11/4/20

2020 Writing Exercise Series #306 We went for Anaphora—Repetition Files 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.

#306
We went for Anaphora—Repetition Files 14

For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which focuses on repetition. In this instance we will work with anaphora. It's a handy little bit of poetic craft that goes a little something like this:

the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines to create a sonic effect.
Take a moment and read the above-linked Poetry Foundation article, even if you know the term. For even more fun check out this longer article called Adventures in Anaphora.

Your mission is to use the following phrase to begin at least 5 sentences.

The word or phrase we'll use for our exercise today is:

"We went for..."

    There are a number of ways you could approach this bit of anaphora—what would cause a trip, a journey, a pilgrimage, an epic adventure to some specific place? Or is it more of an obligation than a draw, like school or a family reunion or 'recital'. Just be sure that the repeated phrase earns its worth in your piece, and it should in some way build upon what came before it. The repetition should be necessary and not merely redundant.

    Bonus Exercise: Include these five words into your piece "Valhalla" "Enormous" "Glowering" "Clink" and "Tangy".
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    If you'd like some background music to write to, try this "Groovin' HighShiloh Dynasty" lofi mix.