Valentine’s (Or Any Other Time’s) Writing Exercise
By Kate Gould
This begun as a Valentine’s competition, but it’s a useful writing exercise for any occasion. The discipline of conveying detail in a few words is a good tool to use in all aspects of your writing and, if you’re struggling with a blank page, it can serve as both a distraction and a way to get some words down on paper, hopefully lifting the dreaded block.
Write on anything you like, but if love inspires you, in the 17 syllables of a haiku, tell us why your Valentine is so very special. Or why you’re so right in being anti-Valentine.
In case you’re in need of a prompt, a haiku is a Japanese poem with three short lines of five, seven, and five syllables.
Matsuo Basho is said to have been a master of them. Some of his (not always altogether intelligible) works are below.
the first cold shower
even the monkey seems to want
a little coat of straw
the wind of Mt. Fuji
I’ve brought on my fan!
a gift from Edo
old pond
a frog jumps
the sound of water
No epics of courtly love, no novels in verse, and no sonnets, please. Vent or exalt, but do it in no more than 17 syllables then submit it in the box below. We’ll publish our favourites in the next newsletter.
About the author:
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Kate Gould has worked as an editor, book critic, columnist, slush pile reader, writing competition judge, hotel critic, magazine editor, English teacher, and research assistant. She is now Chief Editorial Consultant at The Fine Line and author of The Pocketbook of Prompts: 52 Ideas for a Story and The Perfect Word: The Fine Line Writing Course. Her book on flashers, Exposing Phallacy, is to be published by Zero Books. |
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