Writing Prompts: The Thing You Were Going to Do, But Didn't

Free Write Prompt

Tell about a time when you didn’t do something you thought you would.  What did you not follow through on, why not? What were the real or perceived consequences? Benefits?  Write for 10 minutes. Ready? Go!

Poetry Prompt

Write a poem that simultaneously imagines what could have happened and what did happen in its place.  Write for 15 minutes.

Example Poem & Reflections

• Bike Ride With Older Boys  by Laura Kasischke​

• How are “did” and “didn’t” presented in the poem?
• How are consequences, regrets, or benefits presented?
• How are past and present existing in the poem?
• What are the provocative details?
• Read the poem, specifically pausing at line breaks instead of sentence breaks. Notice how meaning changes, how there is ambiguity in the speakers intentions, in the speaker's decision making. Can you see where the speaker blends time frames and frames of mind when pausing when the line also breaks -- a fantastic exercise in creating multiple meanings.

Example Poem and Reflections

A Midsummer Night's Stroll by Philip Nikolayev

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Philip Nikolayev, “A Midsummer Night’s Stroll” from Letters from Aldenderry. Copyright © 2006 by Philip Nikolayev.

• Notice how Nikolayev parallels characters thoughts, or the thoughts and the setting at the same time.
• How is formal rhyme, formal language, and everyday language used in the poem?
• What effect is created with the use of bold, straight, and italicized text? 

"Three cheers for Central Park at height of season"--Nikolayev | Image by JodesJ

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Something Extra

• Consider a specific example from your free write and write about it.
• Experiment with text formatting (bold, italics, font, etc)as a visual way to indicate past and present, regret and benefit, conflicting minds, formal and informal to the reader.
• Experiment with diction and plot’s abilities to portray simultaneous time frames or frames of mind.