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break something, King Henry V Act 3 Scene 1, sometimes known as burglary, this is why i always apologize to Gay before writing for one of her prompts
Last week, Anna called me out in the comments in a playful way. She called me on something that I have a bit of a history of doing….
Today I am going to ask some of you to do something that makes you uncomfortable.
Today I am going to ask you to do something that may give some of you a bit of hope.
Today were are going to break things—
& through that hopefully enter in to—-
form poetry.
Below you will find a list of a few of the forms that we have done here at dverse…if you follow the link with each of them there is some wonderful instruction on how to do form from one of our pubtenders. If you dont see the one you are looking for, click the FormForAll link in the sidebar and look through.
The Librarian, the Poet, and the Snowblower (The Miltonian/Miltonic Sonnet)From Out of Asia (The Sijo)
Pick a form and write to it….and break it, make it your own — innovate…
Perhaps it is as simple as taking a haiku and making it a 7-7-7 syllable count…or a cleave poem where you entwine the columns making it a helix (which I really want to try but haven’t)
This is how new forms are made out of the old. Not to take away from the old but pay homage to it.
An example is Haiku. American sentences were born out of haiku. The tenWord form I created was a play on American sentences.
The trick to breaking form is making it look similar to the form that you are breaking, so no paragraph haiku out there…that would be too different. Ha.
So write to a form, break it, make it your own. No need to give it a fancy name, just innovate…have fun and make it your own.
- Write a poem to the prompt and post it to your webpage
- Click the Mr. Linky button below and enter your name and URL for your poem
- There you will find others that have taken the challenge, read them, let you know what you appreciate about what they wrote or make suggestions
- Have fun.
See you out on the trail.
Anthony Desmond said:
briiiiiiiiiian, aye! 1ST.
claudia said:
ha
smiles
good to see you anthony
Anthony Desmond said:
good to see ya too, C 🙂
brian miller said:
hey hey….school just let out…so just coming in the door….howdy Anthony…
claudia said:
whew… that was quite the challenge – and a lot of fun
smiles
happy thursday… will be out on the trail to read in a bit
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I will just go out and read…
brian miller said:
just got here after school….and it is…I am still trying to nail down my broken ghazal….was a super busy day sat school so after I read a bit will finish and link mine….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Broken ghazal .. can’t wait to see that 🙂
enthusiasticallydawn said:
oooooooooooohhhhh…I am not sure I will do it right…but eh. I’ll see what I can break…I like the sound the Cento…checking it out as I love collage. Will see…Is this Brian tending? Not sure as I see no ending with Smiles…;)
claudia said:
yes it’s brian tending… he’s the master form-breaker after all
hahah
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Ha.. I break it — but only carefully 🙂
claudia said:
i broke mine very carefully as well…smiles
enthusiasticallydawn said:
hahaha! But we love him after all! Hello Claudia!
Tony Maude said:
Breaking a Cento means using no words at all from the donor poem(s), That might be tricky … smiles
enthusiasticallydawn said:
Yeah, I am seeing that and totally don’t understand now…ack!
enthusiasticallydawn said:
Tony, wait – I thought that you take something from other sources?
Tony Maude said:
Exactly; so if the form needs you to take something from other sources, breaking requires that you don’t …
which means any poem written without reference ot another person’s work is a broken cento … I think … smiles
enthusiasticallydawn said:
Well since I am the one breaking the cento can’t I make my own rules? I can break it my way, right? There is a method to my madness…honest. And I am slow to get these prompts but screwing them up …well I might be able to do that! Unless I screw up…sigh.
Tony Maude said:
Hey Dawn, you write what you want. After all, Brian wants us to break the rules … smiles.
brian miller said:
that is the thing about breaking it…you don’t have to do it right! ha….smiles….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Ah.. you mean there are no right or wrong ways of breaking 🙂 So I can break your rules by writing a perfect sonnet 🙂
brian miller said:
of course….why not….lol
that would be like what I do to gays prompts all the time…
lol.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Ha.. by keeping the meter in my answer I think I did it a little bit
Mary said:
Good prompt, Brian. So many forms to choose from. Looking forward to some interesting reads….. Happy Thursday to everyone.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Happy Thursday back 🙂
brian miller said:
there are….I trolled through several of our old prompts last night finding one I wanted to play with again and break…lol….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I loved to play with this Brian… and choosing a form I like to play with the triolet.. An addition between the form itself is also the subject.. Haiku is usually about nature, and America Sentences are about a grittier side of our life. 🙂 Fun
I just came through the door after the second meeting about writing a collaborative book.. so fun actually.
