A Poets View

For many poets words come at the blink of any eye and voila! A poem is created.  There are those of us however who need a little more prompting.  While the words may be traveling the mind they are yet without form or ideas.  This is why writing prompts are so helpful.  Photos such as the above which I took during a trip can evoke various emotions and thoughts.  Dozens of poets could view this photo and create different scenarios and words around the scene.  For visual people such as myself photos can not only help with writer’s block but can be an immediate inspiration when creating a poem.

There is also the add a line prompt.  A poet will come up with a themed title then ask each of their fellow poets and friends to add a line and eventually complete a poem.  A Poets Word   regularly challenges her readers with these type of prompts which can be not only very productive but much fun as well.

Then there is the Magnetic Poetry   which basically affords the poet dozens of magnetic tiles representing different words which you can rearrange to form a poem.  This is very challenging.  It can literally take hours to complete however it massages the brain cells to a point where you will be writing for hours on end.  I’ve tried it many times and it certainly helps with inspiring ideas.

All of these methods are very helpful when you have an idea but just cannot get the words down on paper or computer screen.  So, give them all a try.  Challenge yourself.

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