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.
#14
Ekphrastic Mountain Road 2
For today, we're going to write a poem or prose piece inspired by another piece of art, or an ekphrastic piece. The piece of art in question is this gif of a motorbike riding along the Manali-Leh Highway in the Himalayas.
If nothing right off strikes you try the following exercises along with the image.
Write a vignette in which you're following your friend on the motorbike intending to drive quite a bit farther then camp, but one of the vehicles (the bike or whatever you're in) breaks down and you end up camping right along the road with this view.
You'll be writing a fantasy story where there is magic and everyone rides motorcycles everywhere. You're on a very important mission which involves getting to the top of one of those mountains. How do you do it? Why? What's intentionally standing in your way, and what gets in your way inadvertently, spoiling at least one of your plans? Is magic a learned thing or in your bloodline, or what's the system? Now that you've figured that out (don't overthink it! Just get something that makes sense and run with it) write your story.
You make your living here salvaging from vehicles that tumble over the cliffs of this road and farming your small garden for your meals. Write either A) a poem in which you are seeking a new wreck you heard of, passing by two others you'd scavenged previously and describing them briefly. Or B) A story in which you're scavenging a week-old wreck when a car tumbles over the edge right in front of you. Do you spring into action to help the people, steal what you can before it burns, hide and investigate carefully etc?
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If you'd like background writing music try Bach's Concertos for Oboe.
The Merrimack Review is a journal that is a "limited demographic" magazine, meaning they only accept submissions from a select group of people. In their case they only take submissions from college students (undergrad or graduate).
The Details: There is no submission fee. Submit up to 5 poems or for prose up to 2500 words. They accept art as well. This is what they say they want:
Submissions should display a strong understanding of craft and cause readers to react, both emotionally and intellectually.
Soooo, pretty standard. Only send good stuff. Check out the following links to find out more about the journal.
Here is a link to their Duotrope page. Here is a link to their Submittable page.
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.
#13
Beginning & Ending with the Unwanted 2
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which begins with one image, scenario, line of dialog or place and ends with another, and an optional additional requirement.
Begin With: Someone scraping mud or animal poop from their shoe/boot.
End With: Someone crumpling up an important piece of paper and throwing it in a garbage can (could even be money, lottery ticket, deed, patent application etc).
Extra Credit Requirements: Include as a setting or a reference the city Pripyat; and the words: "Knapsack" "Excise" "Jubilee" "Schadenfreude" and "Whippet".
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If you'd like some background music, try Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Lute.
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.
#12 3x5x7 Wordbank Sprints 2
For today's writing exercise complete the following steps. The wordbank exercise has changed so be sure to take a peek at the new 'rules'. I recommend using the timer on your phone or computer and setting it for 1 minute. Each time you write a sentence, quickly reset the timer. If it goes off before you're finished with the sentence—wrap it up ASAP!
In order to complete the large number of sentences demanded of this exercise it is imperative that you write fast. Don't think too much at all until you've reached the final exercise. The process of this quick production is to thrust past second guesses or other stumbling blocks that sometimes impede your writing. You're aiming to write 23 sentences in at most 20 minutes so you have ten minutes to organize and write that actual piece, so you're going to be writing more than a sentence a minute.
WRITE FAST, DON'T OVERTHINK
Pick one word from each of three groups and write a sentence that includes all of the words, feel free to change tense, pluralize, gerund etc. Repeat the process five (5) times using different combinations. No dawdling!
Now write three (3) sentences that are six (6) words or fewer in length that use any two (2) words from the wordbanks.
Now write three (3) sentences that use four (4) or more of the words.
Now write five (5) sentences which begin with one (1) of the words and contain a second one (1) of the words.
Now write five (5) sentences which are fewer than ten (10) words in length and conclude with one (1) of the words from the wordbanks. Remember, keep up the pace! Don't overthink!
Now rephrase two (2) of your sentences from exercise #1 in either a more efficient or more descriptive manner.
