Monday prompt 4/3/23
Hello writers! It’s National Poetry Month in the US this month. Some of you may know that I have been leaning into poetry more and more over the last few years. I used to write mainly essays, creative non-fiction about my thoughts on life, theology, walking through the woods, caring for children (when I was a nanny), depression, etc. I went viral several times with essays, and the biggest one (where I hit a million views for the first time ever or since) was a theological essay about how Jesus’ command in Matthew chapter five to walk the extra mile might be applicable to Christian bakers. And my first book, The Long Night, was a collection of essays about depression and recovery.
But after discussing theology and praxis with 800 commenters on my blog, and countless others on Twitter and Facebook, for a few years, I found that I had less and less energy for those discussions, and less and less desire overall for that kind of expository (explaining) writing. I started writing poetry directly into Twitter, and found that I loved the 280 character limit for writing a poem. That’s not much space to say what you want to say, so you learn to cut extra words, be as concise and precise as possible. Plus, in poetry, you don’t have to include every point, every thought, every argument to support your thesis. You’re free to go where the words lead you. And another great benefit is that people feel less compelled to argue with you when you write in the form of poetry!
In this clip from my talk from poetry week in the Finding Your Voice Writing Workshop, I share more of what I love about writing poetry instead of prose:
It kind of points to the thing that I really love most about poetry, which is that a poem, for me, is a much more relaxed form of writing than a story or an essay in that you don't have to make it be anything it doesn't want to be. You don't have to explain yourself, you don't have to tell a story with a beginning, a middle, or an end, you don't have to have evidence backing up your points, you don't have to flesh out your idea, you don't have to really even make sense if you don't want to. You just have to write something that stirs the reader, that evokes a scene, or a feeling, or an idea. You don't even have to fully understand that idea yourself. In poetry, more than in any other form of writing, you can lean into inspiration, to intuition, to art, to creativity.
I know not everyone in this group is a poet, so I’ll give some options for the four Monday prompts this month. But even if you aren’t primarily a poet, I think there’s something to learn from writing poetry. I know it can be scary to try, especially if you tried at some point and were told that your poetry wasn’t good, but I think it’s that very point of fear that holds potential for our deepest creativity. So no pressure at all, but I’d like to encourage you to try one of more of the poetry prompts this month. Give yourself permission to lean into inspiration, to intuition, to art, to creativity, whether you share what you write or not. And I hope this group can be a place where we help each other feel safe to do so.
Writing prompt
This week, try writing with a character limit. If you have a Twitter account you can use that, or use an online word-counter like this one. Chose 280 characters (Twitter’s limit) or one-hundred words (roughly twice that) or two-hundred words. If that feels too restrictive, you can choose five hundred words. But set the limit beforehand, so you are writing within that pre-set structure.
You can either write a short piece to begin with, or write a longer one and then edit it down. And you can either write a prose piece, or a poem, or a prose poem. Whichever you chose, focus on using words that pack the most punch per character count. Can one word say the same thing as two? Are you repeating an idea that you already captured? No words are wrong, repetition or long words aren’t wrong, but you are making an intentional choice about how to use the space you have.
If you need ideas for the subject here are a few:
Write about a happy moment shared with friends, like in this poem.
Write about how something your child (or someone else’s child) said held deeper meaning for you, like in this poem.
Write about something that has tried to kill you and failed, like in this poem.
And come back here on Friday to share your work and get encouraging feedback from each other. I can’t wait to see what you write!