Prompt 12 - in one breath

Find a word in the dictionary that inspires you. Write a short poem inspired by it. Take a deep breath and read it out loud. If it's too long to read in one breath, edit. Make it shorter. The one-breath poem. Imagine being able to emit poems each time you breathed out...

Prompt 11: Four Lines

Write or type these four lines* at random onto a page…

“its kneading mouth”

“forgive me”

“arms full of fire”

“they were delicious”

Then go back to the top of the page and start writing, being aware as you do that you will need to incorporate these lines into whatever it is you are writing.  Resist the urge to move them from their spot on the page.  If you can’t make it make sense, then so be it.  If you can let go of a need to control and let in a bit of chaos, who knows what might happen.

If you'd like to share what you've written, however rough or polished, post it on your blog and leave a comment below with your post's url.  At least one of us will come over and read it.

Thank you.

*These lines come from two poems, Dylan Thomas's Ceremony After a Fire Raid and William Carlos Williams' This is just to say.

Prompt 10 - the empty page

Sometimes making the first mark on a page is daunting. Sometimes I prefer not to write, for fear of messing it up. 'Messing it up' is only an inevitable part of the process that's really more productive than not.

Take a sheet of A4 paper and a pen. Begin to write until you have filled the page ...both sides of it even, why not? Don't think before-hand. Don't have any expectations. Don't edit. Just write. See where your pen and your instinct take you. Only stop when the page is full. Have a read through. Put it away for a few days. Have another look. Is there anything you'd like to work with and develop further? Then do. If not, that's fine, it was still an exercise in over-coming the fear of the white page.

If you feel like playing along, then post up what you've written on your blog and leave a message in the comments here - one (or both) of us will be over to read what you've written.

If you have any ideas for future prompts then let us know, we'd love to hear them and would of course credit you with it should the prompt be used.

Prompt 9: A Mixed Bag

Write down:

1 or 2 things you do everyday

a memorable place you don’t get to visit very often

a member of your family you don’t know very well

a member of someone else’s family

Write something that incorporates all these elements in 500 words or less.

Tip: When you start writing, don’t worry about the word count.  But once it’s finished, try and get it edited to a 500 word version that feels complete. 

If you'd like to share what you've written, however rough or polished, post it on your blog and leave a comment below with your post's url.  At least one of us will come over and read it.

Thank you.