Now write a piece of fiction or poetry that uses at least three (3) of the sentences you've written throughout this process of exercises. Try to use as many of the (good) sentences as you can, or parts of the sentences if the whole thing doesn't fit or works better altered.
The Notebooking Daily 2020 Writing Series is here! These are 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.
#11 Title Mania Plus Alfajores 2
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which uses one of the following as its title. For a bonus challenge use the additional exercise of five random constraints.
Titles:
It's Not So Hard When You Actually Try It
Limited By Time
The Crispier Apple
Yew Bough
Quizzical
Bonus Exercise: 5 Random Constraints (I recommend picking any required words or lines before writing with a little surplus for options, but with your chosen title in mind)
The first word of your piece must be "Drawn".
You must include at least five words which rhyme with "Fame".
You must include an animal that can fly.
You must include the words "Yammer" "Lilt" "Plank" "Glimmer" and "Polymer".
If you'd like some background music to write to, try pianist Krystian Zimerman with Leonard Bernstein conducting - Beethoven - Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor, Op 37.
I don't know if "enjoyment" is exactly the right term, given the subject, but "poetic enjoyment" sounds better, because it's a wonderful poem about a terribly sad situation. So, don't want to talk it up or lead your reading in any way. The poem is in Brian Turner's amazing collection Phantom Noise. If you like this poem 100% you should buy the book. It is a must-have for any modern poetry reader's collection.
Brian Turner is a veteran of Iraq and he also served in Bosnia, his two poetry collections Here, Bullet and Phantom Noise both deal largely with his military and post-military experiences, but not exclusively.
Here is the text of the poem"At Lowe's Home Improvement Center" by Brian Turner:
Photo by Brooke Winters
At Lowe's Home Improvement Center
-----< O >-----
Standing in aisle 16, the hammer and anchor aisle,
I bust a 50 pound box of double-headed nails
open by accident, their oily bright shanks
and diamond points like firing pins
from M-4s and M-16s.
In a steady stream
they pour onto the tile floor, constant as shells
falling south of Baghdad last night, where Bosch
kneeled under the chain guns of helicopters
stationed above, their tracer-fire a synaptic geometry
of light.
At dawn, when the shelling stops,
hundreds of bandages will not be enough.
-----< O >-----
Bosch walks down aisle 16 now, in full combat gear,
improbable, worn out from fatigue, a rifle
slung at his side, his left hand guiding
a ten-year-old boy who sees what war is
and will never clear it from his head.
Here, Bosch says, Take care of him. I'm going back in for more.
-----< O >-----
Sheets of plywood drop with the airy breath
of mortars the moment they crack open
in shrapnel. Mower blades are just mower blades
and the Troy-Bilt-Self-Propelled Mower doesn't resemble
a Blackhawk or an Apache. In fact, no one seems to notice
the casualty collection center Doc High marks out
in ceiling fans, aisle 15. Wounded Iraqis with IVs
sit propped against boxes as 92 sample Paradiso fans
hover in a slow revolution of blades.
The forklift driver over-adjusts, swinging the tines
until they slice open gallons of paint,
Sienna Dust and Lemon Sorbet and Ship's Harbor Blue
pooling in the aisle where Sgt. Rampley walks through—
carrying someone's blown-off arm cradled like an infant,
handing it to me, saying, Hold this, Turner, we might find who it belongs to.
-----< O >-----
Cash registers open and slide shut
with a sound of machine guns being charged.
Dead soldiers are laid out at the registers,
on the black conveyor belts,
and people in line still reach
for their wallets. Should I stand
at the magazine rack, reading Landscaping with Stone or The Complete Home Improvement Repair Book?
What difference does it make if I choose
tumbled travertine tile, Botticino marble,
of Black Absolute granite. Outside,
palm trees line the asphalt boulevards,
restaurants cool their patrons who will enjoy
fireworks exploding over Bass Lake in July.
This is a very sad and lovely poem at the same time. I adore the way the visuals of the two scenes melt together in a surreal way like something from a Charlie Kaufman movie. I'll write a fuller breakdown of this later because I do love it, but don't quite have the time today.
