Have you ever heard a line of poetry and wondered: How did they make this connection?
Have you thought: I don’t know how to do that?
Have you thought: I want to make something important but I don’t really know where to begin?
In this exercise, you’ll take on a difficult topic you’d like to explore. You’ll create word maps and do a series of exercises to create content that may surprise you.
STEPS:
Step one: Brainstorm the hard things you want to talk about.
These can be big concepts, issues around social change, or just big feelings. Try to keep writing for at least 1 minute.
Example list:
Anxiety
Depression
Global warming
Racism
Homophobia
Grief
Step 2: Take a moment to think about which of these topics you’d like to tackle (pro-tip, you can do this exercise more than once with different words-- I’ve been a poet for years and I still do it all the time).
Step 3: Write your word in the center of a blank sheet of paper. I’ll be working with:
GRIEF
Step 4: Branching out from your word, think of 3-5 words that come to mind when you think of your word. These words can be anything. There are no wrong answers. If you think of pie, write it.
Step 5: Stop thinking about your center word. Just think about one word you branched out with and write 3-5 words that you think of when you think of the new word. In this example, I’ll just think about my grandma:
I thought about cards because my grandma always played them. I thought about coffee because her house always smelled like coffee.
I thought about walks because we used to take walks with both my grandparents when we were kids.
You don’t have to explain why the words connected for you, just write what comes to mind.
Step 6: Continue making associations for 3-5 minutes. You don’t have to work off of every word, just do what comes to you. Remember, each time you build off a word, you are only thinking of that word.
Step 7: Select a word that is at least 2 lines separated from your center word. In the example, you would NOT pick grief because it is your center word not would you pick sad, illness, grandma, or crying because they were directly connected to that starting word. The word you pick should be a noun. The word you pick should be something you're familiar with and can easily use in a sentence. It does not need to feel connected to your original word at all. I often choose a word that is something I know something about. Write 10 sentences that use the word you are choosing in them. They can be definitions, explanations, facts. They can be simple or complex. For example, I’ll use feet.
Example:
At night, I tuck my feet between my partner and our dog to go to sleep.
I like to keep my feet covered.
I try to balance on my feet.
Sometimes I clip my toenails to keep my feet presentable.
My feet can take me away.
I don’t like to have bare feet.
My feet get cold.
I do not always know where my feet will take me.
I do not like to touch other people’s feet, but I will sometimes massage my wife’s feet.
Almost everyone has feet.
Step 8: Cross off or delete every instance of the word you worked with and replace it with the word that you started your map with. In the example, I’ll be replacing feet with grief:
At night, I tuck my GRIEF between my partner and our dog to go to sleep.
I like to keep my GRIEF covered.
I try to balance on my GRIEF.
Sometimes I clip my toenails to keep my GRIEF presentable.
My GRIEF can take me away.
I don’t like to have bare GRIEF.
My GRIEF get cold.
I do not always know where my GRIEF will take me.
I do not like to touch other people’s GRIEF, but I will sometimes massage my wife’s GRIEF.
Almost everyone has GRIEF.
Step 9: Read your sentences aloud.
Some of your sentences might work great like:
At night, I tuck my GRIEF between my partner and our dog to go to sleep.
Some of your sentences might not work at all and some of your sentences might require a little altering to work or small grammar changes. For instance:
“Sometimes I clip my toenails to keep my GRIEF presentable.”
Can be omitted or changed a little to become something like:
“Sometimes I chip away the edges of my grief to keep it presentable.”
Step 10: Title your work:
A poem in which the word (you wrote sentences about) is replaced with (your original word)
Example: A poem in which the word feet is replaced with grief
TIPS
Some options for going deeper with your work:
1. Try reordering the lines until you like the flow.
2. Try using your favorite line as the first line or title of a new poem.
3. Try writing a few lines to go with every line to create a much longer piece.
4. Pair some or all your words with an image.
5. Create or find a series of images and pair each line with one in a book/zine.
By Joy Young
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