20 Poem Challenge

Hidden Haikus (5) by Lorette C. Luzajic, 2015.

We are days away from beginning our very first 20 Poem Challenge!

The first prompt will appear Monday, November 2, and there will be one every weekday morning.

We have an exciting lineup of images, specially curated to provide a range of visual experiences that will stretch your poetic imagination!

It is always interesting to see how differently we see, or how many ways a piece of artwork can ignite perspective and possibilities.

Some days, we will not be happy with our pieces. You don't have to spend sleepless nights wrestling with something that's just not working. That's taking time away from fresh inspiration, and from other necessary aspects of life. But don't skip the day's exercise either. Take a good look at the artwork, and spend some time jotting down words or ideas or questions that come to mind, and make a genuine effort to write a poem. You don't have to keep anything you don't like, but the process is what matters. You will be flexing new creative pathways!

Many writers keep all of their drafts for reference. I discard the majority of my poetry, the inevitable stops and starts. What I find works for me is to highlight the lines or words or ideas or titles I like. I can transfer these to one of my "running lists" of tidbits with potential, or leave them in a sheaf of papers in a folder and flip through on occasion, skimming just the neon highlighted portions for fresh inspiration.

Yes, I am doing November's Ekphrastic 20 Poem Challenge with you! I'm really looking forward to reading yours. Send your favourites to me once you've polished them. I hope to run a few poems for each painting, to show other writers and our readers how art can prompt different insights, memories, and ideas.

Good luck!