If you're feeling a like reading something less poetic and more... essay, here is an interesting article about Shell Shock in the poetry of WWI poets like Robert Graves and Wilfred Owen.
And just because I've been listening to the British Folk artist Beans on Toast a lot this week, here's his song "The War on War"... you know, just because it's a fun song that's tangentially related, though being punk rock, it has foul language and illicit topics are discussed. Be warned, it's not for children or those afraid of swear words.
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Possible Writing Exercises:
1) Write a piece in which a soldier, returned from war, is going about an errand when he hallucinates or flashes back to a number of things from his past in the war. Decide how much this affects the soldier, how they transition back to their mundane task. Remember the humanity, and avoid stereotypes. 2) Imagine a place where you'd feel safe. Now imagine weapons everywhere. Write a list of at least five items or things that would be in your happy place. Write 2-3 ways in which that item might be used as a weapon. Now think of ten reasons why you might need to use that weapon in that setting, five of which are simple and as reasonable as you can make them, the other five are either absurd or extremely convoluted or just a 'long story'—make at least two of the second batch long run-on sentences. 3)Poetry-by-Numbers. This will be 5 steps, so strap in if you pick this option. This is taking the idea of objects sparking a memory of a different place and being mentally transported there.
A) Think of a place (Location B) as far away from wherever you are writing this (Location A) as you can that you know of (whether a city, a historical or geological feature). Google it and check out the city's wikipedia page, look up any famous people that have come from there, interesting history, landmarks etc.—making note of anything that strikes your fancy, anything interesting (at least 5 things).
B) Now look around Location A (where you are) and see if you can find any visual parallels with the things you noted from Location B, noting any you see or can think of that might be in your current location. You need five, so wrack your brain. It should be easy to get ten. For instance, if you're in a home office, you may see a pen holder which bears a vague barrel shape of a penguin should your place be Antarctica, or a gigantic barrel of whiskey at the Suntory Distillery in Osaka.
C) Now reverse it and try to think of things that might be found in Location B that may look like something from Location A (where you are)—even if they aren't especially indicative of the specific place, they should just be found there. You need at least three, try to get ten or so.
D) Pick three of your favorite combos from list B and C and explore them a little more. Do they have any other similarities or notable differences?
E) Now write a first person piece where 'you' have just entered Location A and you see one of the things from list D (from Location A) which reminds you of its corresponding item from Location B. Imagine yourself holding or interacting with one of the things from List C that you didn't use for List D when you see one of the places or things you noted in List A and use good detail. Then imagine seeing one of the two remaining items from List D, Location B, which transitions you back to Location A (via the corresponding item). State resignedly that you're not in Location B, you're "in [Location A] with" and list at least 3 things from List B (include two adjectives). Then state "There is no" and list a number of things from your List A as you thought were especially interesting. You can use anywhere from 3-8 things here, and choose your adjectives/verbs carefully. Don't over-describe. End your piece with a description of seeing the last item from List D Location A, then describe how it's standing/sitting/laying etc like its corresponding item in the morning sun/sunset/moonlight. If one of your unmentioned features/items from List A fits in with that final descriptions, include it. Boom. Do a quick editing pass looking for boring phrasing and weak adjective/verbs, excessive articles. Try to remove at least five words, even if you need to rephrase a little bit. Every single rough draft can use a little tightening.
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.
#10 Three Things Together 2
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which contains the following three things, Nice and simple.
But before you do that, read this page of Hanging Gardens of Babylon and write five separate, unconnected sentences which include either one of the writers known for writing about the Hanging Gardens or one of the common names of a plant grown there. You don't need to use any of these sentences, but take them seriously as a warm up, and maybe you can use one.
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. #9
Driven from Anaphora—Repetition Files 1
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 Poetry Foundation article, even if you know the term. And if you're feeling like you want a little extra inspiration read Phillip Levine's wonderful anaphoric poem "They Feed They Lion".
"Driven from..."
