My Favorite Poetry Writing Prompt is Also the Simplest
Drawing Inspiration from Other Poets
I’ve read a lot of writing prompts in my time, and they all suck. Seriously. What is with this “Write a poem about a man who finds a dog on the side of the road and then he brings it home and then it eats his shoe . . .” prompt bull-honkey? (Okay, I made that prompt up, but that’s how most of them sound.)
I think people who write writing prompts are just trying to write their own stories (not the same thing as a poem!) and they are way overthinking it. My favorite poetry writing prompt is also the simplest one I use.
What I love about this prompt is that I can come back to it again and again and find inspiration. It’s so simple and easy — plus, there’s a never-ending supply of inspiration to draw from.
Here it is:
Go to a book you love. Find a short line that strikes you. Make that line the title of your poem. Write a poem inspired by the line. Then, after you’ve finished, change the title completely.
With this simple prompt, I have written hundreds of poems. I know what you’re thinking, is it weird or even maybe a bit of plagiarism to use someone else’s words to inspire me? The truth is, it’s a common practice in poetry to draw off of other’s work. Using…
