Fin Pal asks Norman “Are You Real?”
Hey Norman! I have a question for you . . .
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
But first here’s a finny to get your gills flapping. A cartoon by our friend Jim S.
And now, finally… this time for real…no fish hooks or Santa fish…Ready! Set! Read!
Whoops: Forgot to tell you about that “Portrait of Girl” at the top of the post. One of Norman’s finpals drew it. Isn’t it fintastic!!!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl?
Do you have a finny fish joke to share?
Send Norman a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #27-Here Comes the Sun!
On my side of the planet, it’s full-on summertime!
But . . .
That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s sunny.
Nor does it mean, as the face on this little poopsie shows, that wherever you are —outside or inside—is summer or summery.
“Moods are like light bulbs, sometimes they just burn out—even LED.”
Truth is truth: We may not always be able to change the lightbulb. We may not be able to change the season. But sometimes, with a little luck and determination, we can change a mood. Let’s try!
Poetry Challenge #27
Here Comes the Sun!
Move to a brighter spot, somewhere you are either in the sun, or where you can witness the effects of sunshine.
Or, if it’s really gloomy wherever you are, turn on a bright light.
Don your sunglasses and shade hat, turn on some music. (A “Here comes the Sun” playlist is below.)
If that’s not enough, add sprinkles to your coffee and put on disco clothes—Get your sunny on!
There! Now you are ready!
First: Brainstorm a list of words that rhyme with sun.
Now: Using the words from your list, write a sunny poem entitled "Here Comes the Sun!"
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
What do you know…It worked!
Okay, yes. There is a time lapse between the “Sad Bennett” and “Happy Bennett” photos…a year, a haircut, a cooler “swimming pool” and hose with the nozzle cocked and ready, but he’s sunny now!
Here Comes the Sun Playlist:
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 2870 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Poetry Challenge #26-Take IT Away!
Quite often we use too many words to get our point across. Blah…blah…blah.
Filler words are like food—if we give some away, the calories don’t count!
We do the same thing when we write.
“Filler words” are the ummm and like and well and wah-wah-wah….the space holders we click when we’re thinking.
Unlike when we talk, when it comes to our writing, we can go back and cut the fat.
Time to put our poems on a diet!
We’re going to do some math today. Do I hear a yeah?
Don’t worry…it will be simple.
Just do one step at a time!
Poetry Challenge #26
Take it Away!
Pick one of your poems. Count the words in the poem.
Divide that number by 4 (round up if it’s not even).
Take away (delete!) that many words.
Set the Timer for 7 Minutes
Ready! Set!
Subtract!
Reread your poem aloud. How does it sound?
If you’re game: See if you can’t take away even more words…. say 10% more.
For more on Filler Words, maybe way too much more, here’s Smart Blogger with “298 Useless Filler Words that Rob Your Writing of Its Power.”
The best part is, that ummmm, along with the words come, like, suggestions for better choices. I know…just…well…
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**Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 2800 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Fin Pal asks Norman “Do you hide?”
Hey Norman! I have a question for you . . .
So then, what do you think Norman? Does Norman hide? Would you hide if you were a goldfish?
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
But first JT’s goldfish art:
Another fintastic rainbow drawing by one of Norman’s fin pals!
And, a finny!
Q: Why did Norman the Goldfish turn red?
Q: Why did Norman the Goldfish turn red?
A: Because he saw the ocean’s bottom!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl?
Do you have a finny fish joke to share?
Send Norman a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #25-Double Dog Dare You . . .
When it comes to “don’t dos” I’m like a bull in a ring and that’s the red flag. It’s almost impossible for me to resist doing what I’m told not to do.
And yes, that does make me a lousy at word games like Password and Taboo.
As hard as it is for me (and maybe you) to resist using a word or phrase on purpose, it’s fun to try.
As having fun with words is the purpose of these 7-Minute Challenges, for this prompt we double dog dare you to put on your logologist’s hat.*
Say what?
A lipogram consisting of writing paragraphs or longer works in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided. In its easiest form, a writer avoids using uncommon letters like X, J, Q, or Z. Or avoids words with “ing” or “ed” endings.
More difficult lipograms avoid common letters like A, T or E—E being the most common letter in the English language.
If you think avoiding using E is tough, consider this: Ernest Vincent Wright wrote an entire 50,000-word novel, GADSBY, without using the letter E.
Below is an excerpt.
