10/19/18

No Frills Prompt 48

Prompt: Remove words from the following selection of text to make it your own erasure poem.

"Treating an adult like a child, or infantilization, creates a cycle of dependence in which the adult constantly needs to be told what to do and how to do it. The negative effects of infantilization on older adults, as when younger healthcare workers call them “cute” or “honey,” are well-documented as involving accelerated loss of functioning. Infantilization also causes resentment in the target. You probably know this feeling quite well if you’ve been treated in a patronizing manner by someone younger than you, if not in a medical setting, then perhaps at a store counter. “Let me show you this, sweetie,” would be such an example. In additional to feeling less than competent, you probably also feel insulted and resentful.

Even in children, infantilization can have negative consequences. Imagine you have a young daughter who’s just learned to tie the laces on her sneaker. She definitely takes longer to do this than it takes you. You’re in a rush to get her out the door, though, so you continue to tie her shoelaces in the morning just to save those precious moments. By taking over this task that she now is able to complete on her own, you’re reducing her sense of autonomy, even though you’re doing so for a perfectly legitimate reason. Eventually, with enough practice when you’re not rushed, she will become an accomplished shoelace-tier and this will no longer be an issue. "

from "Why Narcissistic Parents Treat Their Children Like Babies" in Psychology Today.

I just tried it and I am quite happy with my poem called 'an infantalization cycle'.

10/18/18

10/15/18

9/18/18

No Frills Prompt: 45

Prompt: 50 seems like the time to do some sort of soul-searching exercise, but if you're expecting it, you're building up callouses and it won't be the sort of raw that the best poems ad stories are. SO:

For today's prompt: Take one moment that you hold in your deep vault of embarrassment, and imagine a day when it could go the other way. Make it your best day ever. Be realistic. You're not Ironman, but you could totally be the man/woman of the day. Write your own fanfic. Do it well. Tomorrow revisit the piece and tweak it.

9/12/18

9/11/18

9/10/18

9/9/18

9/8/18

9/7/18

9/6/18

6/24/18

6/23/18

6/22/18

6/21/18

6/20/18

6/18/18

6/17/18

No Frills Prompt 30

Prompt: Erasure. By removing many words create a piece from the following text. Remove as many letters as you're like, even parts of words, but keep the text linearly the same (as in, don't rearrange anything, only delete). This is a selection from the current wikipedia article for Emeralds. Make it your own. Whether you only leave 15 words, or you have a sprawling flash narrative about Opticon, the Stone Agent, copy-paste the following text into your word processing software and start forming a piece. I personally like pasting the text twice, and leaving the first one untouched so you can refer back to it if you might want to change an impulse deletion, but that's just me.

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Treatments
Most emeralds are oiled as part of the post-lapidary process, in order to fill in surface-reaching cracks so that clarity and stability are improved. Cedar oil, having a similar refractive index, is often used in this widely adopted practice. Other liquids, including synthetic oils and polymers with refractive indexes close to that of emeralds, such as Opticon, are also used. These treatments are typically applied in a vacuum chamber under mild heat, to open the pores of the stone and allow the fracture-filling agent to be absorbed more effectively.[10] The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires the disclosure of this treatment when an oil treated emerald is sold.[11] The use of oil is traditional and largely accepted by the gem trade, although oil treated emeralds are worth much less than un-treated emeralds of similar quality. Other treatments, for example the use of green-tinted oil, are not acceptable in the trade.[12] Gems are graded on a four-step scale; none, minor, moderate and highly enhanced. These categories reflect levels of enhancement, not clarity. A gem graded none on the enhancement scale may still exhibit visible inclusions. Laboratories apply these criteria differently. Some gemologists consider the mere presence of oil or polymers to constitute enhancement. Others may ignore traces of oil if the presence of the material does not improve the look of the gemstone.[13]

