Spring Fling Writing Contest
Call me an April Fool, but I can’t resist a fun challenge!
So when I learned that agent Kaitlyn Leanne Sanchez and her critique bud Ciara O’Neal were hosting a writing contest I leaped at the opportunity.
The Spring Fling submission window is only open for 3 days. No April Foolin!
Deadline for posting your story is April 3, 2025 at 11:59 pm CT. (That’s 12:59 am April 4th, in NY)
SO GET BUSY…. the challenge they’ve set, should you choose to accept it, is below: Scroll down down first to the gif I chose and then to read my entry.
(If that’s not incentive enough, the link to the writing contest there too.)
I took on the challenge by starting with a search.
I googled “Spring” GIF
Finally one stirred me. Below is the result:
.
No matter what comes of it, the Spring Fling challenge was fun, and inspiring—and made me very, very hungry. I’m off to the bakery!
Still a few hours left. Give it a try. (Or if you’re reading this after, go check out the various, inspiring, fun, silly, amazing, heartful, entries! Here’s the link:
Spring Fling Writing Contest Details
Now that’s inspiring!
Poetry Challenge #65-I Yam What I Yam
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, 4 poems and 154 sonnets (that we know of). Of these, many of the plays and all 154 sonnets are written in iambic pentameter.
Popeye guzzled spinach from the can and sang one truly memorable song:
What do Shakespeare and Popeye have in common? “I Yam” as in I-Yam-bic Pentameter.
Iambic meaning that two-syllable soft-hard beat: “I-am” or “I-Yam”; Pentameter meaning five metrical feet, thus creating that singsong rhythm—da DA da DA da DA da DA da DA.
That pattern soft-HARD-soft-HARD-soft-HARD (like a horse gallop) is said to “fit the natural rhythms of English fairly well” in that it offers “enough structure to be memorable and enjoyable, without feeling sing-songy.”
Too, in Shakespeare’s case (and maybe Popeye’s creators, too) the words were intended to be memorize-able—as not many could read back then. And the rhythmic“I am/yam” set a jaunty beat that made memorization easier.
Image from Dan Poore’s Nov 11, 2013 post melding these two wordsmiths.
If Shakespeare and Popeye could do it, surely we can to.
Poetry Challenge #65
I Yam! Channeling Shakespeare/Popeye
Can you write a four-line rhyming stanza of iambic pentameter?
Or, in Popeye-ese, a four-lines, each one being five “I-Yam” long?
You can rhyme each pair of lines (AABB) or every other one (ABAB), whichever you choose.
Write on any subject you want or choose one of the prompts below.
I wish I could remember…
I love the smell of…
I’m waiting for…
Once you’ve got the rhythm, ala Shakespeare, try writing a complete 14-line sonnet.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
*When you’re finished reward yourself with “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” from Kiss Me Kate.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge about 3200 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 dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl).
Poetry Challenge #64-Just Ducky
Rubber Ducky you’re the one! Rubber Ducky so much fun….
Grandboys splish-splashing back when they could all fit in the same tub.
Beyond rumors of the ducky jeep phenom and our grands winning ducks at swim meets, I didn’t realize just how big the duck craze was until a trip to Croatia last fall when I spotted my first Duck Boutique in Dubrovnik. And another in Split. I wonder how many ducks a day must they sell to keep the lights on?
Stores full of ducks for sale! @duckboutique.croatia
We always have a rubber duck or two bobbing in the bubbles, but this is quackers!
How did this rubber duck craze start? I turned to Reader’s Digest for the answer.
As the story goes, in 2020, by way of thanking a friend for helping her “calm down” after a gas station altercation, Allison Parliament bought a bag of rubber duckies to hide around her friends house.
““Before those ducks were scattered around an unsuspecting friend’s home, however, Parliament put a single yellow duck on a stranger’s Jeep in the store’s parking lot, with a simple, sweet note saying “nice Jeep.”
The owner of that Jeep saw her and laughed then suggested that she post about it on social media. She did, and that was the birth of a movement that now has more than 73,000 fans (and growing) on Facebook.” ”
Turns out there are duck stores all over the world.
Isn’t that ducky? Definitely quackers!
Poetry Challenge #64
Just Ducky!
Write a poem about a Ducky Bubble Party using some or all of the following words:
Bub, Bubbles, Suds, Splash, Scrub, Soap, Splash and Duck
Extra points if it rhymes.
If you need inspiration, here’s Bobbie Darian with Splish-Splash!
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge about 3200 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 dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl).
Poetry Challenge #62-Please Pass the Peas!
Remember this joke:
What did the customer respond when the Pub server asked what they wanted?
Answer: Whirled Peas
Get it? (You may not, but it is what we all want—world peace.) Alas, that’s not what this challenge is about, but it could be… You decide!
Say “St. Patrick’s Day” and visions of Corned Beef, Cabbage, green applesauce—and Tums pop into my head.
Say “Thanksgiving” and the menu switches to crispy golden roasted turkey, cranberry, stuffing, creamy gravy and pie, glorious pie, dance though our heads.
Say “Summertime” and it’s all about fruit, fruit cobbler, fruit crisp, fruit swirls, fruit juice dripping from chins…and pie. (Anytime of year is all about pie.)
