National Poetry Month
April is here, which means that National Poetry Month is officially underway.
Poetry is near and dear to my heart. When I first started writing back in junior high, poetry is what got my pen moving. In high school and college, it’s what kept my pen moving.
I’ll be celebrating and recognizing National Poetry Month throughout April here at Writing Forward and also on my Facebook page and Twitter feed.
According to poets.org:
National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets as a month-long, national celebration of poetry. The concept was to increase the attention paid – by individuals and the media – to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our poetic heritage, and to poetry books and magazines.
About National Poetry Month
National poetry month has been a tradition every April since 1996. Here are some interesting facts about this month-long, literary celebration:
- National Poetry Month was inspired by the success of both Black History Month (February) and Women’s History Month (March).
- It was started by the Academy of American Poets as a way to promote poetry in the U.S. It’s also recognized in Canada. Britain honors poetry in October.
- Poetry books are often published in April. Teachers use April as an opportunity to focus on poetry in the classroom. Bookstores have special poetry readings this month.
- Even though we focus on poetry throughout April, we should enjoy, celebrate, embrace, promote, read, and write poetry all year long!
To learn more, visit the official National Poetry Month FAQ.
Celebrate Poetry!
There are lots of ways that you can participate in National Poetry Month.
- Print your favorite poem and carry it in your pocket all month. Share it with friends, family, and co-workers.
- Read a book of poetry. You can also use email to share your favorite poems.
- Listen to poetry podcasts: check out Indiefeed Performace Poetry (cutting-edge, slam poetry) or Poem of the Day by Sonibyte (canon and classics). You can subscribe to both via iTunes.
- Write poetry and/or submit your poetry to publications. Make a chapbook.
- Promote poetry on your blog or via social media like Facebook and Twitter (this is what I’ll be doing this month).
- Show your support for poetry by supporting poets. Buy a book of poetry or donate to a poetry-friendly organization.
There are plenty of other ways that you can honor poetry this month. The Academy of American Poets has a list of 30 ways to celebrate – that’s one activity for each day of the month!
National Poetry WRITING Month
I’ve heard some buzz in the last couple of years about a little thing called NaPoWriMo – National Poetry Writing Month. This was inspired by NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), in which participants write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days during November. For NaPoWriMo, you write a poem a day for 30 days in April. Want to give it a try but not sure how to start? Check out these poetry prompts.
Discuss
How are you going to celebrate National Poetry Month? Who are some of your favorite poets and what are your favorite poems? Do you write poetry? Share and discuss poetry in the comments.
Keep on writing poetry!
Poetry-Inspired Writing Prompts
Writing tips inspired by poetry
Poetry is the most under-appreciated form of writing in the world today. Yet poems are ever-present in our lives. As children, we learn rhythm and language from nursery rhymes, and poems are read aloud at most major life events — baptisms, graduations, weddings, presidential inaugurations, and funerals — to name a few.
Today’s writing prompts are inspired by poetry but that doesn’t mean they have to inspire a poem. Use them to write anything you want; a short story, a blog post, a journal entry, or a freewrite. You might even try writing a song, keeping in mind that song lyrics are a type of poetry in their own right.
Writing Prompts
Some of these writing prompts require that you use an existing poem. Your poem choice can be a nursery rhyme, a Dr. Suess story, or song lyrics. Be open and creative, and have fun!
- The hallmark of great poetry is its imagery. A truly compelling poem paints a picture and invites the reader into a vivid and realistic scene. Choose an image or scene from one of your favorite poems and start writing.
- One of the most famous poems in the English language is “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” a lengthy ode to a favorite holiday. What’s your favorite holiday and why?
- Not all poems rhyme, but many do. And song lyrics often rhyme too. Other types of writing may incorporate less obvious rhymes. Give rhyming a shot.
- Some poems are more than just poems. They tell stories. “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” is one example. Shakespeare’s plays are another. Try writing a poem that is also a story, play, or essay. Or try writing a story or essay that is also a poem.
- Read your favorite poem and take a few minutes to contemplate it. Then, write something about the poem. Why do you love it? How does it make you feel? What makes this poem so special to you?
Choose whichever writing prompts speak to you the most. Once you’re done, come back and tell us how it worked out. And keep on writing!
Do you ever use writing prompts to inspire a writing session? Have you found them helpful? Got any writing prompts of your own to share? Leave a comment!