Origin determinations
Since the onset of concerns regarding diamond origins, research has been conducted to determine if the mining location could be determined for an emerald already in circulation. Traditional research used qualitative guidelines such as an emerald’s color, style and quality of cutting, type of fracture filling, and the anthropological origins of the artifacts bearing the mineral to determine the emerald's mine location. More recent studies using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy methods have uncovered trace chemical element differences between emeralds; even emeralds mined within close proximity to one another. American gemologist David Cronin and his colleagues have extensively examined the chemical signatures of emeralds resulting from fluid dynamics and subtle precipitation mechanisms, and their research demonstrated the chemical homogeneity of emeralds from the same mining location and the statistical differences that exist between emeralds from different mining locations, including those between the three locations: Muzo, Coscuez, and Chivor, in Colombia, South America.[25]

6/16/18

6/15/18

6/14/18

6/13/18

6/12/18

6/11/18

6/10/18

6/9/18

6/8/18

No Frills Prompt 21

Prompt: Right-click the following Wikipedia roulette and open it in three times in new tabs. Try to use all of the things you are linked to together in a piece, but at least use two of them in the same piece. Try to avoid just having them be throwaway references. Make them core to the story/poem even if it makes you think a bit longer on what you're writing. But also, just write it. You got this!

6/7/18

6/6/18

6/5/18

6/4/18

No Frills Propmt 17

Prompt: Erasure. By removing many words create a piece from the following text. Remove as many letters as you're like, even parts of words, but keep the text linearly the same (as in, don't rearrange anything, only delete). This is the current wikipedia article for ancient cats in Egypt. Make it your own. Whether you only leave 15 words, or you have a narrative about the character Mau... copy-paste the following text into your word processing software and start forming a piece. I personally like pasting the text twice, and leaving the first one untouched so you can refer back to it if you might want to change an impulse deletion, but that's just me.

Cats (Felis silvestris catus), known in ancient Egypt as "Mau",[1] were considered sacred in ancient Egyptian society. Based on recent DNA comparisons of living species, it has been estimated that cats were first domesticated from the Middle Eastern subspecies of the wildcat about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent.[2][3] Thousands of years later, the peoples in what would later be Upper and Lower Egypt had a religion centred on the worship of animals, including cats.[not verified in body]

Praised for controlling vermin and its ability to kill snakes such as cobras, the domesticated cat became a symbol of grace and poise.

As domestication was not as steadfast with cats as today, wealthy families would often curate examples of well bred felines, show them, and pride themselves in the coloration and behavioural adaptations that are seen in today's organized shows.

The goddess Mafdet, the deification of justice and execution, was a lion-headed goddess. The cat goddess Bast (also known as Bastet) eventually replaced Mafdet, and Bast's image softened over time and she became the deity representing protection, fertility, and motherhood.

As a revered animal and one important to Egyptian society and religion, some cats received the same mummification after death as humans. Mummified cats were given in offering to Bast.[not verified in body] In 1888, an Egyptian farmer uncovered a large tomb with mummified cats and kittens. This discovery outside the town of Beni Hasan had eighty thousand cat mummies, dated after 1000 BC.[not verified in body] The punishments for harming cats were severe.


Cat's Head, 30 BC to third century AD Bronze, gold. Brooklyn Museum

Cat with Kittens, c. 664-30 BC or later. Bronze, wood. The Egyptians associated the female cat’s fertility and motherly care with several divinities. The base of the statuette of Cat with Kittens is inscribed with a request that Bastet grant life, directly linking the cat pictured here with the goddess Bastet. Brooklyn Museum
Cats were one of the most recognizable species in Egyptian culture and were domesticated much later than dogs.[citation needed] Two types of smaller cats appeared in ancient Egypt: the jungle cat (Felis chaus) and the African wild cat (Felis silvestris libyca). The African wild cat was domesticated from the Predynastic Period onward.[4] Wild cats naturally preyed upon the rats and other vermin that ate from the royal granaries. They earned their place in towns and cities by killing mice, venomous snakes, and other pests. They were worshipped by the Egyptians and given jewelry in hieroglyphics.[citation needed]

