Hello friends,
Now when most of us is back from summer we have thought of changes, we all need to find creative outlets for our writing, and partly I addressed this in our discussion on prose and poetry 2 weeks ago. To find creative outlets in writing prose and poetry is a wonderful combination.
I think all of you have came across the haibun, originating from Japan it combines prose with short poems (usually haiku) to create an effect that often is pure magic.
What we had thought was to make one Monday per month, a Haibun Monday. We will add a link, and give you some guidelines and inspiration. To make it less rushy than the normal Poetry prompt we will keep the link open a whole week for both commenting and linking up. There will be a word-limit which we will come back to.
We also hope of course that this will attract some new poets and writers who might think the other prompts are too poetic.
The first haibun month opportunity will be on September 7, and will be done by a guest blogger.
As this is a pre-announcement I would like to listen to your viewpoints on this new feature.
dVerse 
Hello Friends… hope you are as eager as I am of adding one more opportunity to write.. Hope you have a wonderful Monday.
I am very excited of this new feature Bjorn ~ For some time now, some of us have been writing haibun in our prompts and OLN ~ So it would be nice to sharpen our haibun skills ~ Happy Monday to all ~
I used to write a lot of haibun… maybe focusing more on the prose than the haiku… so definitely a great opportunity.
It will be interesting.
I have written plenty of prose, but very few haibun.
I will give it a try and see.
So it will be prompted as well.
Thoughts on what the guidelines are?
Will be interesting to see how the extended time will work as well – if it will attract writers that are also readers – especially those that show up later in the week, or if people will check back on something open that long.
Pretty cool though that you are trying new things.
We will start out by mainly giving a word-limit.. but we will see how we might do prompts also.. but the first will be pretty open. I think the longer time will allow for a gentler pace in commenting that might suit some better…
I think this is a wonderful opportunity to brush up or showcase the fiction/prose side of our writing ~ The first one will be an open theme haibun, with just a word limit ~
I, for one, will definitely check back later in the week to see what’s been linked. I may likely even post my own link later in the week just because Monday’s can be so hectic.
That is the general idea.. 🙂
I am really excited about it since I also write fiction and this is an opportunity to blend two loves. Will there be a theme to write to or is the subject matter open to whatever we want?
We will start open I think. But as we go on I think a prompt might be a good idea… That could be to write on the same picture for instance.. But we will let it form itself… wordlimit is the most important.
I enjoy picture prompts…great idea Bjorn. Even Wordles could work.
So many interesting prompts to come up with! I’ve never done wordles. Since it is a Japanese form, seasonal prompts are always fun too. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve done a picture prompt either.
I have done picture prompts, I have tried to start from a quote.. and seasons is always good..
OOOO quote is something I never thought of. That would indeed be interesting as a prompt, all the thoughts on the quote – like all the different thoughts on a picture prompt.
Victoria, I am excited to see your haibun as your fiction & novels are excellently written ~ It will be an open prompt for the first haibun on Sept. 7 ~
Thank you, Grace!
I’m looking forward to your haibun as well, especially knowing your respect and love for Japanese forms. 🙂
While at present I don’t conform to any official form of Haibun.. and have not taken detailed note or study of it.. i like the general idea of mixing Science/Fiction/Descriptive Prose with Art/Haiku-like Poetry.. something i have been enjoying doing experimentally for a long time.. albeit not much fiction.. and of course we need both.. to effectively communicate in really delivering a message of new and old that is of some real meaningful effect of reason and affect of art.. but anyway.. i like the general idea.. and can certainly adapt to the specifics as well..:)
The first prompt will give an introduction to the technique.. and there is no hurry to finalize.. maybe even editing the text will be possible.
Considering that many are already writing haibun for dVerse prompts and OLN, I think that this new feature provides a very logical “next step” for this community. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out…and I think the extended time frame will be helpful as well.
I think it gives us additional time to both write, and comment.. so yes that is the general idea.
This is an excellent and exciting new phase for d’Verse. Also having an “about” or “how to” introduction is a good thing for those who have been curious about haibun but not really sure. I have been writing haibun for years but stopped a few years ago. Last year I started up again and brought out a haibun I had written several years ago for OLN. It was good to revitalize an old love. Seeing more people submit haibun has been most enjoyable and having a longer link time I think will further make this feature more user friendly. Hooray!!!!
I know your love for haibun and it’s history.. and many of us love to write poetic prose.
So many talented folk here so I know there will be some good things linked. Already know the beauty others have penned for OLN or prompts. This will be such an added pleasure to read.
As you know I have been experimenting with using American Sentences instead of haiku.. making a more contemporary gritty style of haibun.. :-)…
Thank you for calling them American sentences. 🙂 There will be so many different styles on thisform and that is one of the things I love about it – the adaptability…mujo… as the Japanese would say. I already have a vision of the different styles and subjects coming out of this.
