Okay, here are the next steps for this year’s challenge. Before you dive into them, click here to read the original guidelines for the challenge. Step One: Write the Poems We accomplished this step during the month of November. We have 30 prompts to prove it (34 if we’re being technical...

Okay, here we are: The end of another November challenge. Except, well, this challenge isn’t really over yet, is it? I’ll share some next steps on Monday, but you can always jump back to the guidelines for guidance as well. For today’s prompt, take the phrase “One More (blank),” replace the...

Tomorrow is the final day of this year’s challenge. Crazy! For today’s prompt, write a remix poem. That is, take one of your poems from earlier in the month and remix it. If it was originally free verse, maybe take a few key lines and turn it into a sonnet or...

For today’s prompt, write a mood poem. Your poem could set the mood. Or it could be about a mood. Maybe display someone in a mood, whether that’s mad, sad, happy, or some other mood. ***** Master Poetic Forms! Learn how to write sestina, shadorma, haiku, monotetra, golden shovel, and more...

We’re nearly finished with the month, so here is our final Two-for-Tuesday prompt of 2018. For today’s Two-for-Tuesday prompt: Write a shaky poem. Or… Write a sturdy poem. ***** Master Poetic Forms! Learn how to write sestina, shadorma, haiku, monotetra, golden shovel, and more with The Writer’s Digest Guide to Poetic...

For today’s prompt, write an ambitious poem. Maybe that means trying to write a poem in a complicated poetic form (sestina anyone?). Or maybe it means your poem is about your own ambitions or the ambitions of another. And remember: Ambition is relative; some of the smallest things to some people,...

For today’s prompt, take a line from a poem written earlier this month, make that the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Quote an entire line or phrase from within a line. ***** Master Poetic Forms! Learn how to write sestina, shadorma, haiku, monotetra, golden shovel, and more...

For today’s prompt, write a salty poem. I love sweet foods, but I also love savory (and salty) foods. Honestly, I just like food. There, I said it. But salt shows up in places like the ocean, in salt trucks (in places that get snow), and other places. Salty can mean...

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “I Can’t (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “I Can’t Even,” “I Can’t Quit You,” or “I Can’t Believe George Lucas Ruined His Original Trilogy.”...

For today’s prompt, write a protest poem. These poems don’t have to be political (though that’s fine–just poem nicely). My 9-year-old protests taking showers every. single. time. A student may protest a grade, or a teacher may protest grading papers that don’t follow the instructions. That said, one fun way to...

Experienced PAD challenge poets knew today was coming either today or a week from today. So here it is. For today’s Two-for-Tuesday prompt: Write a love poem. Or… Write an anti-love poem. ***** Master Poetic Forms! Learn how to write sestina, shadorma, haiku, monotetra, golden shovel, and more with The Writer’s...

For today’s prompt, write a poem that uses at least 3 of the following 6 words: con, flush, oxymoron, pass, rub, toxic. Of course, ambitious poets will try to use all 6 words. And of course, there may be one or two poets who see 6 words as a signal to...

For today’s prompt, pick a child’s toy, make that the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. It’s time to break out those dolls, action figures, building blocks, and board games and play with our words. ***** Master Poetic Forms! Learn how to write sestina, shadorma, haiku, monotetra, golden...

For today’s prompt, write a broken poem. There are so many things that can be broken: dishwashers, chairs, and chairs. People break records, bad (and good) habits, and spirits (sometimes their own). Heck, writing a poem is an act of breaking the silence. So, yes, break the silence today with your...

We’re now past the half-way mark. So let’s keep poeming to the finish line! For today’s prompt, write a brave poem. There are many instances of bravery each and every day. For some, bravery is running into a burning building to save a child or jumping out of an airplane to...

For today’s prompt, take the word “Anti-(blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new word or phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “Anti-Hero,” “Anti-Aging Cream,” and “Anti-Gravity Shoes.” ***** Do You Have a $1,000 Poem? The 13th Annual Writer’s...

For today’s prompt, write a hungry poem. Of course, you can write about your favorite foods and delicacies. But don’t forget those metaphorical hungers. For love, power, and anything else you can poem up. ***** Do You Have a $1,000 Poem? The 13th Annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards has extended its...

It’s time for our second go-round on the Two-for-Tuesday prompts! For those of you new to “Two-for-Tuesday” prompts, you can pick one of the prompts, try to write both, and/or try to combine them into one poem. Your choice. For today’s Two-for-Tuesday prompt: Write a quiet poem. Or… Write a loud...

For today’s prompt, write a disaster poem. Disasters can be epic and involve earthquakes, fires, and violence. But disasters can also be epic and involve spilling red wine on a white carpet or saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment. Whatever your disaster, have fun poeming today. ***** Do You...

For today’s prompt, write a forgiveness poem. Earlier this month, I shared an apology poem prompt, but it’s one thing to apologize; it’s something else entirely to forgive someone, whether they’ve apologized or not. That’s the point of this prompt: forgiveness. Write about forgiving. Or write about not forgiving. If you’re...

For today’s prompt, write a teenage poem. Many of you have experienced being a teenager. Some people reading this may actually be teenagers. And maybe one or three of you are looking forward to being a teenager yourself. Lots of potential angles to take in this one. ***** Do You Have...

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Burn (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “Burn the Midnight Oil,” “Burn, Baby, Burn,” and “Burn Everything.” ***** Do You Have a $1,000 Poem? The...