PlanetSpeak, Ghosts, Chemistry
Poetry Writing Prompts for the month of August 2024
So, I’m committed to bringing a little strange into your lives, you’ve just got to let it in. That’s your only instruction. Well, apart from all the prompts I’m about to give you. But they’re mostly just to siphon off a little strange from time to time, you know, for content.
Cosmic Nostalgia: Compose a series of poems as if they were letters exchanged between Earth and a distant planet. Explore themes of isolation, discovery, and longing through the voices of two celestial bodies. if you wanna do a quick deep-dive into some mythological interpretations for the names of the planets, go for it.
How do they communicate across the vast expanse of space? What secrets and desires do they share? What stories do they remind each other of? What gossip do they share? What makes them laugh & cry? What does an intergalactic stamp look like and why do they taste like that when you lick them? What do they have to say about us sending probes to visit them? What do they believe in? Why is Jupiter a classic sagittarius? What are they doing with horoscopes anyway? Is Jupiter waiting to go retrograde? What does that look like?
Urban Legends: Reimagine a well-known urban legend or ghost story in a modern setting. Write a poem that blends the eerie atmosphere of the original tale with contemporary elements. Bring a little of today to a historical story.
How might the characters and events adapt to today's world? What new twists emerge? How can you contort features of the modern landscape to support an ancient story? What makes people still believe in the story despite advances in technology? How do you scare someone who is almost entirely desensitised? What do ghosts make of iPhones? Which filter do they wanna use on TikTok first? Beowulf: what modern movement would it inspire today?
Alchemy: Explore the concept of alchemy in a poetic context. Write about the transformation of base materials into something precious, whether literal or metaphorical. If you fancy a deep-dive, research all the chemical processes that make up “alchemical theory” and write out of one of those. There are loads.
How does this process mirror personal growth, creative endeavours, or emotional healing? What similarities might there be between a chemical reaction in a compound and the chemical reactions we experience in our bodies? What chemicals do we interact with to change or improve our lives? How might those things apply to a compound? Does a lump of rock have need of anti-depressants? What do the rock and the hard place think of you being stuck between them? That’s an unnecessary tangent, but well worth asking, I think.
At the Writing Desk of Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda, the Chilean Nobel laureate, had a passionate and disciplined approach to writing. He typically wrote in the early morning hours, a time he found most conducive to creativity. Neruda's study was a sanctuary filled with books, seashells, and other objects that inspired him.
He wrote with a sense of urgency and fervour, often producing multiple drafts of a poem to capture the perfect expression of his thoughts. His work was deeply influenced by his love for the natural world, politics, and the human experience, blending sensuality with social consciousness.
Tip: Surround yourself with items that spark your creativity and immerse yourself in your writing environment! What object most speaks to you? How many is a collection? How many constitutes an obsession? When should we call someone? Is that person a doctor? Is a straitjacket double-breasted? Why would it be? You never see straitjackets in other colours, who can I ask about why that might be?
For more prompts next month, subscribe to get them sent straight to your inbox, and feel free to share your poems with me, I’m always keen to share in a little extra chaos! Click below to pour a coffee into the prompt machine ready for next month’s creative suggestions. They’re only going to get weirder until someone asks me to stop. And by “someone”, I mean a “petition”, and by “asks me to stop”, I mean “a court order”. You bring the pitchforks and torches, I’ll bring the marshmallows. This doesn’t have to be weird, we can make it work.