Now, how did I know you’d be the most excited in the pub?! 😉
This sounds good, Bjorn. I think I’ll be able to participate more with the longer time limit. It’s seems like I’m always just a little bit late. Thanks!
I look forward to that.. and it makes it possible to find inspiration from many sources… 🙂
Hi Björn! Oh yes. Love the idea. Look forward to it.
I hope you will join.. it would be stellar..
I’ll be there, Björn. I’m also glad that we’ll have enough days to work on a piece. That’s good news. I don’t like posting something half-baked. 🙂
I need to go back to my writing routine –often motivated by dVerse, after a really long holiday– so I welcome Haibun Monday. Cheers!
And we will have a whole week to write and comment.. so that make it even better.
A lit extra time can only help. Although, I have to say that I enjoy the challenge of a limited time (hours rather than days ).
I think I like that better too.. but sometimes it can improve if I let it stew a little… 🙂
Count me in. And a big thank you to all the bar-tenders for all the good things you give us.
So good we can count you in.. I think this will be a wonderful thing to write… (and read)
I love this idea! Haibuns are so much fun to write and to read. I think the word limit is a good idea as you could get quite wordy with this form, at least the prose portion. Have you thought about also limiting it to a single haiku or other short form poem as well? I also like leaving Mr. Linky open for a week.
So I have a funny story about one of the first haibun I ever wrote. I wrote it about my afternoon observations on my back deck, with my son’s cat climbing a tree. After I wrote it I went and told my son (who is an artist and was taking a Quick Sketch class at the time) that I’d written a haibun about his cat. He stopped me and said, “Just a second.” He grabbed a scrap of paper and quickly sketched something, which I assumed was going to be a picture of his cat climbing a tree. It was actually a small dinner roll with arms and legs, bloodshot eyes, and a goofy grin smoking a joint: a “high bun.”
Anyway, looking forward to this new feature. Peace, Linda
I remember that haibun Linda.. we will come back with the exact rules.. .-)
Really looking forward to this new feature! I think it will offer interesting new opportunities, and it may even help our community grow a bit. I have written a few Haibun, but can definitely learn more about them.
I think it’s an opportunity for writing more prose as well… and it’s an area that at least I love to explore.
I am quite excited about this new opportunity here at dVerse. I like haibun and have written a few. Of curse, given the context of a community challenge a limit on words makes sense.
Personally I love constraints in my writing,
I do not mind word restriction as my poems are never very long. Regarding prose, I think I prefer tight and powerful prose to lengthy narratives.
Very exciting!! We can learn from those who have already mastered this form. Prose is definitely my weakness so I am eager to be challenged by the haibun. I especially like the “less rushy” part.
I think it can help us all to be better writers.
I like the idea because it lends variety to and streamlines the website.
Good.. so mark September 7… it will be fun.
I think I’ve only ever written one haibun, so I would welcome the opportunity to learn more and to practice this form. I also like the idea of having more time to read the other entries. Trying to read 30 or 40 entries in one day is a lot of reading, so to be able to spread it out over a few more days would be feel a lot less rushed 🙂
I know how many I can read per day too.. but usually I manage to read every entry, but there are days when I have more time and others less.
I’m up for the challenge! I have no idea what a haibun is but I will give it a shot.
Ha.. the first one will be an introduction.
This new feature would be very interesting and many will give it a tryI am sure …looking forward to Sept. 7…
I would love to see you there Sumana
I’ve tried the haibun before but without really knowing much about the form. I
am excited to learn and to write to this technique. Thanks, Bjorn
First off, let me say, a day late, that this is a fricking brilliant direction for dVerse to go, adding one new poem prompt per month, that might rival the popularity of OLN. I, for one, have had Haibun Fever for months now. BUT the notion that the Haibun police are already planning ironclad parameters is distressing; sort of. You said it your self, Bjorn, U have experimented with using American Sentences instead of only haiku. I use them, lunes, tanka, several haiku, & others to illuminate the prose stanzas, as well as exciting spacing of the prose & different shapes for the stanzas; incorporating so many things I like. I will abide by the “rules”, of course, but on other prompts I will soar ion rarified haibun thermals.
I enjoy writing haibun and I’m excited to learn more about this form and get to read others! Thank you, for this post and for the ones to come…I’m looking forward to them! 🙂
Goody, goody! I love haibun, have written very few and am thrilled at the opportunity to try more.
Indeed.. and next week we have the first one with a small introduction 🙂
I may try this too, perhaps in September. (Have lots to do till then.) Could be December. I used to write a lot of Hainun for the now defunct “One Single impression.” I didn’t call it that then, though. Had no name or training or tules, just wrote that way. Best wishes.
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