claudia said:
a collaborative book – wow – that sounds interesting
Tony Maude said:
Do share more about the book … if you can
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Last semester I took a course in creative writing and narrative theory here in the open university. Now the course-leader have challenged us and every one he have given courses for before to write a book. We are currently deciding on a theme and structure, but it will be a collection of different stories, that interconnect around a common structure. The schedule is preliminary to have a release party 🙂 – somewhere around September.. 🙂
brian miller said:
nice…sounds like a fun book project….
will look forward to seeing that play out a bit more….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
🙂 hopefully Lots of different parts to be fitted together from fantasy to erotica Sc-Fi and realistic writing…
brian miller said:
it is cool when there is a wide range like that..and it appeals to a broader audience….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I hope so.. it should be a mix of variation and consistency.
Grace said:
So many ways & times we can break a form Brian ~ Thanks for the all the links for easy reference ~
brian miller said:
heh….I really do try when I write form, but my own natural rhythm typically takes me out of form a bit…funny, now that I am trying to break form it is harder for me…lol….thinking too much.
Grace said:
I had a tough time too ~ I will be returning visits in a bit ~
brian miller said:
caught up…think I will take the drive home to finish mine and let my mind wander….be back once I get there….
Gay (beachanny) said:
This one’s for you Brian, and for the others here at dVerse. Here’s to the breaker of rules, the satirists, the new waves, the ones who fly high, the ones under the radar, the poets who write immaculate form, the poets who run amuk, the word masters, the minimalists, the imagists, the adventurists, the clutterers, the destroyers who rebuild, the shy who reveal their hiding places, their secret hearts, their courage in the dark, their wounded lonely selves. This is for the poets I’ve met here, and otherwheres, in celebration of poetry, in recognition that it sometimes takes tearing down and starting over to find what’s true or fresh or real.
claudia said:
that moved me quite a bit gay… you’re awesome…
Anthony Desmond said:
omg this so sweet… yes – moving words. You are appreciated 🙂
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I love that.. and thank you so much for your great proposal… I actually went around and modified…
brian miller said:
I will clink glasses with that any day…smiles.
Snakypoet (Rosemary Nissen-Wade) said:
Wow, that’s a poem in itself! *Big smile.*
Anna said:
Absolutely gorgeous, Gay. You made me tear up as well.
Tony Maude said:
Hi Folks … and Happy Thursday. Long time since I’ve been around the bar, longer still since I wrote much … loads of reasons/excuses … not all good … yada yada yada ….
Anyway, here now and looking to play. this could be tough for me; a friend once described me as a poetry form junkie; I can’t think what she meant …smiles
Happy reading and writing … and I’ll catch y’all on the trail.
claudia said:
be brave and courageous… smiles
Tony Maude said:
Just out on the trail commenting for a while … searching for inspiration.
Grace said:
Good to see you Tony ~ I find that if I am lacking inspiration, all I need to do is read, smiles ~ Looking forward to your poem ~
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I know what you mean Tony.. and one thing I couldn’t do was break the meter… even most of my prose is in meter…
brian miller said:
ha…well write it to form…and then put it in a blender…lol….
I am still working on doing mine as well so…
Tony Maude said:
So glad that I write early drafts the old-fashioned way with pencil and paper. Dropping the lap-top in the blender would not go down well with the household authorities … smiles
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Ah.. No laptop should be hurt in this exercise
brian miller said:
you would take out two appliances at once…..ha
Anna said:
Lol, Tony.
Gabriella said:
I enjoyed the creative time outside my comfort zone. Great prompt, Brian!
brian miller said:
isn’t that the best? it can be scary to step out…but can be so refreshing….
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I think this is what we should do .. that’s the whole purpose of MTB is being out of your comfort zone.. hmm maybe I need to do something less comfortable..
Gabriella said:
So true!
Tony Maude said:
Wooo-hooo. Brian, you’ve managed to get me to write something … smiles. Of course, being me, to break the old rules I had to have some new ones …
brian miller said:
yay!!!!!!! i am jumping up and down for you…now…if i can finish mine…
Tony Maude said:
Well stop jumping and get writing … smiles
enthusiasticallydawn said:
Well whatever I did, whether wrong or right I enjoyed the process…lol. Just gotta cook dinner for the fam and will be back to read all of your broken stuff! With Cabernet, i think…
brian miller said:
ha. well that would be the point anyway eh?
enjoy dinner….
anmol(alias HA) said:
Haha.. I loved the tags of this post. 😀
Sounds like a great prompt. I have got to check what everyone comes up with. 🙂
brian miller said:
hey, someone caught my crazy tags….smiles….