Poetry Prompts for Winter
Poetry prompts and writing exercises are great ways to get a little creative writing done when inspiration is absent. They’re also perfect for challenging yourself as a writer to incorporate new ideas and themes into your work.
You can use prompts and exercises on days when you’re not feeling especially inspired or as a way to work on something a little different from your usual writing fare. Write a long poem, a short poem, a haiku, or a pantoum.
As long as you get the creative writing flowing and have fun with it, you’re doing it right!
These poetry prompts can be used for other types of writing too. Try using them in a short story, a blog post, or a bit of creative prose.
Poetry Prompts
Use the lists of words below to write a poem. You can use all the prompts from any one list, including the list title, or you can mix and match words from different lists.
Want a super challenge? Try to write one poem using all the poetry prompts from the lists below.
Write any kind of poem you want: free verse or a form poem, like a haiku or a sonnet.
That’s it! Pretty simple, right?
| Winter’s | Snowy | Season |
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Create Poetry Prompts
You can also create your own poetry prompts by flipping through the dictionary and selecting words at random. For the poetry prompts here on Writing Forward, I usually try to find words that have nothing to do with each other, and I try to include a range of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs to make the poetry writing just a little more challenging.
If you try these poetry prompts, feel free to share your poems in the comments. And keep on writing!
Poetry Prompts for the End of the Year
The end of yet another year is just around the corner. It’s a busy season packed with holiday shopping, gatherings with friends and family, and preparationg for the new year ahead.
When things get busy, it’s important for writers to keep their heads in the clouds. Don’t forget about your dreams! Don’t let your poetry fall by the wayside lest you forget to return!
Maybe you don’t have time to sit and write the way you usually do. Maybe your head is spinning with all the things you have to get done. That’s fine. Just set a few minutes aside and let these poetry prompts walk you through a brief writing session.
We’ll even keep the focus on things that are going on right now – things like food, holidays, gifts, goals, and the new year.
Poetry Prompts
To use these poetry prompts, simply pick one of the lists below and write a quick poem using all of the words in the list. The lists are categorized to make choosing a little easier. Select the one that speaks to you, and then get busy writing.
If you’re not as busy as everyone else, and are feeling up for an even bigger challenge, then try making one poem with all the words from all the lists. Up the ante by using the list titles as well. Or, if you’re feeling lazy or have an itch to break the rules, go ahead and mix the lists up and just pick whatever words you want.
Just remember to have fun.
| Holiday | Food | Gifts | End of the Year | New Year |
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More Tips for Using Poetry Prompts
As you work through these poetry prompts, keep the following tips in mind:
- Try to write about something unexpected. If you choose the “Holiday” list, then make your poem about anything BUT the holidays.
- Mix two or three lists of poetry prompts together and take out some words or add in a few of your own. Then, write your poem.
- Use the five list titles rather than the words in the lists.
As always, enjoy your poetry session and keep on writing!
If you give these poetry prompts a try, feel free to post your poem in the comments.
Scary Poetry Prompts
Poetry prompts are great for those times when you have the creative itch but just can’t seem to reach around to scratch it. Hey, we can’t be inspired every single day.
Writing exercises like poetry prompts challenge us while stirring our creativity.
And these ones are just in time for Halloween.
All Hallow’s Eve
Halloween comes from an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest season and the time of year when people slaughtered livestock for the coming cold months.
Because it marked a new cycle, this festival was viewed as a kind of new year celebration. It was also the time of year when the fog between our world and the world of the deceased evaporated, which meant the dead could move about in our world and wreak havoc.
During this festival, people wore costumes. They might have been disguising themselves in order to hide from evil spirits. Maybe they were trying to pacify the dearly departed.
Poetry Prompts
These poetry prompts honor the tradition that is Halloween. Love it or hate it, it’s right around the corner and before you know it, those little witches and goblins will be gobbling up all your candy (or else you’ll be warding off tricks and pranks).
The rules are simple and you can change them as you see fit. Choose one of the word groups below and write a poem that contains all the words and phrases on the list. Or, scramble the lists to come up with new ones of your own.
Feeling really creative? Write a single poem containing all the words from all the lists below. Good luck.
| Sheer Horror | Ghostly Ghouls | Kids and Candy |
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Have fun with these poetry prompts, and feel free to share your poems in the comments, or if you publish them online, drop a link.
And keep on writing!
Got any poetry prompts or writing exercises to share? Leave a comment!