Small cats would often be found underneath women's chairs on reliefs, evoking fertility and sexuality. The other variety of cat, the lion, was also prevalent in Egyptian culture.[citation needed] Although most lions receded to the south around the Predynastic Period, lions were rare in pharaonic times, but were extremely important in Egyptian iconography. Lions represented royal authority because of their aggressive nature and power.[5]

6/3/18

6/2/18

6/1/18

5/31/18

No Frills Prompt 13

Prompt: Write a non-rhyming Decima (for our purposes, 10 lines with 10 syllables each) that includes a breakfast food. Even if your normally write prose, keep your articles and connective words (as it are to) to a minimum (for today, reword to use as few words as you can without completely sounding like a robot, though some terseness may sound robotic at first—think more laconic than robotic) write it as 100 syllables. Ideally don't break the 10-count with a multi-syllabic word but hyphens happen.

5/30/18

No Frills Prompt 12

Prompt: Learning to play the guitar in space

(some frills prompt explanation: without the gravity of earth coordination is thrown off. Take the experience as your own as the foreground of an epic space adventure, show it as a vignette in a reluctant astronaut's voyage, you choose, but use the idea of having to re-learn how to play guitar in space as your prompt.)

5/29/18

5/28/18

5/27/18

5/26/18

No Frills Prompt 8

Prompt: Write a piece based on this amazing photo by Galen Rowell. His legacy is an intense shadow over all adventure photographers. I love his books and his images. He tragically died in a small plane crash with his wife Barbara Rowell, who was also an amazing artist. Anyone driving north to Yosemite should visit their gallery Mountain Light in Bishop, CA. It is on the way and worth at least 2 hours of browsing and appreciation even if you're not in the market to buy. But I recommend buying (if only because I have been to strapped to pull the trigger yet and I want to live vicariously through strangers).


5/25/18

5/24/18

5/23/18

No Frills Prompt 5

Prompt: Write a piece in which you consciously include 3 misspelled words.

(this is a small frills exercise, because it's a little different but I liked the idea)

For instance: report on a note written, recall a text message, an email. Reminisce about a child's spelling test (or perhaps your own). Pick one arbitrarily if you like, but make sure that the misspelled words are key to the piece if you can. A child misspelling "daddy" but not "mommy"... a text message doing the same thing can have very different connotations... see?

5/22/18

5/21/18

5/20/18

5/19/18

No Frills Prompt 1

So instead of posting these long-winded specific prompts with additional options and whatnot, I'm going to have a series/tag of prompts which are just that. Only prompt. Quick and easy, if you want to build on it give yourself an additional self-constraint. This will be the only explanation.

Exercise 1: Write a piece in which a person speaks to a cat.

5/16/18

4/10/18

April 10, 2018 National Poetry Month Daily Writing Prompt: Five Words and a Rhyme

Welcome to National Poetry Month 2018! 

I don't want to exclude anyone, though, so all prompts will be written so that they can be either poetry or prose.

Today's exercise (4/10/18) is to write a piece that includes A) the following five words as end words (if you're writing prose, it has to be the last word of the sentence): Stopped, See, Broken, Close, Drop, and B) either written in rhyming couplets AA//BB//CC//, or tercets ABC//ABC//DEF//DEF etc. If you're writing prose you have the same assignment, the rhymes just won't be noticed.



Bonus exercises (either in conjunction with the official exercise or stand-alone):



1) Describe two smells as well as one flavor (the flavor being something sour).
2) Set your piece (at least half of it) in the evening.
3) Use a quote from the lyrics of the song "32 Flavors" by Ani DiFranco either as an epigraph or in the piece.

4/6/18

April 6, 2018 National Poetry Month Daily Writing Prompt: Childhood Friends

Welcome to National Poetry Month 2018! 

I don't want to exclude anyone, though, so all prompts will be written so that they can be either poetry or prose.

Today's exercise (4/6/18) is to write a narrative or partial narrative about 'playing' with a friend during childhood. Whether it's an adventure, something dull, a great memory of playing Nintendo etc.