Gay (beachanny) said:
smiles…me too! Ha.
Kathy Reed said:
Posted and will be back until after a dinner get together to read…Brian, I forgot to take out he ‘2’ in my post. I have just the one. I’ve read only parts of the conversation above; it sounds interesting..I feel like I’ve written a ‘bad’ sonnet now!
brian miller said:
i saw that….maybe you are the version 2.0 of yourself tonight….smiles…
being bad can feel so good at times….
Snakypoet (Rosemary Nissen-Wade) said:
Not using anything on the above list but a more recent form we played with: blackouts. I had just written something that fits — an erasure poem that was done a little differently — when this prompt came into my email inbox!
brian miller said:
ah i look forward to seeing that rosemary.
Victoria C. Slotto said:
Late to the party but happy to be here. Getting to be time to close up shop for the night, but I will be back tomorrow to comment in between a couple of events. Brian I loved the prompt–I’m an anarchist (in some respects) at heart, I guess.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Oh yes.. and I was almost tempted to write a sonnet here in anarchy against the prompt 🙂
Victoria C. Slotto said:
Why not?
claudia said:
good morning… catching up…
Snakypoet (Rosemary Nissen-Wade) said:
I came back to say how thrilled and delighted I am to discover, in reading everyone else’s offerings, how even slightly changing a form opens up a wealth of new possibilities.
claudia said:
so very true…. it’s a bit of magic… smiles
biggerthanalasagna said:
Cool prompt, Brian. I think I made it harder than it had to be.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I agree.. but using the content as well made it easier.
biggerthanalasagna said:
🙂
brian miller said:
hey all….just a heads up…I will be by here in a bit….we got here to school and then got hit with a winter storm so we are trying to get kids back out of here and home….so crazy day….I will catch up here in a bit….
ManicDdaily said:
Wonderful post, Brian. I am actually on an airplane right now. it is a very long flight, and I’ve gotten wifi, so I could (I told myself) do job work, but happy for the diversion of this prompt! (My pic kind of crazy though!) Hope all well. k.
brian miller said:
ha. travel light…hope the trip went well for you k….
billgncs said:
I agree – a fine prompt. Following the rules in convention, breaking the rules – when you understand them is growth.
I only have a short internet window for the next week or so, about 30 min per day so I will just lurk silently…
brian miller said:
i hear you….we had a winter storm today…and the power went out for a while…so i am in a window right now and reading…
gailatthefarm said:
I gave it a shot. Thanks for the fun prompt.
gailatthefarm said:
Didn’t follow instructions
brian miller said:
isnt that the point? ha.
Snakypoet (Rosemary Nissen-Wade) said:
Gail your link to your poem seems to be broken. If you see this in time, please link again, or else put url here. Ta!
gailatthefarm said:
I cannot reach your site either, says its deleted. Maybe the computer gremlins are busy
ManicDdaily said:
Brian–captcha not working on my end so do not seem able to make comments on non-wordpress blogs for the moment, but will be around at some point! k.
brian miller said:
another wonderful upgrade by google eh?
othermary said:
Hey, what a fun Idea! Thanks Brian.
brian miller said:
glad you had fun mary, yours turned out well…
othermary said:
Thanks!
The Course of Our Seasons said:
Well, my offering is a sonnet – and maybe the only breaking of the rules was that – I wrote a sonnet! – smiles – a fun prompt and can’t wait to read all the broken forms tonight – hope all is well with storm etc – cheers
shanyns said:
Yay I came to play and you were all here! 🙂
rosross said:
I missed Mr Linky! Busy this week dealing with security issues following attempted break-ins. But will post here, worked on a sonnet.
http://roslynrosssmallstones.blogspot.com/2015/01/sorrows.html
Anna said:
Ooo, ooo, I love breaking things (when it’s allowed :D). I’m so sorry school kept me away from this one I’ll have to follow the links and have some fun anyway. Imagine my surprise at finding my name in the intro, lol!
brian miller said:
ha. you inspired me anna…and then i broke my own rule by tending pub and not even entering….smiles. there are some great reads out there though….