There is always the obvious: Uber/Taxi/Black Cab driver. Or Limo driver. CIA black ops driver, serial killer that picks up hitchhikers whatever—the literal being driven around in a vehicle. But there's also being driven from as in shooed, propelled or motivated to do something, in this case leave somewhere—likely in a hurry. Or it could be a smaller scale with pest control. Or police/soldiers raiding a village for a wanted man. Or do something completely different. Just be sure that the repeated phrase earns its worth in your piece. It should be necessary.
Bonus Exercise: Also include include the following five words "Stripped" "Harp" "Reagent" "Flourish" and "Wax".
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try Heitor Villa-Lobos "Suite Popular Brasileña" by South American guitarist Pablo De Giusto. It's only 22 minutes long, but great background music, not too complex and a little repetitive, so when you hit the end you can just start it over and enjoy the whole thing again. I couldn't find much into on the artist but his Youtube channel has just a few short videos and this. If anyone knows more about the artist I'd love to hear about him!
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. #8
Inspired by the Public Domain 1
For today's writing exercise you will look at a short piece of writing that is in the public domain. Last year was a big one for the public domain in the United States, and there were some gems this year too. One such book of poems that just this past week entered the public domain (or, in this case, in 2002 depending on your source) isMarianne Moore's collection Observations. And in that collection we have this wonderful little poem "Silence"
Silence My father used to say, "Superior people never make long visits, have to be shown Longfellow's grave nor the glass flowers at Harvard. Self reliant like the cat — that takes its prey to privacy, the mouse's limp tail hanging like a shoelace from its mouth — they sometimes enjoy solitude, and can be robbed of speech by speech which has delighted them. The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence; not in silence, but restraint." Nor was he insincere in saying, "`Make my house your inn'." Inns are not residences.
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by Marianne Moore
Awesome poem. And a quick read too, now what?
Now, this poem is wonderfully ambiguous. This is merely my interpretation and it may be 'horribly wrong'. It may not be what your teacher is looking to read so... I'm not to blame if they have a wildly different idea of what this poem is about. They assigned it for a reason. But, yeah... If you just want to get to the exercise you can skip this explication and get right to the next bolded section and get writing.
Real quick let's see what happens in this poem.
Title: Silence. This poem is about silence in some way, the title is terse. OK, go.
We're talking about a dad who has been saying something for some time, as in, what is about to be said is a quote that the narrator has heard many times in the past. So they're old enough to be looking back at being told what's coming. We'll see how old that makes the narrator, depending on how mature the saying is.
Superior people as in people who are not only well behaved, but just better, superior, don't overstay their welcome. That's first. Implying that if you overstay your welcome you are inherently not superior. The narrator's dad said this a lot. Right away if gives you a feel for the guy. They also don't ask for directions because they're smart and cultured, but especially not to places around Hahvahd. I'm paraphrasing, but yeah—they're self-reliant like a cat. But not just any old house cat. Superior, better people, are... well,
Her dad's Jack the Ripper everyone. Damn, I just solved a mystery! Orrrrr, I guess, he's just the sort of person that sees people's behavior around others is indicative that they're of 'better'... well, they are just better. These people enjoy things, but they do it privately and don't show outward emotion. They're in control at all times etc, and don't gush or speak out of turn. They don't "speak their minds". The penultimate line is where we get the context of the poem. We are almost through, and all we know is that the narrator's dad is kind of elitist and cold.
Nor. Yep! The poem turns on a nor, it pivots, rotates on that nor. As much as that quote, which was retold at length, definitive of the father's character and his 'truth', so is the fact that his carefully chosen words are exactly that when he said "Make my house your inn'." Also very telling is the punctuation. The single quotes within the double quotes means that the father's words are being uttered by the poet aloud, not just recalled. There is an addressee for this poem. Quotations are tricksy hobbitses, and the reason why the majority of this poem is in just the one set of double quotation while the first line (as well as the last and half of the penultimate) has none, and the other quote has double and single quotes is that the first isn't a direct quote, whereas the second is. And the unquoted bits are the narrator addressing the, well, the addressee, for whom the reader is the surrogate.
