NaPoWriMo Prompt 19
How are you on this Spring weekend? How about a short form to help you catch up with the NaPoWriMo challenge? “Q” is for “Quinzaine.” For this form I’ll just copy and paste the explanation from the Wikipedia page on the form: Quinzaine is an unrhymed verse of fifteen syllables. The word comes from the French word quinze, meaning fifteen. The syllables are distributed over three lines so that there are seven syllables in the first line, five in the second line, and three in the third line (7/5/3). The first line makes a statement. The next two lines ask a question...
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For Day 18 of the NaPoWriMo challenge, of the many available forms and poetic terms starting with “P,” we suggest that “P” is for “Prose poem.” A prose poem is not broken into lines (although it may be broken into paragraphs), but it demonstrates other characteristics of poetry, such as figures of speech, diction, or other literary devices like alliteration. A prose poem typically emphasizes thoughts, ideas and imagery over story-telling, which distinguishes it from flash fiction. My suggestion for this exercise would be to begin with free writing and then...
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Happy Friday! On day 17 of the NaPoWriMo challenge, “O” is for “Ottava rima.” Unlike most western poetry forms, this Italian form is syllable based, rather than being based on metric feet. The poem consists of eight-line stanzas, with each line containing 11 syllables. In addition, the form uses the rhyme scheme ABABABCC. The page about the form at Poetry.com also contains links to several examples. The end result is a poem that feels more like natural speech and yet sounds more musical. Feel free to share your poem (or a link to your poem) in the comments. The...
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For day 16 of the NaPoWriMo challenge, we suggest that “N” is for “Narrative.” A narrative poem, simply put, is a poem that tells a story. Narrative poetry is one of the oldest genres of poetry, since telling stories in verse made it easier for bards, griots and storytellers to remember them. Why not try retelling, in poetic form, a family story you have told (or heard) many times? Then perhaps you could regale your family with it at the next big gathering. Or, if a family story doesn’t jump in mind, consider using someone else’s story: a story from the...
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Halfway through the month, how are you doing with the NaPoWriMo challenge? For those who need it, here’s a refresher: the National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) challenge is to write 30 poems in 30 days. Ideally, a poet would write one a day, but many people find it’s easier to catch up with more poems on less busy days. Wild Violet has been providing daily prompts, but you can find a lot more information at the official site for the challenge, NaPoWriMo.net. At Wild Violet, we have been going through the alphabet to come up with prompts. It is in no way necessary to make...
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