Create a new word, then write a poem around it.
Have you ever read Lewis Carrol’s poem “Jabberwocky” with its’ “slythy toves” and “borogoves?” Did you know, as I just learned today, that he made up a letter combination n place of using “the?” He did this to reflect a Middle English variant. He wanted to use mock-mediaeval lettering as a “relic of ancient Poetry,” to create a poem that felt like it was written in an earlier era, perhaps a time when “slithy toves” were not far from the imagination.
Poets create imagery, metaphor, unusual phrasing and rhythm, and once in a while, they even make up words. As I did research for this prompt, I was surprised to be led mainly to children’s poetry sites and lists of “nonsense poems.” But words are made up in “regular” literary poems, too.
You may wish to make up a word that describes a texture, or a feeling, or a color. It could be an imaginary creature or a name you give to a kind of pain or joy. It’s a little like the previous prompt where we used another language to express an idea that English doesn’t communicate well.
A word I use to describe my brain when it’s depressed — foggy, slow, unfocused, like trying to think through sludge — is “fug.” I get the brain fug, is what I think. To me, it’s like a sludgy fog.
Write something with at least one word you make up. I find it easiest to spend a few minutes thinking of a word and then write a poem around it. That can create a motivating focus for creating something unusual, perhaps something outside of your usual style.