6? No, hold on. What does that mean? You may well ask. Well, think of it like this. imagine this poem happening like a play. There are two characters on stage, Ms. Narrator and Mr. Addressee. The unquoted first line "My father used to say" is Ms. Narrator speaking to Mr. Addressee. Then when you get the quoted section she stands up extra-straight, tidies her imaginary mustache, and imitates the saying her father was wont to say when she was growing up. Following the impersonation of her father, Ms. Narrator looks back at Mr. Addressee, breaking the 'fourth wall' within the confines of this play, she's done pretending to be (aka quoting) her father. To Mr. Addressee she adds "Nor was he insincere in saying" before popping right back into her impression, this time, directly quoting words he had recently said to them both (or at least, this time she's quoting the exact words, not just a 'recollection' of what he used to say which allows for some variation). The first (double) quotation marks indicate that Ms. Narrator is again at the level of conversation she was at when she first quoted her father, as in, she in conversation with Mr. Addressee and is imitating her father, but the second single set of quotations indicates that this isn't 'based on a true story' in the Anabelle movies are 'based on a true story' but the words are a direct quote, which indicates that Mr. Addressee was likely there to hear the words. So, remember to think to yourself at this moment—both quotes are meant to express the father at his most sincere, as the first quote was chosen, alone, among all other memories to illustrate that the father was very careful in the wording of the second, much shorter quote. The poem is cantilevered on that word "Nor", with the entire weight of the first 12 lines of the poem that had occurred before it just dangling off that cliff, depending on the massive weight (importance) of the bit that is above the ground to keep the structure together.
You lost me at the end there, simplify. What were you getting at? I ask for you (you might also point out that the typical caesura point of a 14 lined poem would also fall directly where silence comes up in the poem, but to that I say... shhh). Basically, the structure of the poem is kind of like a see-saw that the poet is balancing weights on. The whole long first quote is meant to be very telling of the father's character, and it is. The impetus of the poem, the moment which precipitated that first long quote was the second quote, the one with single and double quotes. It is a backhanded comment. A comment which sounds pleasant but which can be taken negatively. The narrator uses the majority of the poem to clue the reader into what sort of person that father is, and uses that as evidence that when the father says "Make my house your inn" he doesn't really mean it in the welcoming, "Mi casa es su casa", "What's mine is yours" manner which it might be taken. Rather, the narrator indicates that rather, it is a place to sleep, where they are welcome to stay but lacking the warmth of someone's 'home' or 'hearth'. The father prided himself on being cold and not outwardly showing emotion, and the result of that is the house in which the narrator was raised is more like an inn in which they are staying than the traditional nostalgic 'return home' that one might expect. Remember the title? "Silence", right? Remember how he said "the deepest feeling" is represented in silence—restraint (sounds very, monkish). Sounds like her dad was a believer in the Milford Academy's teachings that "Children should be neither seen nor heard,"
But hey, that might be reading way too far into the poem. Could just be the poet saying "my dad was kinda cold and distant, here's some stuff he used to say and what he really meant by this other thing he said." Who knows. Either way there's much to admire—but I like to see it as a married couple back at the woman's parent's home, and her dad had just made that (exact) comment, and the husband, trying to give the benefit of doubt says "maybe he didn't mean it like that" and the woman says "I know that man, I know his so well I'll tell you a very detailed anecdote about just why he is meant it like that." But maybe that's too many rom-coms in my brain.
Inspired By Writing Exercises for "Silence"
1) Look at this list of backhanded compliments. You can do better than that, right? Take one of theirs and improve on it or write one you've heard or just thought of. Now write a poem in which you are explaining to someone who just witnessed a 'polite' conversation, the true undercurrent, the 'unsaids' of what just was witnessed. One way would be to follow the model of the poem "Silence" and use the last couple lines or single stanza to express that the negative meaning of that backhanded compliment is the actual intended meaning, and use the bulk of the poem to recount something about that person either being petty, selfish, whatever bad characteristic or moral failing would be the proper context for the witness to conclude that the backhanded complimenter had indeed meant it negatively. How sassy, how rude!
