Do you remember your nursery rhymes?

Write Poetry

Who hasn't written a poem before? Even once? I believe most people go through a phase in life and it pushes them to pen a poem; ok, or something that resembles a poem.

At an early age, we have been exposed to poems. Remember the nursery rhymes? They're poems. Someone put melodies on them so adults can sing the rhymes to little kids and the little kids can remember them easily.

You've probably written a poem of some sort in the past. Whether you write poems for fun, for personal reasons, or for publication, here are 3 poetry prompts you can try out:

1. I Am. For each of the letters in your first name, think of at least 3 positive adjectives. Next, go over your adjective list and circle the ones that describe you best. Then use those adjectives for your "I Am" poem. 2. A Quinzaine. Quinzaine is from the French word quinze, which means "fifteen." A quinzaine is an unrhymed verse having 3 lines and 15 syllables. Line 1 gives a statement and the remaining 2 lines ask a question that relates to line 1.

Here's the form: line 1 - 7 syllables
line 2 - 5 syllables
line 3 - 3 syllables

And here's an example of a quinzaine:

Sun's radiance shuns shadows
Will the morning steal
the darkness?
3. The Object Poem. Choose an object. Next, list down the reasons you think the object you chose represents you (or your personality). From your list of reasons, which one is the most powerful? Which one conveys the strongest image of yourself? Once you've chosen your main image, list at least 10 things that support this main image. Build your poem from there.

Copyright © Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

About Shery: Shery is the creator of WriteSparks!™- a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks!™ Lite for free at http://writesparks.com

Comments

The Time to Start Writing is Now! (1st published on Utah Children's Writers)

I teach writing for my local college's continuing educational program. I love meeting with beginning writers each week and sharing the basics. However, I'm always surprised to find many of them haven't even sat down to write the story building inside them or at least log the ideas they have for story lines. So my advice to you today if you want to start down the road of becoming a writer...The Time to Start Writing is Now! Some Idea Starters For beginning writers (and something I learned when I studied at the Institute of Children's Literature), I have found using visual aids to spark an idea is always a great way to begin the process of writing. You can do this to draft an actually short story or book for submission to just using it as a writing exercise. Study the pictures I have below or pick one of your own from a magazine, old photo album, etc. Study the pictures and select one that appeals to you most. Also, keep in mind your target readership with pi...

The Multiplied Benefits of Journaling

Do you keep or have you kept a journal or diary? If so, you probably already know some of the benefits of journaling because you've experienced them. You know that your journal helps you make sense of the senseless side of your life. A journal can be an emotional lifesaver when you go through a hard time. But did you know that scientists believe journaling can even keep you physically healthy? The release of pent-up emotions you pour into your journal every day actually helps reduce the symptoms of arthritis and asthma, and strengthens your immune system. This really makes sense if you consider that much illness is exacerbated by stress, and a journal is one of the best stress reducers out there. Journaling gives you a record of your emotional growth like no other. While it can be useful at times to be able to look back and see just when your neighbor moved in or when you started suffering from headaches, the intangible changes in you can be even more fascinating to look back...

Is Research Really Important in Fiction Writing?

In a lot of the writing groups and conferences I've been to the topic of research has come up from time to time. There are many different opinions on the subject, and many will tell you research is only necessary when you are writing about something you know very little to nothing about. But is this really the case and if it is, does your writing suffer from not doing research all the time? After writing many short stories and picture books for young readers, my opinion on doing research might be very different from yours. I have always felt research is critical no matter how much I know or don't know about a certain subject. There is always something I learn each time, even on topics I know a lot about as things are always changing, and changing fast sometimes these days. However, I thought I was just one of the weird writers out there feeling this way until I took a research workshop with James Patterson, who had this to say about research. "Research really he...

VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Search This Blog