For this week's
Totally Optional
poetry prompt, let's have fun with the word "solitaire". Also solitary, solitude, sole. Card games? Lone walks on the beach? What does it make you think of? Come back Wednesday evening and let us know... as Linda takes over for the month of April!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Totally Optional Prompt: Solitaire
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Totally Optional Prompt: Season Change
The Spring equinox (N. Hemisphere) has just passed, so it's now officially spring in the US. I declared spring a number of weeks ago, though, when we had our first balmy day. How do you mark the change into spring, or into any other season? Do the equinoxes and solstices anchor your calendar, or do you go by the weather?
For this week's
Totally Optional
prompt, let's feel a season change.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Requests for Poems: Adjectives
How'd we do this week, TOPers? Did we get to deploy some effective adjectives?
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Totally Optional Prompt: Adjectives
Late again! Sorry, TOPers. Weekends at my house have been kind of frantic.
For this week's
Totally Optional
prompt, let's consider adjectives. Many people will tell you that adjectives are bad for poetry, and that you should keep them to a minimum or avoid them altogether. Some say that "concrete" adjectives (eg. green, cold, fast) are OK, but not "abstract" adjectives (majestic, sinister, superb).
I think of adjectives as being like spices. With none whatsoever, the product is bound to seem a little flat. But you choose them with care, such that the flavors enhance one another instead of clashing, or drowning each other out.
Consider Shelley's Ozymandias. What adjectives does he use? Does he use them effectively? Are there any you would take out, or change (bearing in mind that this is a piece of metered poetry)? Then scan down the page to Horace Smith's poem on the same subject, and think it through the same way.
Now... write a poem of your own. Or rewrite one of your own poems. Give careful thought to your use of adjectives. Is each one necessary? Are there alternatives that mean more or less the same thing, but give a different flavor (compare Shelley's "vast" to Smith's "gigantic")?
Come back Wednesday evening and leave us a link!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Totally Optional Prompt: Rewrite
TOPers: this week's prompt is about poems we've rewritten. Maybe it was a matter of changing a word or two, tweaking a line to make it flow smoother. Maybe it was a completely different approach to the original idea. Whichever it was, we'd like to see how it went, especially if you feel it was an improvement.
Post both versions of the poem. Heck, post several versions. We'd be interested in hearing any thought processes that might have been associated with the revision as well.
Come back Wednesday evening or Thursday morning and leave a link to your rewrite post. Or leave a link to some other poetry entirely. Remember it is
Totally Optional
!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
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