23 Writing Ideas for your Next Poem -Markings 149

23 Writing Ideas!

* Imagine writing to a friend about a time you spent away from school, perhaps a holiday. What are the SIX most important things that you would tell him/her about the things you are experienced.

Put these SIX things into a poem in which you expand upon each one in turn. The poem or the writing this time is not necessarily addressed to your friend but to a much wider audience.

* What's going on inside your head at the moment. Write a poem about your thoughts at this precise time.

* Imagine you are an alien. You have landed here to repair your spacecraft. You have never visited the earth before. Remember you are completely unfamiliar with all and everything around you. Write a poem about what you are looking at, your impressions and thoughts.

* What is your favourite colour? What is your least favourite colour? What colours would you paint your room or house? What colours do you like wearing? Are you affected by colours? Do colours alter your moods? Write a poem in which you deal with one, some, or all of these questions.

* Choosing your favourite colour write a poem in which you deal with only it - one single colour. And begin each new line with the same colour word.

* Choose as many of the colours you can see from where you are sitting at the moment and write a poem in which each line deals with a different one.

* Write a poem on one of the following: Feeling Blue; Seeing Red; White as a Sheet.

* Make a list of as many questions that you would like answers for. Arrange them in a poem in which each new line forms a question. Call your poem - I'd Like Answers For.

* From where you are sitting ask the things around you a series of questions. For example: The Sun - Where do you go at night? A Tree - Do you think in green? Try and obtain between 15 to 20 questions and arrange them in a poem.

* When you were very small you had many questions as all young children do. Can you recall some of the questions? What things didn't you understand that seem obvious to you now? Write a poem on one of the above.

* Write a poem entitled Q and A in which you ask a question and supply an inventive, quirky, silly, absurd or very poetically creative answer. For example: Q. What's inside a stone? A. Marshmallow. Q. What's a laugh made of? A. Bubbles.

* Think about a time when you were scared. Can you remember how your body felt or responded to that fear? Write a poem with a view to showing this to someone so that they can actually share or feel your fear.

* Think about a time when you were angry. Can you remember how your body felt or responded to that anger? Write a poem with a view to showing this to someone so that they can actually share or feel your anger.

* Think about a time when you were hungry. Can you remember how your body felt or responded to that hunger? Write a poem with a view to showing this to someone so that they can actually share or feel your hunger.

* Think about a time when you were sad. Can you remember how your body felt or responded to that sadness? Write a poem with a view to showing this to someone so that they can actually share or feel you sadness.

Note: there are many other emotions you may wish to choose from including, happiness, grief, tiredness, frustration, excitement, pain, jealousy, loneliness, etc.

* Choose a month - preferably the one you are now experiencing. Describe it in a poem as if it were a person. How old is he/she? What do they wear? What kind of personality do they have? What do they look like? Where do they live? What employment do they have? What are their interests? etc. etc.

* If you were a day, a month or a season, which one would it be? Write a poem in which your first line is 'I am (day) or (month) or (season).

* Seasons of the year are popularly associated with different moods, festivals and activities. In summer perhaps we think of Christmas, holidays, the beach. In spring we think of new life and the end of winter. Is there a season in your past that is associated with something different, perhaps something personal or related to your family? Write a poem in which your first line begins something like this, 'Winter will never be the same again . . .'

* What is your star sign? Some people are intensely interested in their respective astrological sign. Are you? This might make an excellent subject or idea for a poem. Think about your star symbol, what it stands for and then perhaps how that relates to you. e.g. Aquarius - water carrier - loves surfing.

* If for a day you could step out of your human skin and become an insect, a fish or an animal, what creature would you choose to be? Would you be living in the wild, or as a family pet, on a farm, in a circus or in a zoo? Write a poem, in which the first line begins, ‘I am a (chosen creature) . . .’

* Do you have a favourite animal or pet? Spend a few minutes describing them and how or why they are important in your life. Write a poem.

*Write a poem or a short story about how a creature came into the world, how it was made and came to be the way it is, e.g. long neck, large wings, long teeth, etc.

* Choose an animal that you don’t like or are afraid of, or that you find ugly and write a poem about the creature. You could write your poem as if you are actually speaking to the animal.

©Jeff Guess 2019

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