I have mixed feelings about poetry prompts. There have been times when using prompts has really got me writing and feeling inventive about poetry. I’ve had instructors (and read books) whose prompts seemed terrific for me; but maybe I felt already ‘primed’ for writing, anyway, and it was not so much the prompt itself but the circumstances that led to fruitful drafts. At other times, prompts appear useless, or even–dare I say–insipid. My current belief is that, for me, circumstances and instructor matter more than the cleverness of the prompt. Any prompt can be delightful if only I find myself situated in the mood or feel an urgency to write.
The virtual workshop I’m taking with Anita Skeen opened with a discussion of poems (by Roethke, initially) and then moved to some list-making and prompts. This is not unusual for workshops, and lists are a fine way to begin thinking about poems. The prompts we were assigned employed both lists and a method for drafting a poem. So far, I’ve drafted four or five poems in a week: therefore, success (!) even though only one of the drafts seems to have legs.
I think what happens is that after many, many years of writing poetry (or making any kind of art) one begins to feel a rhythm that is almost circadian–as analogy–that informs a person about flow. I ask myself, “Am I ready to write today?” The answer may not be yes. But if it is yes, then I can just write. No expectations, and it’s okay to use a prompt, or re-write an older poem, or just free-write about whatever moment I happen to be in. Usually, in this frame of mind, I don’t get concerned about writing well. I just start on in.
If the am-I-ready answer isn’t a definite yes, then I may procrastinate or distract myself by cleaning the house or reading a book. I can overcome the “maybe” by turning to work by a poet whose work I find interesting or by experimenting with a prompt. Sometimes, it helps to give myself a deadline of some kind–this is why workshops are often useful!
But the answer may simply be, “No, not today.” Sometimes we have those non-creative days. It is alright to have them. Art shouldn’t be about pushing out ideas to get to a “product.” I’m suddenly laughing to myself, thinking of Billy Crystal as Miracle Max in the movie The Princess Bride: “You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.”
At least with writing, one gets a chance to revise.
If you are a writer, what do you think about the use of prompts?
ann e michael 
I do use prompts but not necessarily in the traditional manner. I have been part of a writing group Imaginative Storm, led by James Nave (a performance/slam poet) and Allegra Huston (memoirist/novelist/editor). Their method, which they call “Write What You Don’t Know” is something that has led me to good poems and utter drivel. The method is simple. They show an image for 2 minutes during which participants generate a list of words. The image is withdrawn and each participant shares one word from their list forming a communal list. With the communal list we have a 10 minute free write. Some merely creatively string list words together. Some weave them into a story. I look at the list and with luck find a word or two that are keys to something I have been “writing’ in my subconscious for a while, and with the cell door thrown open the imprisoned work appears. Every once in a while publishable work arises, often with minmal editing. A case in point was a poem I recently had published in Constellations which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. But I know that it, like all of its kin, were there waiting for release. So is that really the use of a prompt? I suppose it depends on your definition of that term.
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I do use prompts but not necessarily in the traditional manner. I have been part of a writing group Imaginative Storm, led by James Nave (a performance/slam poet) and Allegra Huston (memoirist/novelist/editor). Their method, which they call “Write What You Don’t Know” is something that has led me to good poems and utter drivel. The method is simple. They show an image for 2 minutes during which participants generate a list of words. The image is withdrawn and each participant shares one word from their list forming a communal list. With the communal list we have a 10 minute free write. Some merely creatively string list words together. Some weave them into a story. I look at the list and with luck find a word or two that are keys to something I have been “writing’ in my subconscious for a while, and with the cell door thrown open the imprisoned work appears. Every once in a while publishable work arises, often with minmal editing. A case in point was a poem I recently had published in Constellations which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. But I know that it, like all of its kin, were there waiting for release. So is that really the use of a prompt? I suppose it depends on your definition of that term.
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