Read the full post here.
Featured participant today is Put Out to Pasture, where the place-based prompt for Day 2 breathes life into the memory of a library.
Today’s poetry resource an online rhyming dictionary. This one provides both “pure” rhymes and near rhymes, a way to find “similar sounding” words, and also a thesaurus.
Today’s prompt asks you to make use of our resource for the day. First, make a list of ten words. You can generate this list however you’d like – pull a book off the shelf and find ten words you like, name ten things you can see from where you’re sitting, etc. Now, for each word, use Rhymezone to identify two to four similar-sounding or rhyming words. For example, if my word is “salt,” my similar words might be “belt,” “silt,” “sailed,” and “sell-out.”
Once you’ve assembled your complete list, work on writing a poem using your new “word bank.” You don’t have to use every word, of course, but try to play as much with sound as possible, repeating sounds and echoing back to others using your rhyming and similar words.
I visited the participants site first. I remembered Maxie Jane was featured last year too. Her background is an interesting one and I liked how this poem ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Library’ put me back into memories of my own life from a similar time. I left a message on her blog.
Then I made my list of 10 words – I used items in the room and also a 2nd list from book pages.
I didn’t get as far as writing the poem as I took part in some poetry online and then the sun was shining – flighty – I know! So I got outside for fresh air and sunshine in the garden, marvelled at a butterfly, made some phone calls, enjoyed a coffee and once I made it back inside sent some emails and then organised a few poetry bundles, none for submission, all for cleaning! Few house chores and one bit of Face Time and then it was teatime and I was back online for a Zoom Stanza – so I still have my lists and a poorly neglected Mr. G so I am going to spend time with him and finish my poem and update this post later – and that’s how you get behind in the very first week of NaPoWriMo.
Oh, look! A shiny thing!
3 Days Later
I have been struggling with this one – I rarely use rhyme and always find that no matter how well crafted it doesn’t quite hit the spot. I don’t mind when a NaPo prompt lets me down – a challenge is a good puzzle. But the days/poems were banking up a little.
So I tried to shovel myself out – I identified the first problem was probably me going ‘eurgh, a list of what I can see…’ – whereas the last time I was confronted with doing that in a workshop it was messy and pleasurable.
I went back to my list – gave it a good, hard Paddington Bear stare and said to myself – ‘You DO NOT have to include everything’ – I also knew I could easily substitute some of the rhyming words but I wanted the constraint of the first list.
After 2 more days of pacing – I cracked it by applying form. I also started drafting in a notebook – I often work straight onto the screen nowadays. But physically pushing those letters onto the page helped me cast the spell against the prompt and although there was no big bang or sudden glitter, I do think I may have won!
I just had to see something new!
awritersfountain 