Summer Tryouts — It Must Be Tuesday

9:00 a.m. — San Antonio

Alright new people, time to pony up. I know you’re out there. My inbox tells me so. While many of you aren’t poets, many of you are. Both can use these exercises and adapt them to what suits. Unless I am stressing a verse form, fiction writers should be able to participate in every exercise I post, yes? Check. Granted, with the summer rotation, I have several forms. Ignore them and do two of something else, or, for the heck of it try; see what the poetic side of your fictional brain does.

Wow! Pretty strict for summer. I just want to make sure no one is out there waiting for a nudge to dive into what is clearly a close-knit group. We are friendly, laid back, and don’t bite much. We can be bribed with margaritas. Join in. However, if it makes you happy following, follow. I am happy to have you along.

Summer images from which to create poetry… You can go in many directions with this. Unlike last week which asks for poems full of summer imagery, this week asks you to find an image — a photograph, a piece of clip art, a painting — that says summer to you, and to take your poem from that image. It does not have to have a positive connotation because it’s summer. For me, summer = heat. I loathe heat. I might look for something that shows that.

To take this up a notch, I would look for something less obvious than fans, airconditioners, cool drinks, or the beach, all of which imply heat. I might even avoid sweating labourers. The image I would look for is of crops wilting, browned, dry, dying. I know how they feel. I can write about summer through them. Like last week, where I had you list all your summer associations and then said you can’t use them, abandon the usual and look for the unusual. You will find yourself stretching your creative muscles.

You can start by browsing images and letting them speak to you, or you can start with an image in your head that you want to find. You can choose a symbol and reflect upon it, or a landscape that embodies summer, or a scene that tells a summer story, or… Once you find the illustration that speaks summer to you, in some form, decide whether the image itself [the painting, photograph…] will be part of the poem, or whether you will use it as a kickstart, only. In either case, let us know what you choose to use. Sometimes, knowing the source adds to the enjoyment by the reader.

Decide what truth about summer you want to communicate and what form will best communicate it. Write. Maybe do another one 🙂 Post.

I will see you Friday for the roundup; and next Tuesday for more summer writing. I will be in Walnut Creek, California , at that point, with my mother’s internet connection that does not love me. If I don’t appear Tuesday, I am struggling mightily with the cyber-gods.

Happy writing, everyone.