This Monday the writing prompt was to write a haiku. As I was creating the prompt, I realized often I write with no particular style at all. I utilize different poetic devices, but I don’t utilize a lot of different poetry forms.
What about you? Do you generally write freestyle poems, or do you perform forms? Would you like to try more poetry forms as writing prompts?
And if you didn’t get a chance to, check out this week’s publication opportunity.
See you in the comments!
Families can be so different. Some put the “fun” in dysfunctional. Others have created who systems to avoid conflict and confrontation. Each of us, whether we want to admit it or not come from some background.
For the longest time I was very hesitant about writing about my family. I was afraid I would say too much, or say too little. I didn’t want to start an argument. Gradually, I’ve realized that I need to write about them for myself.
Do you write about your family in your poetry or do you avoid the topic all together? Let’s talk about it.
This week’s writing prompt is Daddy Issues. And if you didn’t get a chance to, check out this week’s publication opportunity.
See you in the comments!
Articles and blog posts I can submit to anyone. At anytime. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much. I don’t hesitate. I’m never afraid. If rejection happens, it’s just happens. I shake it off, go on to the next one.
When it comes to poetry, it’s like I’m over someone my sensitive underbelly to be poked and prodded. It’s too personal. Too inherently me. Even when it doesn’t seem like it’s about me, I leave a trace of myself on the pages. Rejection becomes a major factor. Fear holds me back. I push through it, because I feel like the end result could make it worth it.
But the nerves never fade.
What about you? Does submitting poetry fill you with fear? How do you push past it? Tell me about it in the comments.
If you want to try to get past that fear, every Thursday we post a publishing opportunity. We try to cover different types of publications looking for different kinds of poetry.
This week’s prompt is to write something that’s happy. Check it out here.
When I initially started writing poetry, it was because of a boy. Not the happy bits where I was so excited to get to know him and everything was magical. The hard parts where I felt like he’d ripped open my chest, snatched out my heart, and bludgeoned it with a brick.
Oh teenage angst, how I don’t miss thee.
But this did seem to start a precedent for me. I tend to draw on the sadder, darker moments for poetry. It helps me to process the moment, sure, but it also seems like an easier well for me to draw.
What about you? Do you write more about sad moments? Are the happy things that make your pen move for your verses? Or are emotions more of a part of the journey rather than a destination for your poetry?
If you have a poem that’s about a goodbye, be sure to share it for this week’s prompt.
I was thinking about poetry written for an audience of children. I don’t think I’ve written like that before. There’s a complexity to children’s poetry that is kind of surprising. With Dr. Seuss, we think of bright colors, nonsensical words and phrases. Silly things. But when you think about the messages Theodor Seuss Geisel was imparting:
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You’re on your own,
and you know what you know.
And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
-from Oh the Places You’ll Go!
you see the true depth of the work. Letting children know they can be whoever they want. It’s all up to them.
How hard it must be to write so simply.
Have any of you tried your hands at writing children’s poetry? Have you looked back and read a Shel Silverstein quote and thought, wow that’s so much more significant than I though.
“There are no happy endings, endings are sad-so let’s have a happy beginning and a happy middle.”
― Shel Silverstein, A Light in the Attic
Let’s not let this conversation end. I’ll see you down in the comments!
I generally just write poems which are justified left. There’s a white space between each stanza. The lines are generally short and choppy. Lately. It’s how the words happen and usually I don’t think a lot about how the poem looks as being a vehicle for meaning.
I started thinking this week. Sometimes the poetry isn’t just about the words. The design of the poem can have just as much meaning. Length of lines, the white space, where the lines are places on the page, if the lines create a space. So, the words aren’t just a player, the way the lines themselves are formed can change the meaning or heighten it.
An example of an interesting use of space:
e.e. cummings – [l(a]
l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
When you look at the poem, you’re able to extract two thoughts: loneliness; a leaf falls. The leaf falling is in the loneliness and how it moves down the page resembles a leaf falling to the ground.
Do you tend to create a poem that has a default look like I do, or do you play with the shape, the white space, etc? When you read poetry, do you take notice of how the poem is spaced or shaped? And if you have any examples of poetry that uses white space in an interesting way, definitely share it.
I’ll meet you in the comments!
I make sure no matter what that I have a stenopad with me. Always. There’s one on the floor beside my bed. If I’m on my way, I stick one in my purse. I know if I don’t, I’ll need it. Need it for what? What other profession or habit does one take with her “just in case” other than maybe reading?
I think some people call this journaling. Writing observations about the world, writing down bits of a line, a flash of poetry in my pad. I’ve always thought of them as notes.I am a copious note taker. I’ve filled pads with them, one book (so far), and dozens of other ways that I’ve used these notes.
Do you have a place where you take notes? Is it more journaling for you? What kind of things do you write in there?
See you in the comment!
The Reverie 