Poetry Prompts

Have you ever had that feeling that you need to write but you're not sure what to write? For some people that feeling is called writer's block, and that's when I like to go searching for poetry prompts. Sometimes I will do some free-writing instead. I also have a friend who I ask to give me a list of words that have nothing to do with each other and use that as a poetry prompt.

Poetry Prompts - Where to get Inspiration

You can get poetry prompts from anywhere. Here are a few techniques that have worked for me.

Pick random words from the dictionary to use in a poem.
Find a poem you like and emulate it.
Have a friend tell you something to write. Some of my poetry written from poetry prompts a friend gave me are found on this site.
Choose a type of poem you've never written and write a poem in that style.
Don't try to write, decide that you're going to do anything else but write a poem.
Choose a quote and write a poem to illustrate it.
Choose an image and write a poem to tell about the feelings it evokes.
Write about what you want out of life.
Write a poem in the form of a letter to someone you have unfinished business with.
Hang out in a public place, eaves drop on conversations, and write dialogue into a poem.
Watch your kids, if you have them, or someone else's kids if you don't. Their imagination is inspiring.

Do you have a technique that works well for you? Let me know, I'd like to hear about it! I'm always looking for new inspiration.

Why Poetry Prompts?

Some people can get away without ever using a poetry prompt of any kind. If that is you, then I'm jealous! I have two kids though and sometimes it helps me get something down quickly if I have a prompt to start things off. If I write off the top of my head every time, I might sit thinking and by the time I know what I want to write, one of the girls will need me for something. For this stage of my life, poetry prompts come in handy.

I liked to play with words even as young as six or seven. My four-year-old daughter already likes to play with words. It's fun. If you've found this site, you probably agree with me. I played with words like other girls played with barbies. From a young age, I made lists of words and more lists of words. I would write out a word like encyclopedia and see how many words I could form from that word. I still like lists. I like to keep a list of poetry prompts around now like I kept lists of words around as a kid.