I'm biting the bullet.
This idea has been floating around in my head for a while, but as I'm down the Great Ocean Road on a writer's retreat, these things will come out and demand to make it into the light.
We were asked in we had any creative activities that you found useful to help you in your creative life. Activities that get you writing. Activities that you find some mutual benefit in doing.
Which leads me to my creative practice of writing a haiku a day.
My writer's group does this. Every morning, I set a haiku / senryu prompt. It's one word. Write a seventeen-syllable poem using the prompt. Don't write the poem. Share the poem. Don't share the poem. But you feel a lot better if you do this very small act of creativity. It's like making your bed every morning. It becomes a habit. You feel more at ease with the process. You feel a small sense of achievement. And you never know, you might like something you like.
Creativity is a muscle that needs to be exercised. It's a matter of getting out of your own way.
We've been doing the haiku thing for two months now. It's a cool think.
And now I'm looking to expand it.
Why not send out the haiku / senryu topic to the masses?
What have I got to lose?
Oh, if you're asking why I keep saying haiku / senryu, I'm being a pedant. A haiku is a seventeen syllable poem (five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables) which ponders nature and the natural world. Senryu is of the same structure, but it explores human nature and everyday life. It's normally just referred to as a haiku.
Anyway, I've set up the Instagram account - @everydaycreative_haiku_prompt. I'll also publish on Substack, setting up an account tomorrow. Then, I'll socialise this idea here at the retreat.
What have I got to lose?
Oh, and some examples of my work (Copyright Pandora Behr, 2026) with the prompt as the title. they're not great, but they're senryu and I'm proud that this is part of my process.
Prompt: Smear
She, she has been there
Indelible, lipstick-marked.
It's all evidence.
Prompt: Repeat
Reiteration
The teacher's favourite tool
Falling on deaf ears.
Prompt: Conundrum
The more I keep looking
The less I find to inspire.
Middle-aged men, eh!
No comments:
Post a Comment