Melissa Joplin Higley PURPOSEFUL PUNCTUATION Punctuation tells the reader how to read a passage or poem: how fast or slowly to proceed, where to pause or stop, where to reflect or rush ahead, what information to consider together or separately, and where to breathe or not breathe. Take a passage or poem you’ve already composed and see how changing punctuation and spacing affects the reader’s emotional state (relaxed, anxious, detached, comfortable). Where do you want the reader to slow down, go faster, pause for breath, run on breathlessly? No pauses (no punctuation): fast pace / breathless / flowing…
Author: Mom Egg Review
Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello THE EPISTOLARY EXERCISE Write a story entirely in the form of a letter to an individual addressing a specific conflict between you both. The addressee can be your imagined reader, a character, creature, object, place, or abstraction personified. Example: “To the rabbit who ate my late mother’s last collard greens…” What resolution or challenge might conclude your letter? Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello is the author of Hour of the Ox and co-translator of The World’s Lightest Motorcycle by Yi Won. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Kundiman, the Knight Foundation, and…
Mary McLaughlin Slechta WRITING PROMPT I have a small wooden drawer long detached from its bureau. It’s a great catch all for things I’ve kept past their usefulness and others discovered on walks around the neighborhood, especially in a park built over a former dump. Call it controlled hoarding, haute hoarding, and create one for yourself or use the one you already have in your kitchen. When unable to satisfy an itch to write, try sifting through these strange, orphaned objects. A two-inch plastic gas pump sat in my drawer until it told me something universal about a child’s…
David Hollander THE UNDELIVERED MESSAGE: A WRITING PROMPT Many of the prompts that I’ve had the most success with involve the institution of formal rules or limitations, which have the odd effect of liberating writers from having to “be themselves” on the page. To that same end, I often use a published piece as a structural model. In this case, that published piece is Kafka’s very short story, “The Imperial Message,” which I recommend reading and which can be found here: https://www.kafka-online.info/an-imperial-message.html The resulting writing prompt often helps generate a patterned story, mitigating what I think of as…
Sarah Freligh WRITING PROMPT Write a life story in three brief scenes involving hair. Sarah Freligh is the author of four books, including Sad Math, winner of the 2014 Moon City Press Poetry Prize and the 2015 Whirling Prize from the University of Indianapolis, and We, published by Harbor Editions in early 2021. Recent work has appeared in the Cincinnati Review miCRo series, SmokeLong Quarterly, Wigleaf, Fractured Lit, and in the anthologies New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction (Norton 2018) and Best Microfiction (2019-21). Among her awards are a 2009 poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a grant from the New York State Council for…
Nicole Callihan WRITING PROMPT Often prompts focus on content, but today, I’d like you to think about form. Write a story in exactly two grammatically correct sentences. One of the sentences—perhaps the first, though if not the first, certainly the second—should be long-winded, should sulk and sully, should be wet behind its ears and wise beyond its years, should try to hold everything, or—if everything feels too daunting—should hold exactly nothing, or—if nothing feels impossible—should hold only and exactly what it needs to hold: a lettered pill box, a hairpin, the hens out back, your father in the driveway,…
J.L. Scott WRITING TIPS Writing Tip Stuck? Ask your kids to help you out. No matter how old they are, they can help you with ideas for a new piece, how to get a character out of a sticky situation, or even whether to send the piece for publication or not. Sure, their answers might be ridiculous or (hopefully) hilarious, but even if they don’t actually help you solve your problem, they’ll give you some scope on the issue. Bonus: this is a pro parenting tip. Asking your kids for help with your problem normalizes the habit of…
Margo Berdeshevsky WRITING PROMPT Create a connection/conversation with an object, real… or virtual, from your childhood…hold it in your hands or in your arms … and talk with it/to it…tell that object what was the saddest moment of your life since you last held it. Margo Berdeshevsky, born in New York city, often lives and writes in Paris. Her latest collection, Before The Drought, is from Glass Lyre Press, (a finalist for the National Poetry Series.) A new collection, It Is Still Beautiful To Hear The Heart Beat is forthcoming from Salmon Poetry. Kneel Said the Night (a hybrid…
Laura Geringer Bass WRITING PROMPT Since the publication of my novel, THE GIRL WITH MORE THAN ONE HEART (Abrams 2018) I’ve taught a writing workshop called “Finding the Heart of Your Story.” While on tour, instead of speaking about my own journey from memoir to fiction, I selected prompts from my book and invited the audience to write, using the quotations as jumping off points. I was moved and inspired by what emerged. My recent approach to prompts draws upon quotations from whatever fiction I happen to be reading, classic or contemporary. So, for example from “Dream Children” by Gail…
Kim Addonizio PEAKS AND VALLEYS Sometimes, when you’re having trouble getting started writing, it’s helpful to begin with a list that doesn’t ask you to immediately come up with brilliant poetry. So for this prompt, start by listing two things: First, think of some peak experiences that you or someone else have had. A story that was on the news that delighted you. A friend’s good news. A happy memory from your childhood. Or a recent thrilling occurrence. List as many peak experiences as possible. Then think about some terrible experiences—again, casting a wide net: not just your…