Try This Writing Prompt to Get the Creative Juices Flowing!
Writers working on projects that are destined to be published\u2014to be read\u2014can struggle with nerves. \n\n\n\nWe edit our words before they have a chance to breathe on the page.\n\n\n\nWe hold back our true feelings and opinions.\n\n\n\nWe forget to play with language.\n\n\n\nSerious Writers Need to Play\n\n\n\nI tend to encourage my clients to move toward practical goals, to create work that is going to be published. \n\n\n\nBut at the same time, I also encourage writers to play, to get past the gates we put in front of ourselves and try to tap into those first thoughts without fear of being misunderstood. \n\n\n\nIf you're a writer taking yourself a little too seriously, I have just the thing for you today\u2014a writing exercise you can play with in your writing journal, where nobody will see it. \n\n\n\nThe Creative Writing Exercise: A Three-Line Poem\n\n\n\nThis one comes from Imaginative Writing by Janet Burroway. When you're done, you'll end up with a three-line poem (24).\n\n\n\nEach of the lines has a template you can follow. \n\n\n\n\u27a4 Line 1: abstraction + verb + place\n\n\n\n\u27a4 Line 2: describe attire\n\n\n\n\u27a4 Line 3: summarize an action\n\n\n\nHere's one of her examples.\n\n\n\nHunger yells in the hallway, draped in cymbals; he stomps and shouts, "Hear me now!" \n\n\n\nNotice how she plays with the template. \n\n\n\nLine 1: \n\n\n\n"Hunger" is the abstraction"Yells" is the verb"In the hallway" is the place\n\n\n\nLine 2: "Draped in cymbals" is her way of describing some attire. \n\n\n\nLine 3: "He stomps and shouts, 'Hear me now!'" describes action.\n\n\n\nIt's okay if your poems come out a little weird or kooky. That's part of the fun of it. \n\n\n\nYour Turn: Try It!\n\n\n\nYou're putting together ideas and images and creating something fresh\u2014have fun with it! \n\n\n\nDon't overthink the noun, the verb, or the action. Simply play.\n\n\n\nJoin Others in The Art & Craft of Writing\n\n\n\nThis offers a taste of some of the exercises we are going to play with in The Art and Craft of Writing.\n\n\n\nIf you're reading this before August 29, 2022, you have a chance to sign up for a fall intensive I'm running: an eight-week program designed to help you get input on your writing while you learn literary techniques and put them into practice. You'll get eyes on your work from peers in the cohort and from me, as well!\n\n\n\nIf you're coming across this information after the fact, go to annkroeker.com/acw, which will take you to the page where you can sign up if it's live or get on the waitlist if it's not.\n\n\n\nYou don't have to wait for that or even be in the program to play with writing. You can start today, with this three-line poem.\n\n\n\nWhile you're playing with your own words in your writing notebook, you don't have to share anything with anybody. It's just a chance to warm up\u2014to get the creative juices flowing. \n\n\n\nCreative Writing with Your Coach\n\n\n\nThat said, maybe it helps to know that this writing coach loves to play with words. \n\n\n\nWould you like to see what I came up with, just for fun?\n\n\n\nHere's one:\n\n\n\nIdeas skid across my path; jaunty in their tilted caps and leprechaun-green suits, they dance a jig, daring me to catch them. \n\n\n\nHere's another:\n\n\n\nTime slithers under the bedroom door,its wrinkled skin sloughing offas it scrapes the wood and leaves me behind, guilty of pressing snooze once more.\n\n\n\nExperiment, Play, and (if you want) Share Your Poem\n\n\n\nIf you end up writing your own three-line poem and like the way it turned out\u2014and you wouldn't mind sharing it publicly\u2014drop it into the comments below. Or you could share it with me privately via email.\n\n\n\nI'd love to see what you come up with. \n\n\n\nAs writers, we do the work of writing, but by experimenting with a creative writing exercise now and then, we can also play.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFootnote: Burroway, Janet. Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft. Pearson, 2015. Page 24.