Poetry Prompts for Fall
It seems like summer always passes too quickly and winter lasts too long. Maybe that’s why fall is my favorite season. It seems to hang around just long enough. It’s not too hot, not too cold. A mild, colorful, and comfortable season.
Every fall, my creativity goes into overdrive, and I doubt this year will be any different. I’m not sure what it is about all the rusty and golden hues that fills me with inspiration, but I’m always grateful when the leaves start to turn because I know that my imagination is about get fired up.
It’s the perfect time of year to write a little poetry. The seasons have been inspiring poets for millennia, and it’s up to us modern-day writers to keep the tradition alive. The poetry prompts below are a great way to get started.
Poetry Prompts
Poetry prompts are simple. Below, you’ll find three lists of words. Your task is to compose a poem using all of the words from one of the lists. You can also get creative any use any of the following alternatives:
- Mix and match random words from the three lists. Try to use 5-10 words to prompt your poem.
- Write three poems, each based on one of the lists.
- Write a single poem using all of the poetry prompts from all of the lists.
Once you’re done writing your poem, set it aside and let it sit overnight. Come back to it the next day and spend some time polishing it. You can add words, remove words, put it into form (or take it out of form). Focus especially on deleting extraneous words and phrases. Try to keep the poem as tight and concise as possible. Also, make an effort to infuse the poem with vivid imagery, which is the key to writing great poetry.
| List One | List Two | List Three |
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Can you think of any fall-related words to add to these lists? If so, leave your suggestions in the comments and I’ll add them to these lists or add more lists to this collection of poetry prompts.
Discover and Share
Once you’ve finished using these prompts to write a poem (or several poems), come back and tell us what you discovered or learned through the process. Did you write a poem about autumn or did some other topic emerge? Did you come up with any compelling images for your piece? How did revising your poem improve it? Leave a comment to share your experience. And keep on writing!
Poetry Prompts for Language Lovers
Poets have a unique relationship with language. For a poet, language is more than a tool for communication; it’s a set of paints and paintbrushes that can be used to create scenes and images that resonate with readers.
A poet must then foster a loving relationship with language, learning its secrets, understanding its idiosyncrasies, and mastering its structure, then bending it to the poet’s own will.
Today’s poetry prompts pay credence to language, and encourage a more thorough mastery of grammar, sentence structure, and all things wordy.
Poetry Prompts
The exercise is quite simple. From the list of poetry prompts below, select at least five words or phrases and then use them to write a poem of your own. If you want to challenge yourself, choose more than five – go for ten or fifteen, or see how many you can squeeze into one poem.
You can also challenge yourself by writing a poem that is not strictly about language, writing, or poetry. Use these words as symbols, metaphors, or personify them to give them new meaning.
You’ll find that some of these words lend themselves quite well to alternative meanings. “Dash,” for example could mean running quickly rather than a punctuation mark that looks like hyphen. Give yourself room to be creative with these poetry prompts.
- Words
- Dash
- Preposition
- Modifier
- Poetry prompts
- Oxymoron
- Lexicon
- Period
- Verb
- Palindrome
- Phrase
- Definition
- Etymology
- Homophones
- Simile
- Conjunction
- Possessive
- Apostrophe
- Run-on
- Tense
Feel free to come back and post your poem if you decide to use these poetry prompts to make a poem of your own. Even if you don’t attempt this exercise, be sure to keep on writing!
Got any poetry prompts or writing exercises to share? Leave a comment!
All-Natural Poetry Prompts
Throughout the centuries, poets have composed meditations on seasons, landscapes, and constellations. Vegetation and animals have been the subjects of countless poems, and even when poetry is not centered around nature, it often makes references to it.
In poetry, nature may function as the backdrop — the setting in which the action takes place. Nature, and various elements of nature, may also hold center stage. Why are so many poets compelled to write about nature?
Consider the closing stanza from “Crossings” by Ravi Shankar:
Suspended in this ephemeral moment
after leaving a forest, before entering
a field, the nature of reality is revealed.Source: poets.org
Word like “forest” and “field” indicate nature’s presence in this piece, but the closing line cleverly reminds us that nature is not present in individual words. Nature is reality, and it’s everywhere, all the time.
Poetry Prompts
Poetry prompts are a great way to start a writing session when you’re feeling uninspired or when you simply want to try something new. Maybe you’ve never written a poem before. Maybe you’ve never written about nature. Maybe you’ve never tackled a writing exercise. Whatever your reason, these poetry prompts are meant to provide loose guidelines for kick-starting your creativity and get you pushing your pen across the page.
