Poem Writing Game

I learned this game from my friend Darcy. Basically, you write out a set of 10 constraints and give yourself 2 min to respond to each – write them out, toss them in a pile, draw one at random, start the timer, write, repeat.

Just like the songwriting game, the goal is to get yourself out of your head. You can use this as a warm-up, or, if you like what you come up with, shape it up into a proper poem.

I’ve loaded this up to generate a set of constraints from the ones I’ve used over the past few months. Every time you refresh the page you should see a different combination. Feel free to use these or create your own!

Prompts:

  1. describe something you've eaten
  2. describe your childhood home
  3. write in 6,8,6,8
  4. use an animal, an element (earth, wind fire, etc), & an -ing verb in a 10syl line
  5. use aliteration
  6. write in 5,7,5
  7. describe an animal
  8. describe something you hear
  9. use "______" and syballance
  10. write in 6,8,6,8

I’d love to hear what you come up with – either ideas for constraints or what you create. Drop me a line or comment here to share!