Writing Exercises

Today I attended a writers’ workshop, my very first one.  We tried a variety of exercises and prompts, learning how to summon ideas to write about from the deep recesses of our minds and hearts.  I truly found this helpful and will be using these suggestions to assist me in writing this blog.  I would like to share one below, not because I think it is particularly good, but because it is a stretch for me.  I am not a poet, probably having been damaged in my early years with requirements of rhyming and meter.  This exercise is a run-on poem asking “what if?” and was completed in just a few minutes.

What If?

What if all people

lived as if in a musical

when something made them happy

they would burst into song

and sing at the top of their lungs

and people nearby would join in

singing and dancing with joy

all the people in love

would express their feelings

without playing games

without keeping them inside

but shared honestly with their love

all the people in anguish

would cry out with songs of melancholy

letting tears flow unchecked

and people nearby would join in

or run to comfort with tissues and hugs

all the people’s stories

would have happy endings

just like my favorite musicals

and people would move on with their lives

with smiles on their faces

Well, I have a long way to go, but it’s a start.