Amok in Writing Prompts

There are three feet of snow on the ground here in Central Maryland. We're expecting two more feet overnight. Since we're stuck at home anyway, let's get writing.

Check out 365 Pictures/Prompts for a daily photo to get your creative writing juices flowing. The site has photos paired with a question, "short paragraph to encourage inner exploration," or a story starter.

I made my own photo prompt to share with you today.

 

I was walking through the New Hampshire woods with my friend Jennie Steinhauser, when something caught my eye. A flash of blue in a moss-covered tree stump. A closer look -- it's a baby doll tucked into a hole in the stump.

Your writing prompt for the day...tell a story (or write a poem) about who put the doll in the tree stump and why. Faeries returning an enchanted child? A kid who's too old for toys, but can't bear to throw the doll away? Or tell the doll's story. What has it observed from its tree stump?

Enjoy and happy writing.

Poetry Friday: I heart Jabberwocky

At last... my daughter is reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She avoided it (but not my renditions of "Beautiful Soup") because she said the original illustrations freaked her out. Alice's long neck is kind of scary.

But this school year, she's participating in the Maryland Engineering Challenges. The fourth grade competition is to build a working theme park ride model based on a book. Love that combination of literature and engineering (Charles Dodgson would have too). Guess what her team picked! I'm picturing Alice log-fluming down the tunnel into a pool of tears.

I adored Alice growing up. Freshman art in high school, my calligraphy project was a poster with the text of "Jabberwocky," illustrated with an Excalibur-style Vorpal Blade. Somehow, writing those letters carefully in India Ink, I memorized the poem. Amazing what Lewis Carol knew: the hero narrative is embedded deep enough in all of us to carry the reader through unfamiliar words like frumious, mimsy, tulgey and calooh.

I can still recite it, almost 30 years later! The kids are impressed. Wait until I show them this clip of the Muppets performing the poem.

Jabberwocky
by Lewis Carroll

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Have a wonderful Christmas, those of you celebrating today. The Poetry Friday round-up is at Book Aunt today.

My gift this year is being able to share a beloved book with my girl. I'll post photos of Alice, the theme park ride, when my daughter's team starts building.

Pimp My Setting

I know what you're thinking... what's with the classroom seating chart? Boring.

Not so! Because it's not for a real classroom.

Writers do all kinds of crazy things to kick-start the imagination. I "pimped my setting" by making a seating chart for the fictional fifth grade class in my middle-grade novel-in-verse. The chart works like a map, but it also helped me think about which characters are sitting by friends, or crushes, or kids who annoy them. I love the concept of "Girl Island" -- a table with no boys! It's borrowed from my kids' elementary school. Still trying to work it into the novel.

I just got home from our regional SCBWI weekend retreat. This year, we were in quaint Lewes, Delaware. Couldn't enjoy the beach or cute little town much because of the deluge. But rainy days (and catered meals) are great for staying in and writing.

One of the writing tricks we used was borrowed from NaNoWriMo.  NaNo regions sometimes assign challenges -- e.g. Marylanders are challenged to include crabcakes somewhere in their projects.

At the retreat, we did hourly challenges. There were flip-flop and seashell shaped gourmet chocolates for the top challenge winners (not everyone participated).

Here's how it works and what makes it good for writing: Challenge #2 was "chocolate covered pretzels."

I was going to dump the pretzels into a scene in my YA suspense novel. The protag's boyfriend brings her jelly beans (my preference at 15 years old). Easy to swap for pretzels. But when the pretzels came in, they snapped me and my beans out of habitual thinking. Chocolate covered pretzels, hmm? My character really likes yogurt-covered pretzels (this was news to me). And her boyfriend didn't know, or care enough to notice the difference.

My friend Cyndee had the pretzel confections show up in a minor character's car. They were on the floor -- been there a while. That little moment tells me something about the character. Something Cyndee didn't know before.

So -- got any writers' tricks to share? How do you pimp your setting?

Poetry Friday: I Like Pi/e

I love the Friday after Thanksgiving. All the fuss about dressing nice for Nanny and timing everything to come out of the oven at the same time is over. I can spend the day making turkey soup and munching leftover pie.

I was searching for a pie poem to share and found this one, by Lorreen Pelletier. It's not just a pie poem. It's a Pi poem. The number of letters in each line corresponds to a digit in the number pi. It's delicious and mathematically nutritious.

Pie Poem or Pi Poem

by Lorreen Pelletier

Pie.

I

like

a

peach

blueberry

or

banana

cream

or

lemon

meringue

raspberry

rhubarb

mincemeat

pie

in

sky

apple a la

mode

cherry

or

humble

Read the rest here.

I love the alliteration and cadence of the poem. Here's a challenge -- try a Pi poem for yourself and leave it in the comments. I'll also post the recipe for my pal Lisa's no-fail pie crust there.

Today's delicious round up is at Becky's Book Reviews.

Poetry Friday: Remembering Jack Wiler

New Jersey poet Jack Wiler died last month.

I knew him slightly through the Dodge Foundation's Poetry Program, and heard him read at one of their festivals.

He was edgy, with his cool exterminator's t-shirt. And real -- the t-shirt doubled as advertisement for Jack's day job. His poetry found the music in every day people working and living their lives. No ivory tower here.

Here is a poem by Jack Wiler:

Love Poem at the Beginning of Summer

This is a love poem about empty places.

About blank walls.

