The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice: A Sampling of Poetry Writing Exercises

So, Martha Silano & I finally finished this project, The Daily Poet, and I have to say it turned out better than I imagined.  The book is 388 pages with a writing exercise for every day of the year including Leap Year.

Why this book came about:
Marty and I meet for writing dates and we are always asking each other to "bring a prompt" to get us started.  This started out innocently with our own writing prompts then moved into something larger.

Who did what in the book?

We each took 6 months.  I don't remember how we chose them, but I remember wanting January because it's my birthday month.  Otherwise, I think we just went back and forth until all the months were chosen.

What was the hardest part of this book?

Coming up with interesting prompts and editing the final drafts.  We kept finding things to change from words or phrases we had overused to spacing.  Overall, the whole book probably took 3 years from start to finish (coming up with the idea for it, writing the prompts, editing it, then publishing it.)

Do you have a favorite prompt?
It changes daily actually.  Here are three prompts from the book that are my favorite today--

January 23:  Titling Dali

On this day in 1989, Salvador Dali died at age eighty-four in Spain.  Write a poem with the title of one of Dali’s paintings or use four of these titles from his works in a poem:  Self-Portrait in the Studio, The Artist's Father at Llane Beach, Coffee House Scene in Madrid, Fried Egg on the Plate without the Plate, Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood, Man with Unhealthy Complexion Listening to the Sound of the Sea, The Invisible Harp, West Side of the Isle of the Dead, A Couple with Their Heads Full of Clouds, Two Pieces of Bread, Expressing the Sentiment of Love, Cathedral of Thumbs, Soft Monster.

March 5:  Midnight And You’re Awake

In the poem “Nocturne,” Susan Rich writes: I take my place in the insomniac’s village. Write a poem about a time you were awake in the middle of the night—what you discovered about the world when everyone was sleeping, or what you learned about yourself.  If you can’t remember a specific incident, make one up.  You might imagine being awake at midnight and hearing a raccoon on your porch, or pretending you are looking off your balcony in the city and you see two people kissing.  What happens in the world when most people are asleep?  Write a poem that surprises the reader with what s/he is missing.

March 23: Sugarbeep, I Love You

Write a poem where you take two very different words and put them together to make a new word.  For example, “tickle” and “lagoon” become “ticklelagoon” or “cabbage” and “joy” make “cabbagejoy.”  Now use these new, unique words to create a poem.  If you’re having trouble thinking of words, grab the nearest book or dictionary and just flip open to any page and see what words you find.

Is the book available?
Yes!

You can get it in print or eBook version on Amazon.

Also, I believe if you buy the print book, you can get the eBook version for only $2.99 so you can have both!  (Or give the print book as a gift!)  

We've just got it out, so we're hoping Amazon has it set up correctly.  







~ Kells

  ~ Don't Miss a Post ~ Subscribe to Book of Kells by Email