2)Title Mania: Write your own story or poem titled "Silence". Include at least one instance where one character is quoting something said 'off-screen'.
3) Write a piece in which one of the characters is the sort of cold character as the father. One that prides themselves on being cultured and knowledgeable and not outwardly showing emotions. Put him into some danger, test him. Does he crack? Or is he calmly smoking a cigar on deck as the Titanic goes under?
4)Structural Reproduction: Write a 14-lined poem in which the 7th, 11th and 13th lines are significantly longer than the other lines. For a bonus include a soft caesura between lines 8 and 9, and some sort of hard turn or especially surprising language in line 13.
5) Write a vignette or narrative piece about 'going home to visit the parents' either with a new significant other, an old friend, or a familiar significant other. Give vivid details and be sure to include at least one scent. Not that we got that here, but hey, this is 'inspired by' not imitating.
6) Set a piece in the "Glass Flowers" exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. It could be a class trip told from one of many perspectives. A visitor enthralled, a bored one. A museum docent leading a tour, someone recalling a childhood visit, whatever. But read a little about the place and write some good plant descriptions. Get some real botanical terms and good adjectives. 7)5 Words from the poem: Reliant, Privacy Shoelace, Restraint, Insincere
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If you'd like some background music to write to, try French reggae artist Naâman's album Deep Rockers
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.
#7 Between a Fact and an Exact Place 1
For today's writing exercise you will write a piece of poetry or prose which contains the following place (either as the setting, referenced or some aspect of it described) and the following fact in some way (its discovery, used as a metaphor, witnessed etc).
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. This may be pushing 45 unless you're really writing fast.
#6
Rhymebank Rounds-Complete a Piece 1
Rhymbank Rounds are a new type of exercise. Kind of like the Wordbank sprints, but there will be more focus on editing and re-writing, and you'll complete a piece, with the main focus of the exercises being on Like Sounds. If you're typing I suggest copy/pasting the lines you're editing to save time, save the originals in their own exercise space.
If you're pressed for time just do the first 5 exercises and then try to put at least 4 of your favorite sentences or fragments together into a piece, padding where needed. The disparate pieces may write an interesting narrative you wouldn't have written otherwise.
Take three minutes and jot down/type all rhymes and slant rhymes (include phrases for multi-syllabic words/feminine rhymes) you can think of just off the top of your head for the word: Clip. If you have trouble getting more than ten or so remember to rhyme with fit, tick, and even if. You want to have close to thirty (30) words even if they're only kind of rhyming.
Pick four of those words you wrote down and underline/bold them. Write three sentences for each of those words which include at least two other words from the rhymebank you generated from #1. Try to use even more words without making the sentence awkward or too weird—a little weird can be good though.
Fragment time! Write at least ten (10) 4-word partial sentences that use at least two (2) words from your list. Don't worry about context or what might be being said, just make sure you can make some logic of the phrasing.
Pick two (2) of those sentences/lines that do not use the 'chosen' word at the end. Completely rephrase that sentence so that the chosen word is either the last word or at very least the second to last word.
Short fragment time! Write five (5) three-word partial sentences which use 2 words from your rhymebank back to back. No dawdling, but try to switch it up and use words you hadn't yet if you can. -
Go through and pick your two favorite full sentences, paste them with a couple line breaks between them. Each one will become its own paragraph or stanza in your following piece. Other than these paragraphs you're only allowed to add up to 100 more words, so while you'll be working on the paragraphs separately keep in mind that they paragraphs need to be working toward each other. Arrange them in the order you want.
For the first paragraph you must include at least 3 of your sentence fragments. Pick those and piece together your paragraphs narrative like a jigsaw puzzle. Try to use 2 of those fragments in the same sentence if possible. Feel free to rephrase as needed, these aren't super strict rules, you will recognize when something good needs a tiny bit of trimming.
For the second paragraph you must include at least 2 sentence fragments, or 1 sentence fragment and one of your previously written sentences with some tweaking. Give them all a read right now for good measure, but don't dawdle. Puzzle together your paragraph quickly.
