For this Friday Fun-Day writing prompt, you’ll be writing a bad poem.
For my American readers, today through Tuesday will probably be spent on barbecues, trips to the lake, drinking, movies, a night spent watching the fireworks, anything we can claim is to celebrate our independence but, deep down, we know is mostly just an excuse to goof off. I’m not saying that everything everyone does around Fourth of July has nothing to do with our independence; some of what we do truly is to honor our country, but I’ve always found barbecues and drinking odd ways to show patriotism. Anyway, odds are we’ll be nowhere near a keyboard or a pad of paper, and our writing might gather a little dust over the next few days.
This writing prompt is all about shaking off that dust and getting ourselves loose enough for “real” writing. Whether we take some time off for celebrations, have personal emergencies, or just don’t get around to writing for a while, we all hesitate to return to the drawing board once we get the time. We’re excited at first but as soon as we sit down, we freeze.
Why? We’re afraid that the first thing we write is going to be horrific. And you know what? We’re probably right.
That’s exactly why we have to dive in and start writing immediately. The more we write, the more cobwebs we knock out of our minds, and the better we write. And what better way than to go at it knowing you’re writing something bad, rather than trying to write something good?
I want you to write the worst poem you possibly can. Make it silly, make it cheesy, make it cliché, make it a parody, whatever you need in order to lose your inhibitions and just write.
Here’s an example of silly bad poem my mother and I put together for our dog, Lexi, that we recite after she gets groomed:
Ode to Squishy
Fuzzy Wuzzy is our Lex
Fuzzy Wuzzy is perplexed
Fuzzy Wuzzy has to pee
Fuzzy Wuzzy’s bugging me
Fuzzy Wuzzy is so needy
Fuzzy Wuzzy is so greedy
Fuzzy Wuzzy won’t do a trick
Fuzzy Wuzzy, thick as a brick
Fuzzy Wuzzy is so sweet
Fuzzy Wuzzy sure looks beat
Fuzzy Wuzzy loves to howl
Fuzzy Wuzzy, hear her growl!
See what I mean? Bad but hilarious, especially since we weren’t trying to write something good.
So go, write a bad poem. Keeps those writing gears greased. And post your bad poem in the comments. I would love to see what everyone comes up with!
Any suggestions for future writing prompts? Leave them in the comments or e-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com.
