Posts Tagged ‘Writer’s Block’
Thursday, June 16th, 2022
I’ve been trying to write, but in vain;
My muse has escaped from my brain.
It started last night
With a rip-roaring fight,
When I called something “trite and inane.”
“You should give me more credit!” she said.
“I work hard while you’re sleeping in bed.”
I called my muse “greedy,”
“Ill-humored,” and “needy.”
She said, “You’ll be sorry,” then fled.
She was right, for she’s great with a wry line,
And fine at supplying a sly line.
So I’m begging: Come back!
I’ll be nice. No more flak!
But dear muse, you’re not getting a byline!
Tags: Creative Limerick, Creativity, Creativity Humor, Inspiration, Muse, Muse Humor, Muse Limerick, Writer's Block, Writing & Publishing Humor, Writing Limerick
Posted in Creativity Verse, Limericks, Writing & Publishing Humor | 2 Comments »
Sunday, November 14th, 2021
It’s Limerick-Off time, once again. And that means I write a limerick, and you write your own, using the same rhyme word. Then you post your limerick(s) as a comment to this post and, if you’re a Facebook user, on Facebook too.
I hope you’ll join me in writing limericks using Cruise or Crews or Cruse at the end of any one line. (Homonyms or homophones are fine.)
The best submission will be crowned Limerick-Off Award Winner. (Here’s last week’s Limerick-Off Award Winner.)
Additionally, you may write themed limericks related to Retirement, using any rhyme word. And of course I’ll present an extra award — one for the best Retirement-related limerick.
How will your poems be judged? By meter, rhyme, cleverness, and humor. (If you’re feeling a bit fuzzy about limerick writing rules, here’s my How To Write A Limerick article.)
I’ll announce the winners on November 28, 2021, right before I post the next Limerick-Off. So that gives you two full weeks to submit your clever, polished verse. Your submission deadline is Saturday, November 27, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time.)
Here’s my CRUISE or CREWS or CRUSE-rhyme limerick:
My muse often gives me the blues.
When I ask her for help, she’ll refuse.
She’ll mock me and roast me
And frequently ghost me.
She’s AWOL right now — on a cruise.
And here’s my RETIREMENT-themed limerick:
“It is best to acknowledge the truth
And retire; you’re way past your youth,”
Said a gal to her spouse,
Who’s a dentist. “Don’t grouse!
Just face facts: You are long in the tooth.”
Please feel free to enter my Limerick-Off by posting your limerick(s) in my comments. And if you’re on Facebook, I hope you’ll join my friends in that same activity on my Facebook Limerick-Off post.
To receive an email alert whenever I post a new Limerick-Off, please email Madkane@MadKane.com Subject: MadKane’s Newsletter. Thanks!
Tags: Age Verse, Aging, Aging Limerick, Aging Verse, Competition Limerick, Creative Limerick, Creativity Humor, Dentist Humor, Dentist Limerick, Limerick Challenge, Limerick Contest, Marriage Humor, Marriage Limerick, Muse Humor, Muse Limerick, Poetry & Prompts, Retirement Humor, Retirement Limerick, Tooth Humor, Writer's Block, Writing & Publishing Humor, Writing Limerick, Writing Prompts
Posted in Aging Humor & Verse, Behavior & Personality, Contests, Creativity Verse, Limerick & Haiku Prompts, Limerick Competition, Limerick Contest, Limerick Writing Contest, Limerick-Offs, Limericks, Marriage Humor, Poetry & Prompts, Poetry Contest, Writing & Publishing Humor | 173 Comments »
Saturday, July 4th, 2020
It’s Limerick-Off time, once again. And that means I write a limerick, and you write your own, using the same rhyme word. Then you post your limerick(s) as a comment to this post and, if you’re a Facebook user, on Facebook too.
I hope you’ll join me in writing limericks using HAIL or HALE at the end of any one line. (Homonyms or homophones are fine.)
The best submission will be crowned Limerick-Off Award Winner. (Here’s last week’s Limerick-Off Award Winner.)
Additionally, you may write themed limericks related to WRITER’S BLOCK, using any rhyme word. And of course I’ll present an extra award — one for the best WRITER’S BLOCK-related limerick.
How will your poems be judged? By meter, rhyme, cleverness, and humor. (If you’re feeling a bit fuzzy about limerick writing rules, here’s my How To Write A Limerick article.)
I’ll announce the winners on July 19, 2020, right before I post the next Limerick-Off. So that gives you two full weeks to submit your clever, polished verse. Your submission deadline is Saturday, July 18, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time.)
Here’s my Hail/Hale-rhyme limerick:
“Are you ailing? You look very pale;
Not your usual hardy and hale.”
“No, I think I’ll be fine,
Once I’ve guzzled some wine.
Seems I’ve just had my first taste of kale.”
And here’s my Writer’s Block-themed limerick:
My muse has, alas, gone on strike;
At best, it has taken a hike.
And I won’t say this twice —
I don’t want your advice:
Writing AIN’T just like riding a bike!
Please feel free to enter my Limerick-Off by posting your limerick(s) in my comments. And if you’re on Facebook, I hope you’ll join my friends in that same activity on my Facebook Limerick-Off post.
To receive an email alert whenever I post a new Limerick-Off, please email Madkane@MadKane.com Subject: MadKane’s Newsletter. Thanks!
Tags: Annoying Advice, Competition Limerick, Food Humor, Health, Kale, Kale Humor, Limerick Challenge, Limerick Contest, Muse, Poetry & Prompts, Writer, Writer's Block, Writing Prompts
Posted in Advice Humor & Poems, Behavior & Personality, Contests, Food & Drink Humor, Health & Medical Humor, Limerick & Haiku Prompts, Limerick Competition, Limerick Contest, Limerick Writing Contest, Limerick-Offs, Limericks, Poetry & Prompts, Poetry Contest, Writing & Publishing Humor | 145 Comments »
Saturday, January 28th, 2012
I was browsing my GooglePlus feed, when I encountered this post by poet Tyler Lovelace:
I hate when the first verse of a poem writes itself just to tease you. Then you have to force a lot of the poem out.
