Writing poems and creative writing in general, can help you to understand yourself better, to become a better writer and relieve stress, among other benefits. So here are ___ prompts to help you get started on your journey to become a more fabulous person:
1. Use a random word generator to come up with a list of words to use in a poem; here is an example I have used: copyright, saucer, milk, alleyways. Figuring out ways to connect random words together get your creative juices flowing!
2. Incorporate puns/cliches into your poem but give them a twist by changing a word here and there so the phrase has a totally different meaning. Here is an example from John Yau's poem, "One Hundred Poems" in Further Adventures In Monochrome: "Dilemma/Do you swear to tell the whole truth filled with nothing but lies?"
3. Take on the persona of a famous person or character and write a poem from their point of view.
4. Write a poem that uses alliteration in every line.
5. Find a piece of artwork that moves you whether it is grotesque, funny, sad, etc. Write a poem about that piece of art on one condition- you can't describe what is actually going on in that art piece.
6. Write a poem and then erase some of the words in it to create an entirely new poem. Take for example a stanza from Finnish poet Gunnar Björling's poem: "Where I Know That You": "Never saw I/as in the morning/I/you".
7. Take a line from the lyrics of a song. Replace some of the words with your own and use that line as a first or last line of your poem.
8. Write a list poem with things/experiences/events from your childhood. Let this be a kind of auto-biography.
9. Go outside and take note of a person that catches your eye. Write a poem as a if you were writing a letter to them.
10. Take two or three poems that you have already written. Take some lines from each and put them into a new poem and edit them to make them flow.