Now you have your 2 paragraphs. Cut at least ten words from them. Anything that doesn't work really well gets cut here. Even if it doesn't leave you with much. Once you've cut the weak stuff, add one sentence to either paragraph and up to four additional words. Why 4? Why any of these rules? If you need to add ten to smooth over something you cut out, do it. But if not, just do 4.
Write two different sentences that could start the story, one of them under six words, the other as long as you want.
Check if the short sentence would be a good title. If so, you're pretty much done. Add any padding you need. If not, pick whichever sentence works best to start it and add padding where needed.
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If you'd like some background music, try Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalais and company's recording Live in Marciac.
92Y Discovery Poetry Contest deadline for poets without a full length book deadline is January 10-well, call it January 9th.
What do John Ashbery, Lucille Clifton, Mark Strand, Larry Levis, Mary Jo Bang, Solmaz Sharif and Diana Khoi Nguyen have in common? That's right, they were all born with vestigial tails! Wait, no, that's not it.
Well, the Discovery Poetry Contest is back, and their deadline is quickly approaching. Four winners will be chosen to give a reading at 92Y, publication in The Paris Review Daily, a two-night residency at the ACE Hotel, and $500 each. The 'residency' appears to be... a free hotel stay for the reading? So you get $500 toward a flight to New York to give a big ole' reading at the 92nd Street Y stage, which has hosted some amazing talks and performances over the years. I really enjoyed John Mulaney and Bill Hader's talk about Barry which happened in May 12th of last year. If you haven't seen Barry yet I highly recommend it (for, you know, adults. It is about a hitman.)
But it's the 20's now, baby! So to the details about the contest. It's not for you famous poets with your fancy 'full-length' books. Only people without, well, without a full-length book. You know, yet-to-be 'discovered. But there are finer points. $15 entry fee, and it requires a cover letter. ANNNNND, that January 10th deadline isn't midnight, it's 5pm Eastern Standard Time, so don't put it off until last second. Get your submission together by the 9th at very latest, but why wait that long even? Get it together now. Go speak on that famous stage. Get, Discovered. Sounds fun.
Eligibility:
The contest is open to poets who have not published a full-length poetry collection.
Poets who have published chapbooks of less than 42 pages and in prints of less than 500 are eligible.
Poets who have self-published, have a book contract or who are awarded a book contract after submission are not eligible if the book is scheduled for publication before fall 2020. If you receive a book contract following submission, please withdraw your manuscript over Submittable or email.
Manuscripts by more than one author are not eligible.
Translations are not eligible. All poems must be original and primarily in English.
Manuscript Guidelines:
Submissions must be no longer than ten pages, typed.
a) At least two of the poems must be a page or shorter. (You cannot submit five two page poems, two five page poems, etc.)
b) Do not submit multiple poems per page.
Poems that have been or will be published in periodicals or anthologies may be submitted; however, at least two of the submitted poems must be unpublished as of May 2020.
How to Submit:
Entries, consisting of manuscript, cover letter and $15 entry fee, must be received by 5 pm on Friday, January 10, 2020.
Portland Review has a very limited submission window this year being only 15 days long. The literary journal describes what they want for their theme as
We’d hope to find work that explores borders, not as structures that operate as visible barriers, but those less seen: the lines between parent, child, and self; appetites and offerings; gender, bodies, and expectation; the subconscious, reality, and its digitally augmented proxies. We’re particularly excited to read works that engage with the theme in ways beyond the topical. The unexpected is encouraged and appreciated.
How they describe themselves? In their own words.
ABOUT US: For over sixty years, Portland Review has published the works of emerging writers and artists alongside the works of well-established authors. We warmly encourage previously unpublished writers and artists to submit, and we aim to support work by those often marginalized in the artistic conversation, including (though certainly not limited to) people of color, women, disabled people, LGBTQIA people, and people with intersectional identities.
All submissions will be read between January and March, so you can expect to hear back from us then. Thank you for contributing. We look forward to reading your work!
Here is a blog post from this past year of input from their readers and editors that might be useful in preparing your submissions and when editing your work as well.
