5/18/20

2020 Writing Exercise Series #138: Six Word Shootout 14


The Notebooking Daily 2020 Writing Series is a daily writing exercises for both prose writers and poets to keep your creative mind stretched and ready to go—fresh for your other writing endeavors. The writing prompts take the impetus—that initial crystal of creation—out of your hands (for the most part) and changes your writing creation into creative problem solving. Instead of being preoccupied with the question "What do I write" you are instead pondering "How do I make this work?" And in the process you are producing new writing.

These exercises are not meant to be a standard writing session. They are meant to be productive and to keep your brain thinking about using language to solve simple or complex problems. The worst thing you can do is sit there inactive. It's like taking a 5 minute breather in the middle of a spin class—the point is to push, to produce something, however imperfect. If you don't overthink them, you will be able to complete all of the exercises in under 30 minutes.

#138
Six Word Shootout 14

For today's writing exercise write a piece that includes the following six words. While it perfectly sets you up for a sestina, feel free to write whatever you'd like (but ya know, give that sestina a shot!). Also feel free to make slight alterations to the required words if you want to avoid that eye-pokey repetition you can find in sestinas sometimes. All the words will either have homonyms or have easy substitution options, so look for those homonyms!

Required Words: 

1) Tell
2) Poker
3) Fold
4) Shoulder
5) Can
6) First

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Bonus Exercise: Choose your title from within the intriguing song "The Simple Truth" by Philip Levine—a couple examples would be "Small Red Potatoes", "Dried Fields on the Edge of Town", "Beside the Salt Shaker", "Can You Taste What I'm Saying?" or "The Time was Always Wrong" among many other  great moments from the amazing poem.  
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try this violin sonata composed by César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck.