Poetic Forms: The Acrostic

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Hello Everyone!

Welcome to week two of poetic forms, where every week I introduce a different type of poem and invite you to give it a go! As an added incentive to take part, the best poem every week is featured on the Writing Gooder blog on Sunday afternoon, alongside a brief analysis by myself.

To enter a poem, make sure it’s written in this week’s style and then either post a link to it in a comment below, or post the full text of the poem.

The Acrostic

I started with a difficult form last week so today we’re going to pull back and go for something easier, but equally as fun! The great thing about the Acrostic is how versatile it is: you can write an Acrostic on any theme at all and all you need is a starting word. I’m going to use one of my own poems as the example this week:

 

Mannequin

Heather Warren (1990-present)

*

My faded denim blues are mute

And muted like orange suits

Nibbled by hungry prisoners;

Niebla. Lo siento madre.

Everyone looks the same,

Queues of shop window mannequins but

Under the skin

I am different. The judges arbitrate like lunch time ladies,

No comprende. There are no understandings.

*

How to do it

The Acrostic has only one rule: the first letter of every line must make a word when read vertically. This word can be read top to bottom or bottom to top and how it relates to your poem is entirely up to you!

When writing an Acrostic, it’s important not to choose a word that is too short and if you want to write a long poem, you could even use a phrase instead, such as ‘I love you’ or ‘Do Not Enter’.

Good Luck Everyone!

** Image owned by Enokson at Flickr.

Heather

Heather, who goes by Rydia on YWS, has long been an aspiring author. In the early days of her life she attached herself to poetry and would curl up on the playground bench to scrawl down lines of forgotten virtue. Or, more likely, little virtue at all. At the very old age of 11, she joined The Young Writers Club and progressed into the realms of roleplay. Here she constructed characters to fight off dragons or rally to their allies' aid with healing spells; a joint love of gaming heavily influenced this fondness of adventure storybooks. A few more years went by before Heather became a serious novelist and she still considers poetry to be her favourite media for getting those thoughts down on paper. Outside of writing her loves include puzzle books, strategy/ fantasy games, movies, swimming, skiing (when she actually has money), crafty things, baking, food in general, fun pranks and anything involving snow.

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10 Responses

  1. Niteowl says:

    I used X successfully. I think I win. 😛

    http://www.youngwriterssociety.com/work.php?id=103190

  2. Heather says:

    You are definitely winning so far in my books! 😀 I’m still trying to choose a word for mine…

  3. Heather says:

    Okay I think I’ve settled on either Caesura or Melancholy or Procrastinate. Then again my sister has suggested violin. I’m on a train all tomorrow morning so I might just try them all!

    What words are other people considering?

  4. Aley says:

    http://www.youngwriterssociety.com/work.php?id=103169 I wrote one!

    Whoo, I finally got it up XD I kept forgetting.

    • Heather says:

      Awesome 😀 I am actually looking forward to a long journey for once, I’m going to drive my sister nuts with asking her for more themes and ideas.

  5. Olivia says:

    I’m thinking about using the word gregarious!

    • Heather says:

      Oooh, I love the word gregarious. It’s the kind of word I’d like to use in a sentence more often, but I never seem to get the chance.

  6. Heather says:

    Okay so my sister wins and I liked ‘Violin’ best after trying a few:

    Ventricle of a left aorta,
    In and out,
    Out and in, the lingering rhythm of
    Locks and keys, the prehistoric
    Indigo of a flint being struck over
    Northern tinder.

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