Wasatch Recovery
My walls
colored by
strangers' mistakes.
My desk
rescued
from a Saturday
suburban curb.
The bed: Labor Day
Sale.
The sofa: an office
foreclosure.
The kitchen
bought
at 2 a.m.
off the television.
The television itself...
OK.
I paid
full price
for that.
Guests ask
what I call it.
Wasatch Recovery,
I say.
Stuck on a Prompt
Sometimes a writing prompt just doesn’t connect. The worst thing you can do is force a poem you don’t care about just to check the box.
Don’t stare at the prompt. Look around you instead. What object is sitting on your desk? What conversation from yesterday is still bugging you? What place do you wish you were at right now? List those details instead. One thread pulls another until a story shows up.
You don’t owe the prompt an answer. You owe yourself an honest response.
Some of my favorite student responses gave the prompt a nod, then ran off in wacky directions. That’s usually where the good stuff was.
Naomi Shihab Nye on Finding a Way In
Poet Naomi Shihab Nye often begins with ordinary things: a spoon, a jacket, a street corner, a stranger’s kindness. She reminds us that poems don’t have to start with big ideas. They can begin with something small that catches your attention.
If a writing prompt leaves you blank, don’t force an answer. Look around you instead. Write about one object, one memory, or one moment you can describe honestly. You may end up somewhere the prompt never expected.
Sometimes the best response to a prompt isn’t answering the question. It’s following where the question leads.
Writing Prompt Strategy
Pick an anchor.
Don’t start with an idea. Start with something you can actually see.
- An object on your desk or in your pocket.
- A person you saw today.
- A room you know by heart.
Replace general words.
Trade vague ideas for details readers can picture.
- A dog → a deaf beagle with one floppy ear.
- An old couch → a scratched vinyl sofa from an office foreclosure.
- Food → cold gas station nachos.
Ask, “Then what?”
Keep the writing moving one true detail at a time.
- Write one sentence.
- Ask, Then what?
- Let the answer become the next sentence.
Trust ordinary things.
The smallest details often carry the biggest stories.
- Awkward silences.
- Bad haircuts.
- 2 a.m. infomercials.
Take a side road.
Let the prompt point you somewhere instead of trapping you.
- Forget about the “right” answer..
- Give it a quick nod.
- Follow the interesting idea.