Below, you’ll find a list of words that relate to nature. These words are your poetry prompts. You can use these prompts in several different ways. You could choose a single word and build a poem around it as a concept. You can choose a handful of words (about five would be good) and use those words to kick off different lines or verses. Or, you could challenge yourself to write a single poem with all of the words included in it.
As you read through the list and choose which words will act as prompts for your poem, relax. Engage your imagination and visualize different images that these words might describe. Build actions with them. String them together with words from your own vocabulary. Put them in lines and verses. And make a poem.
- lava
- droplet
- gazelle
- bloom
- nest
- snake
- moon
- chirp
- field
- stream
- grasshopper
- hiss
- seed
- fur
- forest
- sunlight
- energy
- metamorphosis
- prey
- birth
Once you’ve written a poem, feel free to share it in the comments section, either by copying and pasting it or by posting a link to it. If you have any ideas or suggestions for poetry prompts, share your thoughts by leaving a comment. And keep on writing!
Seasonal Poetry Prompts for Spring and Summer
Poets often hail the seasons by writing odes to them, and spring and summer are no exceptions.
Rebirth is a common theme in poetry, so the spring season, with its fresh skies and new shoots, is a great inspiration for composition.
Summer is packed with sights, smells, and sounds: splashing water and fresh lemonade; hot dogs from the fair and bike rides on the beach.
All of these things find their way into poetry.
Poetry Prompts for Spring
As always, these poetry prompts are simple and straightforward. Choose one of the three lists and write a poem using every word in that list. Or, to really challenge yourself, try using all the words from all the lists in your poem. You can even mix and match the words on these lists however you want.
| Flower Buds | Blue-Gray Skies | Mud and Muck |
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Poetry Prompts for Summer
Below, you will find five lists of words. Each list pertains to one of the five senses – sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Choose one word from each list. You can mix up the words to write a free-verse poem or choose one word from each list to kick-start each verse in a five-verse poem. If you want to write a poem that appeals entirely to one sense, simply choose the list that corresponds (for example, the SMELL list) and use all the words on that list for your poem. Or, to really challenge yourself, try writing a single poem using all the words from all the lists. That ought to really tickle the senses!
| Sight | Sound | Smell | Taste | Touch |
| Beach ball
Surfer Tourist Swimsuits Sunglasses (shades) Buckets & Spades Dripping Ice cream Boardwalk Jelly fish Lifeguard Boats Beach bags Lightning bugs (fireflies) June bugs Clear blue skies Cotton-white clouds |
Splashing
Outdoor concerts (or beach concerts) Waves crashing Thunder (don’t forget about those summer storms!) Music blaring from convertibles Seagull calls Lawn mowers Fans (A/C) Children playing Ice cream truck/van Buzzing bees, bumble bees buzzing, honey bees |
Barbecue
Chlorine (swimming pool) Suntan lotion (or sunblock) Coconut Ripe peaches Wildflowers Freshly cut grass (wet summers like this one), parched grass (dry summers) Fresh summer rain |
Ice cream
Fresh summer fruits: watermelon, plums, grapes Flavored shaved ice, popsicles Iced tea and lemonade Cotton candy, popcorn Fish & Chips Salt water taffy Vine-ripe tomatoes Sea (salt) water Strawberries and cream Blackberry pie |
(Gritty) sand
Water (Feet in) flip-flops Burn-your-feet-hot concrete/pavement Warm/hot breezes Freshly watered (or cut) grass Water balloons in the face (via water balloon fights!) Sun on your face |
Share Your Poetry Prompts (or Your Poems)
If you write a poem using these prompts, feel free to post it in the comments. Or, post it on your blog and then come back here and drop a link.
Keep writing (and reading) poetry!
If you have any poetry prompts or writing exercises to share, feel free to post them in the comments or send them in as a guest post. And if you have any prompts to add to these lists, share them and I’ll add them in a future update.
Family-Inspired Poetry Prompts
Writers are always looking for new ideas. Sometimes, we look so far and wide for inspiration that we are oblivious to what is right in front of us.
They say “You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family.” In life, we are presented with many choices, but family is not one of them. It’s pretty much luck of the draw.
The people to whom we are related are beyond our control, which is why they provide excellent inspiration for writing.
Poetry Prompts
Poetry prompts are a great way to do a little writing when you’re not feeling particularly inspired. The prompts provide the subject matter and a few, choice words. Below, you’ll find five lists of words. Each list focuses on a single topic. You can use these poetry prompts in any of the following ways:
- Choose one list of poetry prompts and write a poem using all the words in the list.
