Writing Prompts Inspired by Mary Oliver

Blackwater Pond - Spring time, a photo by Mark Griffith on Flickr.

Happy Birthday to the amazing American poet Mary Oliver!


In honor of her birthday, I would like you to read the featured poem on Writer's Almanac today. It is called "In Blackwater Woods."  Our creative writing prompts for  today will be inspired by her poem.

(Note to Educators:  I have included study questions (at the bottom of the post) for the poem.  Please, if you use them, drop me a note and let me know how it went.  Thank you!)


Free-Write for 5 minutes: Write about something (or someone) that you had to let go of that was very difficult for you.


Poetry and Essay Writing Prompts:  After you free-write, spin those ideas into a poem or a short essay.


Fiction Writing Practice: Write a short scene with two characters by a pond. They can be human or nonhuman.

Study Questions for Mary Oliver’s Poem “ In Blackwater Woods”

1.  How does the poet draw you into the poem?  Is it effective for you?  If yes, why do you think so?
2.  How many stanzas are in this poem?  How many lines are in each stanza?

      3  How many adjectives are in the poem?  What are they?

        4.  How many “ly” adverbs are in the poem? 

      5.  What specific words does the poet use to give us a candle-like image without saying the word "candle”?

      6.  How does the poet use personification?
      7.  How does the the poet use repetition in this poem?  Do you think it is effective?  Why or why not?

      8.  Please write down a phrase or two from this poem that you liked.  Discuss why you think those lines stood out for you. 

      9.  Were there any parts of the poem that you did not like?  Discuss.
     10.  The ending direction of this poem is a straightforward message, which is to let go of mortal things in order “to live in this world.”  Do you agree or disagree?  Why or why not?  Reflect on this question in a short paragraph.

  

Orville Wright's Birthday Writing Prompt

"We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity."  -Orville Wright

Today it is Orville Wright's birthday.  He and his brother Wilbur launched the first successful flight of a "flying machine" in 1903.  His quote above is about his childhood and curiosity.

Do you remember making inventions when you were a child?  What did you learn from exploring curiosity?

For your creative writing prompt today, free-write for 10 minutes about your memories of your childhood curiosity.

After your free-write, take the subject and develop a short creative nonfiction piece, or a short story based on the theme, or a poem.  

Writing Prompts with Snow and Trees

Snow getting more ridiculous, a photo by Joe Crawford (artlung) on Flickr.

For today's free-write, please start by free-writing from the image for 5 minutes without stopping

OR

free-write for 5 minutes from this phrase:

The snow on the trees reminded her/him of. . .

After 5 minutes, look at what you have on your paper and find a spark you want to explore through a story, essay, poem, song, or ???

Happy Writing!