Peas and pie are what led to this prompt.
Poetry Challenge #62
Please Pass the Peas!
Take a moment to imagine your favorite feast. What foods are on your table?
If you’re like me, that feast is going to include…you guessed it: pie! Several kinds of pie.
Maybe even this four-layer PieCaken sis-in-law Valarie suggested we try, specially created for those of us who can’t decide which kind of pie to choose. It’s One layer of pumpkin, one spice cake, one pecan pie, frosted together with buttercream and topped with apple pie filling. Yum! https://www.oprah.com/food/whats-inside-a-piecaken
However . . .
The characters in Ethan Long’s picture book FANGSGIVING are definitely not traditional. However they kind of are as they served up pie, too—pumpkin pie with maggot meatballs thrown in.”
Now it’s your turn:
In the spirit of whirled peas, imagine you are some alternate reality or you are some other creature. An animal for instance, or an alien . . . or maybe even a monster! What would your favorite feast be?
Take a moment to imagine all the fantastical foods your creature would love. Whip those words into a feast of a poem!
For the title, fill in the blank with whatever creature you are:
Please Pass the _______________
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
YUMMY! (So is this book!)
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 3100 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 dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl).
Poetry Challenge #63-Five Books High
Do you have a pile of books? I always have a stack that I want to read. Sometimes it grows so large I’m afraid it will fall on me and hurt!
Here’s a snap of the top 5 Picture Books on my to read/reread stack:
One solution to the overflowing book issue is to use them to solve decor issues (preferably after you’ve read them):
Or use all those books to solve housing issues…
Since, as the song goes “It never rains in Southern California…”
In San Diego and other places, tiny houses are a viable solution for the housing shortage—
Here are the top 5 books in Cindy’s to read stack. (Notice a difference?):
Poetry Challenge #63
Five Books High
For this prompt, take a look at a stack of five books or five books on a shelf—yours, mine, Cindy’s, someone else’s….
Take the first word (not A or THE) and write it down. Use these words in a poem.
Here is one poem resulting from our practice prompt. The selected words from books titles in that stack were: cool miracle spell tamed bird
And here’s the untitled poem:
Watching the sun go down
was a cool miracle,
a study in pink and orange and red,
a mystical spell
that tamed the world.
And like the evening bird,
we sang one last word.
Your turn!
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it. I’ll be waiting on my book couch…
Want more? Check out “10 Amazing Pieces of Furniture Made from Books” at Street Library
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 3200 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 dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl).
Fin Pal Asks: Are you having a good life, Norman?
Ask Norman HERE
In case this is your first time visiting, Norman is a “Star” fish!
(Really he’s a goldfish) & a “star” because he is a main character in these books. Click on the bookcover and the link will take you to the read-aloud of NORMAN ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH.
Hey Kids!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter
Poetry Challenge #61-Riffing Off Queen
We Will, We Will ______(Fill in the blank).
If you finished that phrase with ROCK YOU then this post will be right up your alley.
If you didn’t then go directly to your viewing device of choice and watch Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic about Freddy Mercury and Queen.
Freddy Mercury at his Zenith
…”caught in a landslide, no escape from___________(another test).
Not to give anything away (we all know Queen was a success) a high point in the movie comes when the band is plays its first stadium concert. They look out over the crowd and realize everyone in the stadium is playing-singing-performing with them! According to the movie, this prompts Brian Mays to create songs for the audience to perform. And thus, the blockbuster anthem We Will Rock You came to be.
Whether you know the lyrics or not, everyone knows the rhythm:
stomp-stomp clap/stomp-stomp clap/baam-baam boom!
Poetry Challenge #61
Riffing Off Queen
Write a rhythmic poem about something that rocks you. Or, about a rock… or a rolling stone (if you like Dylan or the Stones better).
First, set that classic We Will Rock You rhythm in your head by actually, physically, pounding out the beat: stomp-stomp clap/stomp-stomp clap/baam-baam boom.
Continue pounding out the beat as you compose each line of the poem.
Who knows, you may create another best selling song—at least have fun trying! Rock on!
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 3200 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 dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!
Want the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge sent to your email? Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl).
Poetry Challenge #60-Go Back Jack and do it Again!
We hear you! Seven minutes is not a long time! Unless, of course, you’re holding your breath…
Or waiting for news…
Creating a poem isn’t either of those things. So sometimes, in service of a poem, or a prompt, we need to, in the immortal words of Steely Dan:
“Go back, Jack, and do it again!”
Poetry Challenge #60
Go Back Jack!
Today, let’s take 7 minutes to revise.
If you have a few extra minutes, use them to go back through the poems you’ve written and choose one that you LIKE, that would be even better with a little more work.
Or, if all you have is 7-minutes, pull out the Terza Rima poem* you wrote, or started to write, or groaned at and quit, and give it another go.
*Just in case you “can’t find” the Terza Rima, click on either of these happy orange links and it will take you to the prompt.)
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Now…because why shouldn’t the song be stuck in your head too: Steely Day &“Get Back Jack and Do It Again!”
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at least 3200 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 dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!