Bread Loaf Writing Prompts

Bread Loaf Writing Workshops

The Goals of a Bread Loaf Writing Workshop

  1. Find your voice as a writer
  2. Build community with other writers
  3. Increase literacy
  4. Use writing to imagine a better world and how we can build it

Bread Loaf Writing Workshop Rules

  1. Be Kind
  2. Write in any language
  3. There are no mistakes
  4. Write your truth
  5. Share if you want to
  6. Have fun

The Model

Step 1: Explain the rules

Step 2: Present a model

Step 3: Explain the prompt

Step 4: Give participants time to write

Step 5: Invite participants to share their writing

Note: Most writing exercises can produce poems or prose. The writer’s ideas are more important than the form.

Simple Writing Exercises

Write five or ten lines that all begin with the same phrase. Use any of these phrases.

I wish…

I hope…

I dream…

I love…

I imagine…

Five Senses Poems

Choose a place you love or want to go. Imagine you are there. Write a poem that completes each of these lines, describing that place:

I went…

I saw…

I heard…

I smelled…

I tasted…

I thought…

I felt…

“I am” poems

Write a poem in which every line begins “I am…” or “I am the one who.…” Describe what is important to you, who you are, what you do, what you love, and what you value.

“I am from” poems (read Georgia Ella Lyon’s famous I Am From poem as a model)

Step 1: Think of the place where you are from.

Step 2: Make lists of the objects in that place, the things people say in that place, the foods people eat in that place, and your memories of what happened in that place.

Step 3: Write a poem that begins “I am from…” and uses examples from your lists

Odes

An Ode is a poem of praise written to something or someone you love. Odes are a very old and very famous poetic form. The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is famous for writing “Odes to Common Things.”

Step 1: Make a list of things you love – foods, people, ideas, experiences, languages, anything.

Step 2: Read a sample Ode, such as Neruda’s “Ode to My Socks”

Step 3: Write an Ode

Sketch

Step 1: Think of a person you really love

Step 2: Make a list of objects you associate with that person, things they say, and physical characteristics

Step 3: Write a short poem that describes that person using information from those lists

Story or Short Play Writing Exercise

This exercise can work well with colored index cards. It can be adapted in other ways as well.

Step 1: Divide the class into four groups: Setting, Character, Dialogue, and Secret.

Step 2: Work in small groups to complete this exercise:

The Character group describes characters, using physical and non-physical characteristics. For example, a 21-year-old male who loves to play soccer. An 89-year-old female who drives her car too fast.

The Setting group describes settings, including the place, time, and historical context. For example, downtown Santa Tecla at noon on a hot summer day, just after the presidential election.

The Dialogue group writes lines of dialogue – single lines that people might say.

The Secret group makes a list of secrets that people might have.

Step 3: Once the groups have generated many Characters, Settings, Secrets, and Dialogue, each participant chooses two Characters, one Setting, one Secret and one line of Dialogue, at random. They use those elements to create a short story, or a short play.

I Was Raised By

Step 1: Make a list of the people, places, foods, authors, songs, and other things that were important to you in your youth.

Step 2: Write a poem that begins, “I was raised by…” and mentions many things from the list

Recipe

Write a “recipe” for making you. Be metaphorical. Include ingredients and cooking instructions. For example: “One cup of love, two tablespoons of hope, and a dash of spice – stir up all up, bake in the oven…”

Story Circles

This exercise works best in groups of four. The group chooses, or is given, a topic at random. The topic is general enough so everyone will have a story about it. Sample topics: food, school, travel, holidays, family, etc.

Step 1: Once the topic is revealed, the group spends two minutes in silence. Each member thinks of a story about the topic. The story can be true or fictional.

Step 2: Each member of the group, in turn, has two minutes to tell their story. The other members of the group listen carefully, but do NOT respond. If the story-teller finishes their story before the two minutes are up, the group waits in silence until the two minutes are up.

Step 3: Once all four members of the group have told their story, there is cross-talk. Members of the group ask each other, “Tell me more about…” to learn more about each other’s stories.

Step 4: Participants may choose to write their stories.

Superheroes

Who is your hero? What qualities do they possess that makes them a hero?

What are your superhero qualities?

If you were a hero, what powers would you possess?

How would you use your powers to make the world a better place?

Map of My Childhood

Step 1: One a piece of construction paper, make a map of the neighborhood you lived in as a child. Show your house, the nearby park, school, stores, friend’s houses, special trees, etc. Label everything.

Step 2: Put an “X” at the spot on the map where something important happened – something you’ll never forget

Step 3: Write the story. What happened there?

Write to Music

Play several selections of music from different genres – hip-hop, classical, rock, easy listening, country. Please each selected for 2-3 minutes. Invite participants to write whatever comes to mind – perhaps how the music makes them feel or what memories it invokes.

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