- Write five separate poems, each based on one of the lists.
- Mix and match random words from the lists to write a single poem.
- Write one poem using all of the poetry prompts from all of the lists.
- Bonus: Write a form poem (sonnet, haiku, etc.) using any of the words from the lists
Writing a poem using prompts is a helpful exercise. To take it a step further, set your completed poem aside and come back to it the following day. Spend some time revising and polishing it. Delete any unnecessary words and make sure the poem contains images that readers can easily visualize. If you wrote a poem in form, check that you’ve adhered to the rules of the form. When you feel the poem is complete, add it to your pile of finished writing projects and think about submitting it to a poetry publication.
| Mother | Father | Grandparents | Siblings | Children |
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Feel free to add to these lists by leaving a comment. Of course, each of us can come up with a host of additional words about our own families, many of which would be entirely subjective. I’ve tried to keep the lists fairly general and any suggestions in the commnets that are general will be added to this collection of poetry prompts.
Discover and Share
Once your poem is completed, come back and share your thoughts about using these poetry prompts. Did you find the process easy or challenging? Which list(s) did you use? Did you polish your poem? If you’d like to share your poem, you can post it in the comments or include a link to it.
Keep on writing!
Five Poetry Prompts, a Writing Exercise
This year, I’d like to get back to writing poetry regularly. I used to write poetry every single day, and as a result I have hundreds of poems in notebooks and in the writing files on my computer.
For the past few years, I’ve only written a few poems here and there, because the focus of my writing has shifted dramatically.
Poetry prompts are a great way to trigger creativity and sometimes they inspire a truly wonderful piece of poetry.
For today’s exercise, I chose a few poems I’ve written over the years and selected five words from each poem. The objective is to write your own poem using all of the words from any one of the groups below.
Of course, one poem with all of the words would be fantastic! Any combination will do, really, so pluck the words at will. I think it would be fun to compare the ones I wrote to any of the ones you write from this exercise. Will they be about the same topic or have a similar sensibility?
Five Poetry Prompts
Poetry Prompt #1
- steel
- theory
- saving
- imitation
- chisel
Poetry Prompt #2
- mirror
- hazardous
- dandelion
- famine
- committed
Poetry Prompt #3
- tapestry
- sings
- eye
- din
- collide
Poetry Prompt #4
- slippery
- fantasy
- casting
- chameleon
- lives
Poetry Prompt #5
- deadline
- boom
- children
- shallow
- dirt
If you try these poetry prompts, feel free to post the poem you’ve written in the comments section. Hopefully we’ll get some poems that resulted from these poetry prompts. Have fun!
Do you have any poetry prompts you’d like to share? Post your prompts in the comments.
A Poet’s Perspective on Proofreading
Accomplished poet, Taylor Mali, on proofreading and editing
He’s one of the most successful poets in the world. In fact, Taylor Mali has accomplished what most people believe to be impossible – he’s a full-time poet.
Mali gained a following through his involvement with the poetry slam movement and catapulted himself into a successful career writing and performing poetry.
He also spent nine years working as a teacher. His experience in the classroom often provides subject matter for his poems:
“Mali is a vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching… He has performed and lectured for teachers all over the world, and has a goal of creating 1,000 new teachers through “poetry, persuasion, and perseverance.” — taylormali.com
If you’ve ever taken a writing course or studied creative writing, then you’ve probably heard the expression, “Show, don’t tell.” There are plenty of books and articles that expound the virtues of proofreading, which provide detailed explanations outlining the repercussions of failing to proofread your work. Instead of telling us to proofread — instead of telling us what happens when we don’t proofread — Taylor Mali simply shows us.
In “The The Impotence of Proofreading,” Taylor Mali embarks on a playful dance with words and sentences, demonstrating why it’s better to use your mind instead of spell-check to proofread your work.
Today, treat yourself to a roller-coaster ride through language, and see how Taylor Mali proves the importance of proofreading:
Mali has authored two books of poetry, The Last Time As We Are (Write Bloody Books 2009) and What Learning Leaves (Hanover 2002). He’s got a jam-packed YouTube channel and four spoken word CDs.
Keep on writing, and don’t forget to proofread!
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101 Creative Writing Exercises
Explore the world of creative writing by experimenting with fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction through fun yet practical exercises that inspire and build skills. Honors & Awards
