poem every day for the month. Of course, you can cut off the last half of the month in your calendar, but technically you need to write thirty to win the cash prize (there is no prize except the reward of writing every day).

Check out the official site for this year’s prompts and those from previous years!

Other poets and writing organizations will also be providing prompts, so I will posting links to their websites and events. I will try to post extra prompts, but I will be writing or editing a poem every day (mostly editing since I need to finish my manuscript).

For preparation, here is a bonus prompt: take your favorite poem (or one of your favorites—I can never choose just one) and use for a ghostline its fifth line (or a line somewhere in the center, likely the heart of the poem, whatever line most resonates with you). Remember to erase and credit the poet.

Remember you do not need to write 30 GOOD poems, just 30 poems. That’s why May is the unofficial month of editing (or every month after until the next April). And, if you write one more poem than you usually do in a month or fewer poems but these are ones you are happier with, you have succeeded. I am revising (pun intended) the challenge to include editing older poems, many from previous 30/30s.

The true challenge is just to keep writing and having fun! Good luck!!!

Rescue Attempts—Prompts Inspired by Daniella Toosie-Watson

Some of my favorite memories of my daughter are her attempts to rescue insects from drowning or falling. That impulse to save a helpless creature is perhaps what is best in us, or what we wish for ourselves as Daniella Toosie-Watson observes.

The first prompt is to think back to a time when you tried to rescue a creature and describe the event. Once you’ve finished, write from the perspective of the rescued. Intersperse those perspectives. See what happens.

For another prompt, use the line “To reach out and not imagine myself the” and finish it with something other than “God.” Make sure to italicize the line and credit the poet.

For the third prompt, use the first line “I couldn’t let it drown. I ripped off a piece” as a ghostline for the beginning of a poem or short story. Remember to erase the line and credit the poet.

The next prompt is to describe who or what you would save if you were God and how would you do so. The narrower your target probably the better.

This is a photo of a Luna moth I found floating in the Buffalo River on a windy day. I had managed to save a bee earlier, but the moth was already drowned. It was so beautiful I tried to preserve its body and took it home with me.

For your final prompt, write a poem or story about that same impulse, but replace the moth with another creature. See where it takes you (dark, dark places).

Good luck writing!

Happy World Poetry Day!

It is so easy to get caught in our small circles with little exploration of writers in other countries. I certainly am guilty of that. One of the fascinating experiences of getting invited to participate in an international event with poets reading in multiple languages was recognizing the emotion behind a poem even if I did not understand the words. The music spoken carried across continents.

Here is a poem shared by Ilya Kaminsky, whom I admire deeply. I hope you enjoy the poem as much I do.

Good luck writing and reading today!

Sonnet a Memory to Preserve—Prompts Inspired by Marilyn Nelson

I often joke about how poor my memory is—that if I were to develop dementia or Alzheimer’s, there’d be no difference. I suppose we must laugh at what we fear if we are to live a moment of peace in the present.

I adore this Marilyn Nelson’s poem—its unexpected imagery and precise language, but most of all, its recognition of the inevitability of age and memory lapses and its adamant refusal to lose the speaker’s beloved.

For the first prompt, write a poem using the line “and something mushrooms from nothing to now” as a ghostline. Remember to delete the line after you’ve finished the poem and give credit to the poet with an “after Marilyn Nelson” or with a similar method.

For the second prompt, write a response to the poem from the perspective of the speaker’s “dear.” Try to respond with a sonnet if you can.

For a third prompt, write a poem or short story using the following word list: “labyrinth,” “mushrooms,” “vapor,” “trace,” “remains,” “cumulus,” “flame,” “oblivion,” “cloud,” and “wave” but try to switch the nouns to verbs and vice versa.

For another prompt, create an erasure poem from an abstract (or the actual article) from a scientific journal. Remember to only delete, not add words or rearrange their order. See what happens.

Bonus prompt: write about clouds however you wish.

Good luck writing!

Ways to Say I Love You—Prompts Inspired by a Generous Friend and by Tara Skurtu

It can be hard to show how much we care about someone else or understand the trust another has in us. Despite our essential loneliness, we are entangled in one another, and those ties create such beauty and strength. Recently I received a message from a friend that brought me joy. I do not believe I have ever helped her as much as she has helped me, but I am grateful she thinks I have. If I could, I would slip into each nightmare to fight the monsters, find her missing clothes or book report, and catch her as she falls. And she would do the same.

For the first prompt, write a poem or story about a dream in which another person rescued you or brought you comfort, or how you would enter their dreams to rescue them. Try to keep the logic of a dreamworld intact.

The other prompts are inspired by this poem by Tara Skurtu, which is a favorite of mine. I like it so much I may have already used it in a previous post. Perhaps what I love best are the two individual lines—how they create a turn in the poem—and the line breaks: “dead then alive again, twirling” and “Today I did. Walked into your morning / shower.”

For the second prompt, write about a moment when you showed someone how much you loved them. Or write about someone offering you their love and trust. How did you respond?

For the third prompt, use the line “It’s hard to say I need you enough” as a ghostline. Remember to erase the line and credit the poet for your inspiration. Or you may use the line as your title but still credit Tara Skurtu.

The fourth prompt is to write a new poem or take an old poem and arrange it in couplets but have at least one single line that represents a turn. Experiment with the sonnet form if you like. Often reorganizing a poem into a new form can help with eliminating unnecessary lines or finding the actual heart of poem.

The final prompt is another ghostline (appropriately enough for this line): “And you were gone, like that.”

Good luck writing. And good luck showing how much you love and need the people in your life. Bring them joy.