Episode 15: Eric Montgomery, Prompted Poems, and a little talk about Writing Prompts

The prompts come from the #vss365 hashtag, or Very Short Story 365 — as in every day of the year. Basically, each day I receive a single word via email that I use as a writing prompt for poetry.

Once the poem has been written, it’s posted on my Twitter account — or on my website — when it’s too long for Twitter. Each entry must incorporate the #vss365 hashtag along with the word prompt as a hashtag, and then that word prompt must be highlighted within the poem as a hashtag. For today’s episode, each poem’s title is the prompt word.

I love writing prompts as it helps to get things started. Often after I create a prompted poem, I may write several more poems based on whatever I am feeling at the moment.

Writing poetry is therapy for me. For years, I’ve kept my fragmented thoughts to myself. But then I was encouraged by a friend to share what I write with the world. I’m thankful for that encouragement.

When it comes to writing, no matter the form, the hardest thing about it is getting started. That initial blank page (or screen) can be daunting, and it’s tough to know where to begin. That’s where writing prompts can be so useful.

A writing prompt is simply a topic or idea to get you started. It can be an idea for a story, a scene, a poem, or anything else you can think of. The important thing is that it gets your creative juices flowing and helps you get the words out of your mind.

Writing prompts can come from anywhere. I like to keep notes on interesting words or things I may hear or see throughout the week. Then each morning I go through my notes and see what comes out.

So if you’re feeling stuck, try using a writing prompt. It might just be what you need.