Pertinent Information:
Portland Review "Borders" theme. Deadline January 15. Cost to submit: $0.
Genres:
Prose (Fiction and Non Fiction): Portland Review publishes traditional, experimental, flash, and genre-bending stories (including translated works) up to 3,000 words. We will only consider one submission per author per reading period. Unless otherwise necessary for the piece, please double-space your work and use a standard (Times New Roman or equivalent) 12-point font. Poetry:Portland Review will consider submissions, including works of translations, with up to three poems. Poems must be contained within a single document of no more than ten pages in total length. Unless otherwise necessary for the piece, please use a standard (Times New Roman or equivalent) 12-point font. Any poems that do not adhere to Portland Review's guidelines and theme will be declined unread Photography & Visual Art:We will consider full-color and black and white, high-contrast images for publication on our website.
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.
#5 Ekphrastic Submarine 1
For today, we're going to write a poem or prose piece inspired by another piece of art, or an ekphrastic piece. The piece of art in question is "Submarine" by Nishio Nanora
If nothing right off strikes you try the following exercises along with the image.
Write a vignette from the perspective of the cat, mildly irritated that they're going on another undersea voyage so soon after their last one.
Think of this as an H.G. Wells style submarine adventure. A sort of steampunk period piece set in the late days of the 1800s. This is your main character and she's diving to retrieve or study an ancient wreck, but why? What two problems will arise in her adventure? One of them makes her completely alter her plans, why?
Write a piece in which this is the submarine captain nonchalantly ferrying a very important and very nervous person away from a dangerous situation. What happened to precipitate this underwater escape?
Write a short piece in which this young woman is in the quirky submarine, but is preoccupied with the brand new type of coffee that she's brewed, while the submarine is in a precarious place, all she can think of is the new coffee—good or bad.
Write a short piece from the perspective of a worker welding together this experimental submarine, absolutely sure that when your boss (the pictured lady) tries to submerge in it that she'll drown while sipping from a tea cup.
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If you'd like background writing music try Gustav Holst- The Planets, Full Suite (beginning with Venus).
I believe strongly that keeping a notebook of snippets and interesting tidbits of information, dialogue, quotes, observations etc. is of great use to a writer. For one, I think the act of writing it down strengthens your memory of the thing you thought might be memorable enough to write, despite the inability to sit down at the given time to write an entire piece. It also serves as a reservoir of fragments to draw from when you are writing. David Kirby spoke well to the idea of a writer's notebook in an interview with Stephen Reichert of Smartish Pace when he said:
I’d have the young poets maintain a stockpile of linguistic bits: stories, weird words, snatches of conversation they’d overheard, lines from movies they’d seen or books they’d read. Most young poets will say something like, “Well, I have to write a poem now. Let’s see; what can I write about?” And then they end up writing about their own experiences, and, let’s face it, we all have the same experiences. So what all poets need is a savings account they can raid from time to time
This site is both a general writing blog, and one to help spark the writer's mind for ten to thirty minutes a day with short exercises which may not be full stories or poems, but will hopefully serve as a reservoir for future works.
I'm a writer living and teaching in San Diego. I received my BA from California State University, Long Beach, and my MFA from The University of Washington where I was the coordinating editor at The Seattle Review as it transitioned into its current "Long View" form. My writing has appeared in The Southern Review, The North American Review, The New York Quarterly, Permafrost, Bayou, 5AM, The California Quarterly, The Evansville Review, The Georgetown Review, Dark Matter, Cutthroat, Cairn, Miller's Pond, Pearl and The Lullwater Review among others and is forthcoming in ONTHEBUS's long awaited double issue, The Cape Rock and Exit 7. I've been once nominated for a Pushcart Prize and once did not receive a Pushcart Prize. I'm giving facial hair a go now too. Go figure.
If you have a piece that you really need another's opinion on, I may be able to help. Email zebulonworkshops@gmail.com if you would like to begin a correspondence. Critiques begin at $39 for 2 rounds of edits on a single poem and publishing advice.
