The prompt is finding its voice. I’m testing different angles, asking what kinds of poems the image might want to evoke, ones of memory, resistance, small joys? Like a dialogue moving back and forth, it’s still finding the answer. But it’s close. In fact, only a few days away.
The goal isn’t just to offer a starting point, it’s to open a space. A space where the image and the words meet you right where you are. Whether you’re in the middle of a project or haven’t written in weeks, this upcoming prompt is designed to meet your language gently and encourage it forward.
In the meantime, I’m listening. To the image. To the half-formed lines I jot in the margin. To what the page might be asking. This part of the process is where the best discoveries often begin. If you’ve ever felt a prompt crack something open in your writing, you’ll understand how much care goes into shaping it.
The first Frame & Phrase is nearly ready. I hope it nudges you toward something unexpected.
Next Thursday, June 5, the first official issue of 10 poetry notebooks will be sent to all subscribers, both free and supporting. From that point forward, posts will arrive weekly.
On the first and third Thursdays of each month, paid subscribers receive a full newsletter featuring Field Notes, the image-based prompt Frame and Phrase, and other writerly tidbits, this week, a book recommendation in From the Stacks.
On the alternating Thursdays, I’ll share with all subscribers an in-depth prompt designed with multiple layers and plenty of entry points for response.
So take a breath, clear a space, and get ready.
Write and thrive,
Robbin
Hi Chris, I totally agree that prompt poetry sessions are boiler plates of anxiety. I do not do well with that kind of pressure and am always the last person writing and...writing badly at that! These prompts are not presented in any kind of a pressured atmosphere but instead you read, ponder, write on your own time. Take as much of it as you wish. Leave what you do not want behind. Check it out on June 5 and see if it appeals to you.
Sorry I really can't stand the pressure of prompt poetry. I write what I write. Revisit it and revise. When I attend prompt poetry sessions I'm jammed till the final minute.