{"id":872,"date":"2018-08-30T14:06:14","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T18:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cindyfaughnan.com\/faughnan\/?p=872"},"modified":"2019-10-23T12:36:19","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T16:36:19","slug":"poetry-challenge-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/30\/poetry-challenge-50\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry Challenge #50"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ode for Lonely -LY<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cDON\u2019T USE ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS TO PRETTIFY YOUR PROSE!\u201d The warning\u2014BOLD & ALL CAPS\u2014is issued at least once, in every writing class. So much so, that it\u2019s the title of a Writers\u2019 Digest article expounding the excellence of Raymond Carver via his teacher John Gardner\u2019s leaner-is-neater adverb and adjective-free prose.<\/p>\n

Following in Carver\/Gardner’s footsteps has led us to \u201ccast a suspicious eye on these forms of speech because many times they add little to what is already on the page.\u201d As a result those ly-ending adverbs we once sprinkled throughout our prose as liberally as we sugared our Lucky Charms have been unnecessarily shunned, ignominiously tossed aside, and relegated extremely disposable.<\/p>\n

Where have all the adverbs gone? Long time passing . . . What has become of those lowly, loathsome \u201cLy\u201ds? They are, frankly, lonely.<\/p>\n

Hence today\u2019s battle cry and prompt: Down with Understated. Let\u2019s bravely go where no adverb has gone before\u2026(or at least not for a long, long time.)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s write an adverb poem. Begin with the simplest sentence: A subject and a verb. For example: Jack ran. Mary ate. Unicorn flew.<\/p>\n

Now ask yourself \u201chow?\u201d Answer by adding an adverb. Repeat that adverb and ask \u201chow?\u201d Answer with another adverb. Keep repeating this pattern, asking \u201chow?\u201d and answering with adverbs, one after the other after the other after the other, until you\u2019ve used all the adverbs you want. Then, bring it to a rousing\u2014or not\u2014finish. As an example, here\u2019s Kelly’s effort:<\/p>\n

Ly sat lonely
\nDejectedly, roundly, slovenly,
\nUnsoundly, ashamedly, awkwardly, unconsolably
\nDay after day in the darkest depths of the keyboard, until . . .
\nUnabashedly, slap-dashishly, left-handishly I asked \u201chow?\u201d
\nLook at Ly now!<\/p>\n

Set the timer for 7 minutes.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Start writing!
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t think about it too much; just do it. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

*Kelly Bennett <\/a>and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 850 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 poem in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ode for Lonely -LY \u201cDON\u2019T USE ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS TO PRETTIFY YOUR PROSE!\u201d The warning\u2014BOLD & ALL CAPS\u2014is issued at least once, in every writing class. So much so, that it\u2019s the title of a Writers\u2019 Digest article expounding the excellence of Raymond Carver via his teacher John Gardner\u2019s leaner-is-neater adverb and adjective-free prose. Following … Continue reading “Poetry Challenge #50”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1146,"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872\/revisions\/1146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cindyfaughnan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}