MONDAY PROMPT/ August 2
This week’s prompt
This week we’re going to try to mix up our writing life and we’ll start the process with a little poetic introspection.
Take a look at your last dozen or so poems and study them to find any common elements. Sure, you might have been working to different prompts, but do your recent poems share any structural components?
- Are they narrative poems or do you tend to write to the surreal?
- Do have they have short or long line lengths?
- Do you write in stanzas or not?
- Are they first or third person? Or otherwise?
- Do you tend to be direct or indirect?
- Is there a predominant theme in your work?
- Do you play with spaces or punctuation or write in sentences?
- What kind of word choices do you make? Concrete, romantic, whimsical?
Take some time, maybe a day or two, and think about these (or similar) questions and your poetry.
Now take your poem’s most consistent characteristic and this week try to write from its “opposite.”
- Do you mostly write in third person? Try first person. (Try a persona in first person if it’s too uncomfortable to write so “personally.”)
- Do you write in metaphor? Yay you! But this week try writing a piece that uses a little less metaphor, or perhaps a subtle metaphor.
- Change up line length – and change the pacing of the poem by paying attention to sound and meter, even if you are not working to a formal form! This alone can shake things up in significant ways.
- Do you always write free verse with lines? Try a prose poem instead.
- Do you write about relationships? Write an ode to an inanimate object.
The idea is to try something different from your usual style. Something that feels a little awkward, kind of like writing with your “other” hand. See if stretching different poetic muscles doesn’t release new creative juice.
If you feel like you need a prompt-prompt to get started, as in a topic or subject matter, try to rewrite a poem that you aren’t very happy with, but that you sense has some good stuff inside it using one (or more) of these switch-ups.
And then, of course, come back starting Friday and let us know your results (and how the experience worked for you).
How prompts work under the Big Tent
We post prompts on Mondays, and you have all week to write your poems, based on our fabulous prompt or any other inspiration. Come back on Friday when you will find a “Come One, Come All” post where you can use the comments section to 1) leave a link to your poem or 2) leave the poem in its entirety.
You’ll have all day Friday (and all weekend!) to post your work and read each others’ work. Take your time. Enjoy all the poems that are new to the world.
Some hints
Hint: We’ve set Big Tent Poetry to Central Time.
Hint: An easy way to check on new post comments is with RSS reader, if you use one. Here’s the address: http://bigtentpoetry.org/comments/feed.
Hint: Since we’re a new site, and you’re new to it, your comment(s) will be held for moderation for your first few posts. We’re checking the filters often, so don’t despair! That said, if it takes more than a half a day to see it come live on the site, do email us at info (at) bigtentpoetry.org. (But be patient, okay?)
Circus etiquette
We figure you know how to play in the poetry community, but here are the basics:
Be nice. Have fun. Remember we aren’t a critique forum. We want to support each other as we bring more poetry into our lives. Only provide critique if someone specifically asks for it.
Although we love seeing our badge in the sidebar of your blog, we would appreciate it if you would also link back to the site in each of your poem posts. Linking within your post helps people travel back and forth from your site to the Big Tent Poetry site, and it helps perpetuate Big Tent Poetry “findability” in Google searches — and that helps us all.
Wow, that’s got me thinking. I suppose that was your intention. But it may take a while to come up with something that goes against the grain. Thank you for the stimulus.
I’m looking forward to doing this prompt. For people’s information, I am sending “blogger invitations” out to people who regularly exchange comments with me. I am limiting access to my blog to people I choose (which, of course, would be all of you) for a time, as I have had a few problems. If anyone doesn’t get a blogger invitation and wants one, somehow communicate with me (here?) what your email address is so we can continue to interact.
I started laughing the moment I saw the prompt because I started writing a poem yesterday that goes directly against the grain of my ‘usual’. And by the way, ever since I started here, I’ve been finding myself moving with ease against the boundaries of my too long established comfort zone. I love it and thanks.
Elizabeth
This shall be VERY good for me! The kind of stretch you’re asking for is harder then Yoga!
Thank you.
Oh! I’m so glad you guys think this is a good prompt. (I always worry a tad!)
i really, really like this prompt… well, truthfully i like em all!!… thought provoking and challenging… hopefully something shall manifest into a post….
i love this great idea! i would really love to write something different. i’m glad i found your site. i might be able to join you on friday. i have your link on my sidebar already. =)
Welcome, PinkLady, to the Big Tent. Glad you found us!
What I love about this is it makes me get very logical and technical with my poetry before going in and getting so… well, poetic again.
I have been missing the early in the month poetry challenges that used to happen (unless they have started again here and I didn’t notice) and this reminds me of the Spa. I enjoyed the heck out of that, even if my “non sacred” poems weren’t very successfully “non sacred”.
:-) Nice way to put it!
The mini-challenges haven’t started back up yet, but there is keen interest in them, from all! I’m hoping that once summer and it’s vacations and all are over that we might see them from Carolee & Jill. Fingers crossed.
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Hmmm…I did one that’s not my usual style.
Boat in the dark
http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/sunday-news-flash-plus-awards/
awards for you.
;)