One Line Poem Project
Submission policies: Prompts
The Chalkboard One Line Poem project publishes a weekly prompt piece for our community to respond to. If you are interested in doing a prompt, please read on. (If you want to respond to a prompt, read this instead: Submission Policies: Responses.)
By submitting a piece to this project you are committing to having read the rules and agreeing to follow them.
New prompts are published every Wednesday (usually by 2 pm California time — GMT-8.) Anyone is eligible to submit a prompt. (If you are not yet a Chalkboard writer, please see the note later in this article on how to become one.)
All prompt pieces must follow the submission policies for responses with one exception. Prompt pieces cannot be locked. Any piece that does not meet these guidelines will be sent back for rework.
Please note: We can’t know if your piece is locked without publishing it. That means you must put a TK line or a private note saying you have unlocked your piece.
How do I pick a prompt?
Select a prompt word or phrase that moves you. Some other things to keep in mind when selecting a prompt include:
- Prompt themes should be between one two words.
- Prompt pieces must follow the same length requirements as responses
- Your title does not need to be your theme, but must lead people to the theme
- The best themes are single words (preferred) or two-word phrases that have multiple meanings or are flexible in their interpretation. Please, don’t use proper names or words most people have never used. It’s not that we don’t want to learn new words, but our primary objective (and yours as a prompter) is to get as many people as possible to submit a poetic response.
How frequently can I submit a prompt?
We prefer to share the love around, so we ask that you submit a prompt only once a quarter. Quarters for this project are as follows:
- February to April
- May to July
- August to October
- November to January
(Why? Because we have learned NOT to change quarters at the end of the year. It causes problems.)
How do I know if my prompt has been used recently?
You can find the last 24 prompts at the bottom of the One Line Poem page on Chalkboard. If the prompt you wish to use is in that list, you will need to pick a different prompt OR you will need to be willing to move your prompt out to a point in the future.
How do I know when I can do a prompt?
The prompt schedule is kept in a public Google calendar. In the image above you can see a sample of our prompts. Checking the calendar will allow you to see the next open prompt date.
To find the next open date, scroll forward in the calendar. We generally schedule prompts two to three months in advance. (You can also check the most recent One Line Poem email.)
How do I sign up to do a weekly prompt?
Once you know your prompt and the date you wish to use, complete this Google form. Information on this form will be used for this project only. Email addresses will only be used to contact you for reminders and other project updates related to your prompt.
What’s next?
Once you know your prompt and your date, you are ready to write your prompt piece. Be sure to read the submission policies for responses. Following those guidelines, create a Medium story with your piece and your chosen image.
Please note: While responses can be locked for members only, prompts need to be unlocked.
Any tagging requirements?
Tag your piece with “One Line Poetry Prompt” and your chosen prompts. You may use whatever you wish for the other three tags. We recommend that one of your tags be “Poetry” to ensure visibility of your prompt piece across Medium. Do not tag your piece “One Line” OR “Chalkboard Espresso”. These two tags will cause your prompt to show on the wrong part of the page.
What special information should I include in my piece?
Add a subtitle to your piece that contains “TK hold for One Line Poem project” and the date of your prompt. This prevents your piece from being accidentally published.
At the bottom of your piece, add the following information. Replace “(Your theme word or phrase)” with your suggested prompt.
Your Turn
THEME: (Your theme word or phrase)
Share your own one-line poem on the theme as a response to this post, or write a stand-alone piece if you prefer. Tag your piece “One Line”. If you have a stand-alone poem, be sure to leave a link in the response section below.
Want to get notified about the weekly prompts? Complete this form.
Have a question about the One Line project? Read our submission rules!
Anything else I should know?
If your piece does not meet the above requirements, it will be rejected by the Chalkboard editors. If the editor has time and energy, assistance will be given on prompt pieces with problems. If you need editorial assistance with your piece (for example to get it down to 30 words, feel free to add a private message to the editors. As we have time, we will offer assistance.
What if I want to submit more frequently?
If you wish to submit more than one prompt a quarter, please sign up for our “Emergency prompters” list. By signing up for this mailing list, you are agreeing to be contacted if we need a weekly prompt on short notice.
What if the forms don’t work?
Google forms do not like our editors. They break on a regular basis. If either form doesn’t work, please email chalkboard_moderator at gmail.com or complete this form:
