Random Prompt Practice

So I just used the Random Prompt button and this came up:
From the 2015 Poetry Marathon
Prompt for Hour Nine
Set a timer. Write whatever comes in to your head for 5 minutes as fast as you can. Don’t delete anything you type, and don’t bother to spell check. It is all about getting the words down on the paper.

After the 5 minutes are up start editing what you have. Feel free to cut and add material as needed. Try to spend at least 15 minutes, if not longer, editing the piece.

I love how this prompt gives us space to create, such a big part of the Poetry Marathon, but how it also reminds us that editing is an equal part of the process. Though we have little time during the contest, I do try to edit each poem every hour before pressing send (if time allows) and then I return to edit my work before submitting to the anthology. During the hour, when finished a poem, I often stretch, get some fresh air, refill my water or brew some tea and then return to the piece I just wrote and change the font and colour so that it looks different on the page. It is amazing what I notice that I didn’t see before, so I can make the poem stronger!

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