One of the great things about being part of a writing community is that we’re constantly learning from one another. Today mentor poet Rajani LaRocca shares a challenge that’s all about how putting constraints on our writing can spark creativity — an exercise she learned about in a workshop with award-winning author K.A. Holt.

Say It Without Saying It

In poetry and verse novels, we use figurative language and sensory detail to evoke
emotion—and to say things without being too on-the-nose. During a recent conference, amazing author K. A. Holt shared this exercise, and I absolutely loved it.

First, grab a random object from nearby.

Now take 5 minutes and using single words, describe this object.

Here’s an example of what I did. My object was a fork. Here’s how I described it:

Silver
Metallic
Pointy
Barbed
Shiny
Cold
Hard
Smooth
Ridged
Heavy
Weighted
Warped

Now, for the second part. Take five minutes and write a poem about the object—but
you’re not allowed to use any of the words you used to describe it!

Here’s the poem I wrote. It was kind of about the fork, but it was also about something
else entirely:

You were supposed to be useful,
my helpful friend.
But instead you punctured me when I wasn’t prepared
You wounded me where I was tender
And me taste my own iron.

How did it feel to write a poem with some constraints? Was it challenging? Did it evoke
emotion? Did it surprise you?

Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area, where she practices medicine and writes award-winning books for young readers. Her middle grade novel in verse, Red, White, and Whole, is the winner of the 2022 Walter Dean Myers Award and a 2022 John Newbery Honor. She’s always been an omnivorous reader, and now she’s an omnivorous writer of fiction and nonfiction, novels and picture books, prose and poetry. She finds inspiration in her family, her childhood, the natural world, math, science, and just about everywhere she looks. Learn more about her at www.RajaniLaRocca.com.

Kari Anne Holt has dedicated her writing career to making sure kids (and adults) understand that anyone can be the main character of a book, and everyone deserves to see themselves reflected on the page. From her award-winning middle grade novels-in-verse, Ben Bee and the Teacher Griefer, Redwood & Ponytail, Knockout, House Arrest, and Rhyme Schemer, to her prose novels From You to Me and Gnome-a-geddon, to her picture book, I Wonder, illustrated by Kenard Pak, KA Holt’s readers will discover main characters that struggle, celebrate, wonder and discover in ways both new and familiar.

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