3 Poetry Writing Prompts To Try While In Quarantine
For many of us, writing in the current environment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic may feel futile and pointless. It’s hard to know what to say or write in this unprecedented time. But writing can also be a means of understanding the world better and comprehending what it is we’re experiencing.
If we can’t write, then we can’t fully grasp the gravity of the thing. Every now and again, we have to turn to the insight of others to find the right words to get started. Here are 3 writing prompts for poets (and writers in general) to get writing again, or, for some, the first time.
The Window
This writing prompt for poets comes from Suleika Jaouad’s The Isolation Journals. It’s a great way to practice some personal writing while adhering to new prompts each day. But this is one that I particularly enjoyed, and feel is well-suited particularly for poets.
Go to the window closest to you and look outside. Describe in great detail what you see, what you smell, how you feel, and write about specific sightings or actions.
Once you’re finished, feel free to read through it aloud, add in line breaks where your breath seems to naturally leave or where it softens. The important thing with this prompt is that you sat down, observed the world, and have written some words.
Engaging With Ghosts
Memories are powerful tools for writers. They’re always with us, always accessible, even if sometimes they feel out of reach. For this writing prompt for poets, we’ll be focusing on our own history for inspiration.
Take a seat at your desk, dining table, or whatever you’re most comfortable writing. If music helps you focus, helps stir your thoughts, then turn some on — music is a major part of my writing process and helps memories I thought were forgotten come to the forefront.
Try to focus on a powerful moment or memory. This can be a fond, joyous memory, a painful memory — whatever you’re comfortable with writing about, just be sure it’s a memory that carries an emotional weight with it and one that involves another person.
Remember, you’re writing is for you and only you until the decision to share it with others is made. Try to go outside your comfort zone, but not enough to deter you from writing altogether.
Once you have a memory in mind, write down in detail each thought that comes to you, even if it’s not directly related to that memory or moment. You want to try to keep focus on it, but it’s okay to have outside thoughts creep in. And make sure that you try to keep the descriptions as concrete as possible rather than just a one-word emotion. Be detailed. Follow it through to the end of the memory, until you can’t seem to describe it anymore.
Word of the Day
This writing prompt for poets is a bit more of a technical approach, but I think it’s a beneficial exercise that helps expand your vocabulary while forcing you to write around a word, which is helpful in describing specific emotions and sensations felt.
Sign up for a word of the day type email. I recommend Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day email, but there are many others out there you could choose from. The important thing is to get a different word sent to you each day.
Read the word of the day, and be sure you understand what it means. If there are numerous definitions, pick the one that you’re most familiar with (or least familiar with for a challenge).
Use the word for the title of the poem, then write a poem (or short story) about the word of the day without using the daily word while avoiding words of the definition in the poem itself. The idea is to encapsulate the meaning of the daily word in the form of the poem.
For most prompts, I try to limit it to a page or a specific time amount (15 minutes is usually my go-to time allotment). It helps keep focus while acting more as an exercise rather than my goal for the day. Though if the prompt is thought-provoking and the writing is going well, then I’ll see it out to the end.
About Coty Poynter
Coty Poynter is the author of two poetry books. His most recent, Delirium: Collected Poems, was published by Bowen Press. His work has appeared in Black Fox Literary Magazine, Equinox, Grub Street, and Underwood Press. He lives in Baltimore with his partner, their cat Pudge, and a hodgepodge of plants.