Bonus exercises (either in conjunction with the official exercise or stand-alone):


1) Describe the shape of a particular type of leaf.
2) Include a character falling.
3) Use a quote from the lyrics of the song "Gerry is Strong" by The Bruce Lee Band either as an epigraph or in the piece.

4/5/18

April 5, 2018 National Poetry Month Daily Writing Prompt: Cooking with a Pet

Welcome to National Poetry Month 2018! 

I don't want to exclude anyone, though, so all prompts will be written so that they can be either poetry or prose.

Today's exercise (4/5/18) is to write a narrative in which you are cooking something and are either interrupted or joined by a pet. Include at least one line of dialog spoke to the pet (or from if you want).

Bonus exercises (either in conjunction with the official exercise or stand-alone):


1) Begin at least 5 sentences with different words starting with the letter F.
2) Describe three different smells and include one of the things described in the title.
3) Use a quote from the lyrics of the song "Mandy" by Barry Manilow either as an epigraph or in the piece.
4) Set your cooking narrative somewhere outdoors.

4/4/18

April 4, 2018 National Poetry Month Daily Writing Prompt: Half Full or Empty

Welcome to National Poetry Month 2018! 

I don't want to exclude anyone, though, so all prompts will be written so that they can be either poetry or prose.

Today's exercise (4/4/18) is to write about 'the glass' being either half-full or half-empty using something other than a glass, cup or bucket. Use a number of concrete specifics for the situation you're describing.


Bonus exercises (either in conjunction with the official exercise or stand-alone):

1) At some point describe the contents of a garbage can or pile.
2) Tell your reader to do something (an imperative ala Rilke's "You Must Change Your Life".
3) Use a quote from the lyrics of the song "Moondance" by Van Morrison either as an epigraph or in the piece.

4) Write the piece from opposite perspectives in a 2-part poem or flash fiction.

4/3/18

April 3, 2018 National Poetry Month Daily Writing Prompt: Speaking with a Grandparent

Welcome to National Poetry Month 2018! 

I don't want to exclude anyone, though, so all prompts will be written so that they can be either poetry or prose.

Today's exercise (4/3/18) is to write about a conversation (at least two exchanges) with a grandparent (whether your own, a friend's or a stranger). If you don't want to use actual dialog you may summarize, but two separate recountings.


Bonus exercises (either in conjunction with the official exercise or stand-alone):

1) Have one section that includes four consecutive words beginning with the letter B.
2) Describe at least one sound and one smell.


3) Use a quote from the lyrics of the song "Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel either as an epigraph of in the piece.

4/2/18

April 2, 2018 National Poetry Month Daily Writing Prompt: Shoreline

Welcome to National Poetry Month 2018! 

I don't want to exclude anyone, though, so all prompts will be written so that they can be either poetry or prose.

Today's exercise (4/2/18) is to use the following five words in your piece, at least three must begin sentences:

Iguana Shoreline by Native Stew

1: Shoreline
2: Reach
3: Pulse(d)
4: West
5: Jubilant


Bonus exercises (either in conjunction with the official exercise or stand-alone):

1) Include the word "Elevated" in your title.
2) Describe something that is a shade of the color Purple.
3) Use a quote from the lyrics of the song "The Three of Us" by Streetlight Manifesto (here is a perhaps better, acoustic guitar version by the writer who performs as such under the nom-de-plume Toh Kay. I highly recommend the whole album The Hands that Thieve) either as an epigraph of in the piece.

4/1/18

April 1, 2018 National Poetry Month Daily Writing Prompt: Plums?

Welcome to National Poetry Month 2018! 

I don't want to exclude anyone, though, so all prompts will be written so that they can be either poetry or prose.

Today's exercise (4/1/18) is to use the single word question "Plums?" somewhere in your piece. It must be dialog, whether you're writing prose or poetry.




Bonus exercises (either in conjunction with the official exercise or stand-alone):

1) Include the word "Bat" in your title.
2) Use one verb at least 5 times in a close proximity (whether anaphora or not)
3) Use a quote from the lyrics of the song "Fourth of July" by Sufjan Stevens either as an epigraph of in the piece.