Playing With Abstract Poetry Abstract poetry is a form of poetry that prioritizes the auditory and emotional impact of words over their literal meaning or conventional grammatical structure. Prompt 1 – The Warmup Write for 2 minutes about something troubling or sad. Write for 2 minutes about something using the opposite emotion: joyful, hopeful. Write for 2 minutes on something from nature, something from the natural world. Keep that writing nearby for Prompt 2. Why write an abstract poem “Science has shown that when we engage in play, we increase brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, where creative thinking happens. “You are not striving for perfection. You’re striving for perfectly unpredictable.” — “Words Gone Wild,” by Dr. Finnian Burnett, Writers Digest, Nov/Dec 2025 Prompt 2 Write an abstract poem, using only the words you have written in Prompt 1. Write for 15-20 minutes. It doesn’t have to make sense. It shouldn’t…
Symbolism . . . Prompt #854
Photo by ArtHouse Studio on Pexels.com Using Symbolism in Writing Symbolism refers to using a material thing to represent a nonmaterial thing, usually a tangible item that illuminates an intangible concept. Paraphrased from “Thematic Writing” by Jane K. Cleland, Writer’s Digest, Jan/Feb, 2024 The importance of Symbolism Symbolism has the power to evoke an emotion or an idea without overtly saying it. When we pair a part of a poem, story, scene, character, or emotion with a repeated object, we begin to transfer the character’s wants, needs, and dreams onto that object. The symbol serves as an echo of that idea or sentiment, without retelling the story. Symbolism is the secret language of storytelling, adding depth and layers to what appears on the surface. It’s like finding a hidden treasure within a story, enriching the reader’s understanding and enhancing the reader’s appreciation of the narrative. Examples of Symbolism An object…
Time . . .
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Waste Not By Desiree Cooper “Time stretching languid in the humid afternoon tastes like caramel cake. It smells like pine needles in the rain.” —excerpted from “Waste Not,” by Desiree Cooper, River Teeth, Beautiful Things, September 29, 2025 Desiree Cooper is the author of the award-winning collection of flash fiction, Know the Mother. Her fiction, poetry and essays have appeared in The Best Small Fictions 2018, Callaloo, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Rumpus, and Best African American Fiction 2010. Her essay, “We Have Lost Too Many Wigs,” was a notable essay in The Best American Essays 2019. “Using truth and wit, Desiree Cooper was the perfect conduit for university presses to have larger conversations about diversity and representation through books starting with their covers. Cooper, an electric speaker, is a master at navigating the tricky waters of difficult conversations by never excluding failures, but instead owning and…
Sanctuary
“When you take sanctuary within yourself, the world can be falling apart around you and you will be okay.” — “Giving Up The Ghost” by Samantha Rose
Get Into The Habit
“Forget about inspiration and get into the habit of writing every day. Habit has written far more books than inspiration has. If you want the Muse to visit you, she needs to know where you are: so stay at your desk.” —Philip Pullman Quote in “Write it All Down” by Cathy Rentzenbrink. #justwrite #amwriting #iamawriter
Zoom In, Then Linger
Ethan Gilsdorf on Zooming In and Lingering: “In personal essay, memoir and creative nonfiction, we want to bring to our pages a sense of verisimilitude, of intruding upon someone else’s circumstances, of grasping someone else’s fleeting take on the world.” How to do this? Gilsdorf suggests: “The language of cinematography is a useful analogy: in a wide or medium shot, the viewer is distant from the subject; in close-ups and extreme close-ups, the frame of reference is tight. In writing, this means: rather than quickly cutting away, or keeping the viewer far removed, like a drone hovering high above, we can zoom in on the subject of our attention, or pan across it, slowly. We can train our writerly efforts to pause. To not skip over— but to linger, loiter, dawdle, stay put, wait.” Excerpted from “Stay a Little Bit Longer: The Art of Zooming In and Lingering,” The Brevity…
Hey! I feel like that too.
“Be brave with it. Be brave with the thing that you are most scared to talk about, that is the thing you need to be able to talk about. There are so many tragedies in you and joy in you that need a voice, and you would be so surprised to see that when you voice that thing you are so scared of how many people across the world will go, ‘Hey, I feel like that too. Thank you for putting a voice to how I feel.’” —Nikita Gill Quote in “Write it All Down” by Cathy Rentzenbrink.
Write It All Down
“Write It All Down” by Cathy Rentzenbrink Review by Marlene Cullen A friendly book encouraging people to write without worries. Easy to read with specific suggestions that inspire writing. My motto is “Just Write.” Cathy’s motto could be “Release your fears. Stay in your chair. Write.” #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
It’s a Jungle
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. It’s a Jungle By Marlene Cullen It’s a jungle out there. I’d like to peg Bumbling Unreliable Gardener, aka Bug, on a hook and let him hang until cured. Except, I wonder, is he at fault for my jungle of a yard? Should I have been more forceful in not allowing him to install a plethora of plants in my pursuit of a peaceful place? I discovered Bug on social media. He answered my gardening questions as if he was a landscaping guru. So, I hired him. Big mistake. Huge. He handed me an extensive questionnaire to compose my heart’s desire in a garden. Winding paths. Check. Whimsical. Check. Calm, serene. Check, check. I envisioned a landscape of pleasant plants flowing in meandering paths. No white plants. What I got was spiky plants here, there, everywhere….
My Heart
Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. My Heart By Karen Handyside Ely My heart is a newly uncluttered closet. Organized and cleared of discarded outfits that smothered the floor, made movement impossible, allowed no forward progress. The air, once static and heavy with body-image accusations, is now peaceful and fresh. Eerily quiet with a hanging row of color-coded dresses that don’t hurl recrimination and neatly stacked t-shirts, crisply folded and segregated. Controlled. Smelling faintly of the lavender sachet I’ve finally replenished on the bottom shelf… now that I can reach it. Favorite sweaters, unworn for ages, have been lovingly salvaged, gently removed from their hangers, and boxed for consignment shops and resale. Traitorous pants and blouses, once thought to be friends, are stuffed haphazardly into hefty bags to sit out on the sidewalk for donated pick-up. My heart is a freshly weeded…