Help!! I’m stuck!
I can’t think of anything to write about. I have nothing to say. I don’t wanna do this dumb assignment. I’m no poet.
This is not fun!
If you ever feel like that, here are just a few ideas that
may spark your creativity:
1. Make a long list
of yellow things, blue, green.... Now
substitute one of these words for the kind of yellow you are describing in a
poem. For instance: pond scum green, new
leaf green, August sky blue, cotton candy pink, green, the color of a six day
old bruise, bumble bee yellow,
spider black, eyes that are fall-into-blue, coat closet
black, corn silk yellow,
2. Make a long list
of opposite, like black/white, good/evil, weak/strong, angel/devil, bold/timid,
innocent/experienced, flawed/perfect, fat/thin, cold/hot,
smart/dumb, soft/hard, beloved/hated, young/old, slick/hick, joy/pain,
3. Select a few key
words that you may want to include in a poem.
Now find all the rhyming words you can for each word. (I do this by writing an alphabet at the top
of my page.) Then, come up with a verse
that has rhythm, rhyme and meter.
4. Sit out in nature
for 15-20. Write down your
observations. Listen. Feel.
Hear. Look. Smell.
Taste. Touch. Be detailed in your descriptions.
5. Scale it
down. Study one square inch of dirt or
floor or wall or ceiling or skin or scalp or chalkboard or sky or animal or
water or tile or hair or desk or mirror or fabric or paper or anything. Record your thoughts.
6. Go to the Deseret
Industries. Buy an old article of
clothing. Put it on and write about who
used to own it. Tell their story in but
a few, well-chosen words.
7. Read some poetry
by other poets than yourself.
8. Think about the
extremes in your life: the most afraid you’ve ever been, the most excited, the
most physical pain you’ve ever experienced, the most peaceful, the most fun,
the most daring thing you’ve ever done, the most rotten thing, the most noble
thing you’ve ever done. These extremes
can prompt poetry.
9. Record your
dreams. Keep a notebook by your bed.
10. Write as if you
were someone else, something else, an old person, a baby, a person of another
race, religion, height, weight, or possibly an inanimate object.
11. Use crayons to
write your poetry. The colors you choose
can be telling. You may even end up
revising things as a result of the colors.
They may inspire new thoughts.
12. Wake up early in
the morning, before anyone else is up.
Go into the yard, or some other quiet spot. Record the beginning of a day, or the end of
one.
13. Take a bus ride
and write about the characters you see, what they look like, where they might
be going, make up a past, present, and future for them.
14. Splash cold water
on your face. Try to put words to that sensation of shock.
15. Listen to music
that is TOTALLY not your type.
16. Go for a walk.
17. Take your writing
notebook to a new place. Create five
columns, one for each of your five senses.
Record what your eyes, ears, skin, tongue, nose tells you to record.
18. Write about your
earliest recollection of life.
19. Write about a pet
peeve.
20. Go to an art
gallery. Allow yourself to become
inspired by something you see.
21. Read poetry
aloud. Feel the sounds of the words as they are formed using your lips and
teeth and tongue and nose.
22. Write without
stopping. Write without looking at what
you’ve written. Write until your hand
hurts.
23. Write about the
weather.
24. Write about
love. Write about envy. Write about loss. Write about seemingly insignificant details.
25. Listen. Listen to the sounds we hear everyday. Try to come up with a way to spell the words
that sound like those sounds. For
instance, how would you spell the sound a kiss makes?
26. Write a list of
action verbs, juicy words, delicious words that move, have life, not dreary,
boring words.
27. Do a spoof on a
well-known poem, nursery rhyme, or fairy tale.
28. Use the following
prompts:
I let
go of anger.....
Right
before I fall asleep, when....
I
dreamed....
“This
is just to say...”
My
shadow knows...
My real
name is...
I will
be...
I
remember...
29. Make lists:
Things under my bed, things I have not quite learned, things
I wish my parents knew, things I wish my English teacher would do, things I
would take with me if my house were on fire, things even my best friend doesn’t
know about me, hours in my life I wish I could have back, why we love popcorn,
reasons not to try at school, or life, or math, things I’m proud of but
shouldn’t be, things my big brother inflicted upon me, qualities my grandmother
thinks I possess, secrets I kept, what I
would do with a cloak of invisibility, list what’s in the fridge right now?
Cute tricks I performed as a child,
Things I learned in junior high,
what my shadow knows how to do, reasons why I adore English, places my mother
used to drag me...
