Thursday, April 25, 2013

Out of Standard: Cliffs Notes



Greetings Garden Dwellers:

Izy here, back for my final April prompt.  Many of you have been writing at a break neck volume, and I applaud you all.  Today I have something by way of a treat for you, so limber up those writing muscles and warm up the ink in your pens (or, er um, hover lovingly close to your keyboards).  My muddy buddies, I proudly present

Out of Standard--The Cliffs Notes Edition


With each out of standard challenge, I set before you a challenge to defy the conventions of a particular theme.  I call upon you to write out of the standard and find new places in the everyday, and today we are going to retool your favorite story.

And let me be clear here:  by favorite story, I mean that book you return to time and again.  Or that TV show you watch back to back episodes of on a rainy Sunday, or that song, that video game, that painting.  Stories are embedded everywhere, and we all have one we hold above the others.


The Challenge: 

Take your favorite story and condense it into a poem no longer than ten lines, a "Cliffs Notes" version.

Your "Cliffs Notes" should be a reflection of what you feel is most important about the story you chose. For instance...if I were to write a Cliffs Notes poem for Charlotte's Web, I may not even get to mentioning a spider.  On the other hand, if I were to write a Cliffs Notes poem for The Big Lebowski, you'd probably get six lines about bowling and sweet sweet German marmets.  The choice is yours.  

Go now my toadlings and bring me back something shiny and new from the stories you know and love so much!  Also, like every challenge, your poem must be newly written for this challenge and not one which you have previously written which conveniently fits the theme.



15 comments:

Isadora Gruye said...

Greetings Toads!!!
I started April strong, but have not been able to post as much as I wanted to. I have been writing daily. And in honor of National Poetry month I got my poop in a group and submitted an 18 page poem portfolio to a premier fellowship program...by the by, thanks to Kerry for helping me select my final 18 poems. I have been posting prompts for you all, and I feel this one is special. I have stayed up waaaaay past my bedtime to write and post to this prompt.

Viva la my muddy buddies, enjoy the challenge. I did!!!!

Kay L. Davies said...

Too bad we didn't get to use Cliffs Notes for the Shakespeare challenge, LOL.
I remember when everyone had Cliffs Notes of Shakespeare's plays. If they were all still alive today they'd have them all on a "tablet"!
Okay, my favorite book, TV show, how about movie? This should be fun.
K

Anonymous said...

I was so late to the show yesterday, I think many didn't get to see mine, but here I am at 2 in the morning, still up after rehearsal and a "Beer and Bitch" session afterwards!

I chose one of my favorite movies, and I hope no one missed it or that I didn't "rosebud" by giving too much away. Thanks, Izy, for giving us wonderful prompts. This certainly rounds out your month of challenges on a light note! Love and thanks, Amy

Susie Clevenger said...

Great prompt Izy. My muddled brain kept saying pick a short book/story. So I did. :)

Janine Bollée said...

Not sure if I want to thank you for this prompt: it recalls one of my nightmares brought forth by a TV series.

Susan said...

My favorite is hefty and very old, and - though the same story as "Much Ado About Nothing" - it is not Shakespeare. This was a challenge, but a fun one. Thank you, Izy. I have always loved the surprise factor of your prompts.

Ella said...

Very clever Izy!
Odd I just bought a book of Cliff Notes yesterday for my daughter ;D

Good luck on your submission-Wow~
YOU deserve that German beer!

Thank you Izy @>----------
Let us know!

Fireblossom said...

I can't do this right now. I want to finish watching two more episodes of Once & Again!

Kerry O'Connor said...

Another prompt which require our thinking caps. Thanks Izy for consistently raising our standards beyond expectations.

LLM Calling said...

good luck with the submission.
I love this prompt, it's inspired. I can't figure out if I want people to know my book/film/music or not. excited to see.

Margaret said...

Thanks! And I just put my book I wrote about on my list to read (again) over the summer. It is a nice summer-time book. I think I will even read it outloud to my 10 year old daughter.

Marian said...

sorry, i forgot to leave a comment. cool prompt, Izy! at first i got all bollocksed up with what to choose, so many books! so many stories! too many! but then i was able to toss it all out and write about zombies. whatevs, don't judge. :)

Maude Lynn said...

Good luck with the submission, Izy!

Ella said...

Thank you Izy! :D
Yes, good luck~

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you're quite busy. Best of luck with your submission.