Let Every Word Be A Wrench In Their Machine: Writing Prompts

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a photo of a zine (small paper booklet) with the words "Let Every Word Be A Wrench In Their Machine: Writing Prompts: a collection of writing prompts for poets, emcees, songwriters, and other creative communicators"

Another new zine, another ongoing work-in-progress. I’m sharing some of my favorite writing prompts: for poets of course, but also for songwriters, emcees, and writers of all kinds.

It’s probably clear that my list favors political, movement-oriented, and activist-leaning prompts. There’s a reason for that: things are bad right now. They were bad last year, and every year before that too, but we should also be clear-eyed about the immense amount of work and struggle in front of right now. As always, art isn’t the only thing we need. As always, we do need art. Writing can help frame issues, shift narratives, and just bring people together. It won’t just happen inevitably, though; let these prompts be invitations for us all to be proactive and intentional.

Only other thing I’ll share here is that I also tend to favor “non-traditional” writing prompts. I like prompts that don’t point the way to a single poem or song, but rather to an impulse, a way of approaching our writing. These are prompts someone could use more than once, and write completely different pieces every time.

Here’s a link to a PDF for anyone who wants to print, cut, and fold the zine version (some directions here).

AND HERE’S THE FULL TEXT OF THE ZINE, PLUS SOME ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Let Every Word Be A Wrench In Their Machine

When it feels like no one
lets you live
at your own volume

You sing.

– Bao Phi, from Prince Among Men

Because our voices aren’t the only things that matter, but they do matter. Because no single poem, song or story will be the magic spell that makes everything better… and because we can all contribute something anyway: a small piece of what must be a larger whole.

Because sometimes, the art itself makes a difference. Because other times, there’s meaning in the process of creation, critical reflection, and sharing in community. Because of all that, here are a few writing prompts:

Freewriting Prompts

Freewriting is about warming up and writing without judgment; just let it flow. It doesn’t have to be perfect, or even good. But just writing for a few minutes can “open up” our imaginations.

Describe a moment in which you are the “wrench in the machine.” What is the event or situation? How does it feel to disrupt it? What do you say or do? Remember: this doesn’t have to just be about the big, world-changing moments; the smaller, everyday acts of resistance matter too!

What would you say if you could pirate the broadcast of a big event (superbowl, world cup, etc.) and had 30 seconds to address the whole world?

Describe the world you are fighting for. After you win, what will that world look, sound, and feel like? What will you do in it? Be specific and “zoom in” on concrete details.

Tell the story of a moment in your life that did not feel meaningful at the time, but ended up changing everything after.

Make a list. Sometimes we don’t know where to start; other times we’re overflowing with ideas. With both, the simple list can be a helpful format, whether that’s writing where every line starts with the same setup, or something more specific, like a list of responses to a harmful statement or idea. A few examples:

Cultivate Narrative Power

Check out my post, Planting Seeds vs. Planting Crops: A New Year’s Narrative Writing Prompt, for a deep dive into how poets, songwriters, and other culture workers can contribute to the shaping of narratives: the stories and frameworks that live underneath our values, opinions, and politics. That’s a longer post full of links and resources; here’s the text of this section of the writing prompts zine:

Narrative Initiative defines narrative as themes and ideas that are carried in collections of stories. Narrative defines what we imagine is possible and why we want it, what we aspire to become and how, and whether we feel we have power with or over others–or none at all.

ReFrame publishes an annual list of narrative predictions, exploring the stories, frameworks, and ways of thinking that animate and drive our politics.

That resource identifies over 50 narratives-at-play and 6 narrative openings, all of which could be writing prompts. What narratives speak to your experience? How do you see them playing out in your life? What narratives do you want to uplift? Or disrupt? Or dismantle? What counter-narratives can you share?

Experiment with “Anthemic” Writing

I use the term anthemic to refer to art that inspires and energizes, that has forward momentum, and that calls us to action. Our writing doesn’t always have to do this; art that critiques has value. Art that points at the bad thing and says that it’s bad has value. The idea here, though, is that it can be a healthy, generative challenge to explore what we can do beyond that.

Another way to think about this: I can write a poem that wins a poetry slam, or gets placed in a prestigious literary journal, or makes the people at the academic poetry reading stroke their beards thoughtfully. But that same poem might not be appropriate or useful when I’m asked to stand up in front of a big rally or march and share something. Anthemic writing is a way to navigate that kind of situation: When the audience is already on our side, what can we still contribute? What is the “work” of creative writing in movement spaces? What can (and can’t) good writing do?

I find these kinds of questions fascinating, and have taught whole classes on this topic before (and will likely be doing that again in the future, as well as sharing more resources). For now, I’ll just share a prompt for thinking through this:

If you were asked to share a poem at a rally or march for an issue that matters to you, how would you approach that? There’s no one single approach or tactic that I want to shape into a more directed writing prompt here; instead, I’d like to share some of my favorite examples of poems that carry anthemic energy, in the hopes that they can be inspirational:

Comfort and Affliction

Lucille Clifton spoke of her work as a way to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Two related prompts:

COMFORT: Write an ode (or elegy) to affirm/celebrate the people you love. Explore gratitude, memory, and legacy. Political poetry isn’t just about shouting at the oppressors to shame them; it is also about lifting up what really matters to us, helping to envision a better world, and using words to carve out space for love and life and community.

AFFLICT: Write an open letter to someone causing harm. Speak truth to power. Be ruthless. Be venomous. Be honest. Remember that a single poem or song doesn’t have to be the magic key that “fixes” everything; sometimes it’s good just to add our voice to the larger chorus.

Even More Writing Prompts & Links

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