About light in the night and noises on the street.

This is a love poem where no one is there.

This is a love poem for you.

This is your house.

This is the light you make.

The soft light of a summer night.

The noises from the bars down the block.

The girls screaming at their lovers.

Your clothes spread across the bed.

You spread across the bed.

The sun in the afternoon. Too hot sometimes to bear.

The smell of your skin.

You mixed carrots and soda for tanning cream.

That taste is in this poem.

This is a love poem without you in it.

Like every love poem should be.

Read the rest here.

I love the insistence of "This is a love poem without you in it./ Like every love poem should be." A true love poem can't capture its object. The beloved has to live and breathe in the spaces between the words, where language can't go.

I'm thankful for poets like Jack Wiler, the non-MFAs who all of us meet in our regular day -- exterminators and public school teachers and dry cleaners. I'm sad that we've lost one of those voices in Jack.

Today's Poetry Friday round up is at the Drift Record.

Poetry Friday: Paint Me a Poem

This Friday, I'm celebrating the recent re-issue of Maryland children's poet Justine Rowden's book Paint Me a Poem. It's a great way to introduce elementary schoolers to art and ekphrastic poetry.

Justine received permission from the National Gallery of Art to use its masterpieces as inspiration and illustration for the book. It originally came out in 2005 and was re-issued last month.

For a taste of the book, check out the sample pages at Justine's nifty & kid-friendly website, http://www.paintmeapoem.com/.

As part of my "Five Questions for the Author" series, here are Five Questions for Justine Rowden:

1. How did you approach the National Gallery of Art about this project? What was their response?

I made contact with the National Gallery of Art, showing them a mock-up of Paint Me a Poem, Poems Inspired by Masterpieces of Art, the book for which I had just received a contract. They were extremely receptive to my approach. Hurrah!

At the book's publication, the National Gallery Shop chose to feature the book in a display. Another Hurrah!

2. Describe the process of choosing paintings and writing the poems. I am imagining you taking a notebook to the museum and writing first drafts as you stood before the paintings.

I did look at a great many paintings, choosing a diverse group of paintings representing different periods. Then I worked on writing poems connecting with the art that pulled me in, that "sang" to me.

3. When you hear from young readers, which of the poems do they respond to? What do they like about them?

It always tickles me to find every child finds a favorite among the poems, but it is never the same poem! I think some children are more captivated by sounds, some by the progression of ideas, some by the element of surprise.

(And it is true of their parents, and adults, in general.) And that is an unexpected joy to the writer.

4. Why is poetry a good way to get children thinking and writing about art?

Children seeing art instinctively sense their impressions in poetic phrases!

Reading poetry that is rich and vibrant in describing art can evoke the painting's dramatic bold strokes and can egg the child on to find the wonderful wildness in his or her own poems.

5. You used some concrete poetry in Paint Me a Poem. How does that technique help the reader connect the poem to the work of art?

Arranging words, phrases, in unusual configurations adds a touch of art to the spirit of the poem; it can intrigue, tantalize the reader. And I think the playful spirit it engenders brings the read an intimacy with the poem, and, maybe, even with the author!

Thanks, Justine and congratulations on the re-issue.

You'll find more rich and vibrant poetry at Gregory K's blog, GottaBook. He's hosting this week's Poetry Friday round-up.

Poetry Friday Recipe for "Beautiful Soup"

It's Friday. And that means my daughter has missed an entire week of school. (My son made it in on Monday and Tuesday.) The flu has hit central Maryland schools hard. So this Friday, I'm thinking about poetry and soup! Here is Lewis Carroll's poem, "Beautiful Soup," from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I think the Mock Turtle was just hungry, not sick, but my vegetable and lentil soup would have filled him up. Scroll down for my Flu Fighter Soup recipe. It has a secret ingredient that gives it a golden color and loosens congestion in the chest. Definitely a beautiful and delicious soup. Beautiful Soup Lewis Carroll BEAUTIFUL Soup, so rich and green, Waiting in a hot tureen! Who for such dainties would not stoop? Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! Beau--ootiful Soo-oop! Beau--ootiful Soo-oop! Soo--oop of the e--e--evening, Beautiful, beautiful Soup! Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish, Game, or any other dish? Who would not give all else for two Pennyworth only of Beautiful Soup? Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup? Beau--ootiful Soo-oop! Beau--ootiful Soo-oop! Soo--oop of the e--e--evening, Beautiful, beauti--FUL SOUP!

You can listen to the poem here, but my kids are tired of hearing me sing about Beautiful Soup.

Laura's Flu Fighter Soup 1 medium onion, chopped 1 cup dry lentils, rinsed 2-3 tsp. olive oil 6+ cups chicken stock 2-3 large handful spinach leaves, chopped to bite size 3 large carrots, chopped 4 ribs celery, chopped 2 cloves garlic, pressed 2 cups pressed or crushed tomato 2 pinches red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp. ground pepper (or to taste) 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste) 1/2 tsp. tumeric (*super secret ingredient) 1. Sautee onion and lentils in olive oil until translucent. 2. Add two cups stock. Heat on medium. 3. Add spinach, carrots, celery, and garlic. 4. Add tomato. 5. Add remaining stock and boil. Then simmer until lentils are soft. 6. Add spices while simmering. 7. Eat and feel better! I hope you've avoided the flu and you're well enough to enjoy Poetry Friday. Anastasia Suen is hosting at Picture Book of the Day.