“So this small town of Branton Hills was lazily snoozing amidst up-and-doing towns, as Youth’s Champion, John Gadsby, took hold of it; and shook its dawdling, flabby body until its inhabitants thought a tornado had struck it. Call it tornado, volcano, military onslaught, or what you will, this town found that it had a bunch of kids who had wills that would admit of no snoozing; for that is Youth, on its forward march of inquiry, thought and action.”
James Thurber’s The Wonderful O is a fairy tale about an island where the letter O was banned.
Poetry Challenge #25
Double Dog Dare You to Drop the E!
Begin with a poem you’ve already written.
Revise it by deleting every “E” word and replacing it with another word, if necessary.
Or, if you’d rather, revise it using only “E” words.
Or, if you’d rather not mess with one of your existing poems, try writing an entirely new poem without the letter “E”.
(And no fair intentionally mis-spelling words to avoid using “E”, that’s cheating.)
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
*We have award-winning author/VCFA faculty advisor Tim Wynne Jones to thank (or curse) for this prompt. Tim shared his passion for logology during a VCFA lecture one summer long long ago, in a world far far away.
And if you’ve caught the lipology bug, enjoy Michael S. Hennessey’s University of Cincinnati Lipogram Poetry Worksheet!
The example, on the left, is one Hennessey shared.
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**Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 2800 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Poetry Challenge #24-Poncho and Lefty
This lone cowpoke is trying to decide which form to use: “Sonnet?….Haiku?….or should it be a ballad?”
Sometimes it’s fun to write a poem on a topic; sometimes it’s fun to try to use a form.
We often use a form when it feels as though a poem is wandering around or getting wordy.
Forms force you to pay attention to the number of syllables you use or to a rhyme scheme.
A fairly easy form is the ballad.
Poetry Challenge #24
Ballad of ____________________
Try writing a ballad of at least two verses.
A ballad usually has four lines in each verse with an ABAB rhyme scheme (every other line rhymes). It also has a strong rhythm. Lines alternate between four and three beats.
If you aren’t good at hearing beats, use eight syllables on one line and six on the next. Remember you can always write a ballad (or haiku or acrostic.)
Ballads are great to set to music if you are musically inclined! So if you’re having trouble finding that next line, hum a few bars.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Ballads for inspirations Playlist:
“Pancho and Lefty” by Townes Van Zandt, sung by Willie and Merle
“Yesterday” by the Beatles
“Edelweiss” from Sound of Music by Rogers and Hammerstein
After poeming, you enjoy Townes Van Zandt telling a story of “Pancho and Lefty” on TexasHillCountry.com
But now, sit back and enjoy as Grandboy Dylan strums “Edelweiss” on the streets of NY. If the video link won’t work, view the clip on Kelly Bennett Books YouTube Station
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 2800 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Fin Pal asks Norman "What Do You Eat?”
Hey Norman! I have a question for you . . .
So then, what do you think Norman likes to eat best? Do you think he likes worms? Or salad?. . . Definitely not other goldfish!!!
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
But first!
In June, we proudly celebrate rainbows at the Fishbowl; here’s a fintastic drawing by one of Norman’s fin pals!
And, a finny!
Q: Why did Norman the Goldfish swim under the bridge?
Q: Why did Norman the Goldfish swim under the bridge?
A: To get to the other tide!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl?
Do you have a finny fish joke to share?
Send Norman a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #23-Where in the World
Easy to get lost geocaching, but the treasures you find… Here’s the official Geocaching blog
Where in the World?
It’s easy to get lost. And then, hard to find our way—especially when we don’t know where we’re going. This is true in life . . . and poetry . . .
You know that phrase “Just say the word”?
Sometimes it is just that easy. Let’s try.
Although its contests, etc. are for UK students, the resources on the Young Writers website are for everyone!
An Acrostic Poem is one of the simplest forms of poetry and yet it’s soooooo confusing to describe in words. It can also be one of the most fun to write (and thus it’s one of the first forms of poetry children learn). Every Acrostic Poems begins the same way: With a word or phrase. This word or phrase is usually the title, too. (For clarity sake, I will refer to it as “the title” from here on out.)
In short, the title is written in a column down the left side of the page. From there a word or phrase beginning with the letter—which defines or relates to the title—extends off the side of the letter left to right across the page.
Poetry Challenge #23
Where in the World?
Spin the Globe. Pick place in the world.
Create an Acrostic Poem by writing that place name down the left side of a page. Then, as in the example above, use words that begin with each letter to describe that place…or, if you’ve never been there, describe what you imagine that place is like.
If you think that’s too easy, try creating an acrostic in which the last letter of each line spells out the name.
Or harder still, try creating an acrostic with the name in the center of the line.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 2800 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .