When you write you often discover that you favor certain words. Maybe you really like the word red, or metronome, or poem, and those words crop up frequently. You might not notice it when writing fiction, but in poems where the language is more sparse it becomes obvious.

This exercise is to write a poem, so the words will stand out more.  If you are a fiction writer it can be fun to stretch your poetry muscles.

If you know the words you use most often, write them down. Those are the words you can’t use in the poem. If you are not sure which words you use most frequently, just skip that step.

Write down the following words on the top of your sheet of paper: Cowboy, desk, figs, light, runaway. Now you have to use at least 3, if not all 5 of the words in your poem.  Hopefully the words I have listed are not the same ones you use often, hopefully they are ones you would usually not use at all.

Now all you have to do is write the poem.

Happy Writing!

Advertisement