Today’s prompt is from Bianca Spriggs, Poetry Editor for Apex Magazine.

Here’s one I use often in workshops and is good for a daily practice for novice and veteran writers:

• Step 1: Make a list of five things you’ve seen in the last 24 hours (people, objects, events)
• Step 2: Circle the one that interests you the most.
• Step 3: Free-write for a few minutes about that thing using only objective description (five senses, who, what, where, why, when). The more specific the better. Color of eyes. Time of day. Temperature.
• Step 4: Free-write for a few minutes about that thing using subjective description (memories, thoughts, emotions that this thing evokes—why do you think you circled this thing in the first place)
• Step 5: Craft a poem with content that reflects the subjective and use the objective for creating strong imagery.
• Step 6: To revise, go back and try to add some measure of tension to the poem. Think of the ending like a cliff-hanger and add suspense. I always use the example of trying to recreate the atmosphere of simple dialogue in a Quentin Tarantino movie that immediately precedes some sort of major or event or even violence.