I swear my muses are all teases and skanks.
Tyler’s post prompted me to write this comment:
Trimmed down, that could make you a good limerick first line:
“My muses are teases and skanks …”
Tyler immediately (and generously) said the line was mine, thereby becoming my non-tease, non-skanky muse.
Here’s my limerick:
Muse Amusement
By Madeleine Begun Kane
My muses are teases and skanks—
At their worst when my mind’s drawing blanks.
When they offer me rot,
Then I warn them, “Do not
Expect thanks for a concept that tanks!”
Tags: Creativity, GooglePlus, Muse, Social Media Poetry, Tyler Lovelace, Writer's Block, Writing & Publishing Humor
Posted in Google, Limericks, Social Media Humor, Writing & Publishing Humor | 2 Comments »
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Thursday Think Tank invites us to write a poem about writer’s block. I was almost too blocked to write this limerick:
Blocked Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane
A gal was attempting to write
Something clever and witty, with bite.
But alas her poor muse
Went on strike — too much booze.
What a plight: All her verses are trite!
Tags: Booze Humor, Creativity, Liquor Humor, Muse, Thursday Think Tank, Writer's Block, Writing & Publishing Humor
Posted in Creativity Verse, Food & Drink Humor, Writing & Publishing Humor | 9 Comments »
Monday, March 14th, 2011
We Write Poems has an against the grain prompt which asks how (or if) we manage to write when we just aren’t feeling creative. My three-verse limerick explains all … sort of:
To write humor when not in the mood
Takes a major adjustment of ‘tude.
If I’m still uninspired,
I tell me, “You’re fired,”
Or pretend I’m about to be sued.
Okay, none of this stuff’s really true.
When I’m blocked, I don’t know what to do.
So I shower or walk,
Read the news, turn on talk,
Absorb info, inviting a cue.
At long last something starts to take hold,
And a concept begins to unfold,
As I play with the news
Which teases my muse
In my quest for some comedy gold.
(You can find more of my writers block humor here.)
Tags: Comedy Limerick, Creativity, Humor Writing, Muse, We Write Poems, Writer's Block, Writing & Publishing Humor
Posted in Creativity Verse, Limericks, Writing & Publishing Humor | 26 Comments »
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
When I heard that the February 27th prompt over at One Single Impression is vellicate, I knew I was in trouble. Why? Cuz I had no idea what it meant and how it’s pronounced. And even after I’d Googled the damn word, it still didn’t feel assimilated. Plus it just didn’t tickle my funny bone.
But though I was irritated by its unfamiliarity, I was itching to write a limerick. So here it is:
Itching To Write A Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Often poetry prompts can enrich.
But they sometimes can be quite a bitch.
Sunday’s vellicate prompt
On my brain cells has stomped.
The mere thought of that word makes me twitch.
Tags: Creativity, One Single Impression, Poetry & Prompts, Word Play Humor, Writer's Block, Writing Prompts
Posted in Creativity Verse, Limericks, Poetry & Prompts, Wordplay, Writing & Publishing Humor | 18 Comments »
Monday, February 21st, 2011
Once again, it’s Limerick-Off time. And that means I write a limerick, and you write your own, using the same first line. Then you post your limerick here and, if you’re a Facebook user, on Facebook too.
So I hope you’ll join me in writing a limerick with this first line:
A woman was trying to write. …
or
A fellow was trying to write. …
Here’s mine. (It’s a three-verse limerick, but a standard one-verse limerick is fine, of course.)
Writerly Verse
By Madeleine Begun Kane
A woman was trying to write.
Ev’ry sentence and phrase was a fight.
She hated each line.
Too much whine. (Too much wine?)
And decided to call it a night.
She started again the next day.
But her muse seemed to be on delay.
So she showered and walked.
Inspiration still balked.
Though agnostic, she started to pray.
She returned to her screen with a curse.
Started typing for better or worse.
Tried to block her left brain,
Or her right, or the twain.
Then punched keys till at last she found verse.
Please feel free to write your own limerick using the same first line and post it in my comments. And if you’re on Facebook, I hope you’ll join my friends in that same activity in my Facebook Limerick-Off post.
To receive an email alert whenever I post a new Limerick-Off, please send me an email requesting the alerts. You’ll find my email address on the upper right sidebar, in the “Author” section just below my Limerick-Offs button. Thanks!
Tags: Creativity, Inspiration, Muse, Poetry & Prompts, Writer's Block, Writing & Publishing Humor, Writing Prompts
Posted in Limerick & Haiku Prompts, Limerick-Offs, Limericks, Poetry & Prompts, Writing & Publishing Humor | 37 Comments »
Saturday, February 12th, 2011
Epiphany (Tanka)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
My muse teases me,
Awaiting epiphanies
That never arrive.
So I must go it alone,
Writing until I’m amused.
(Note: Tanka is five line Japanese poetry which pre-dates haiku and whose syllabic form is 5-7-5-7-7. I usually think of it as haiku plus two more 7 syllable lines. My Epiphany Tanka was inspired by the Writers Island epiphany prompt.)
Tags: Creativity, Epiphanies, Inspiration, Japanese Poetry, Muse, Tanka, Writer's Block, Writing & Publishing Humor, Writing Prompts
Posted in Creativity Verse, Poetry & Prompts, Poetry Forms, Poetry Rules, Tanka, Writing & Publishing Humor | 14 Comments »
