It’s Poetry Challenge Week on Figment, and each day we’re featuring a different writing prompt from one of The Lemons. Today’s prompt is brought to you by Ada Limón, author of Sharks in the Rivers.
Day Five: Your Animal
Sharks are a pretty important animal for me. I love them and I fear them.(Shark Week starts July 31st by the way!) Choose an animal that you connect with and explore that metaphor. Why do you connect with that animal? Give the animal a voice in the poem. Explore the way the animal works, why is it particularly “your” animal?
How to enter:
1) Create a new book on Figment.
2) Each day, read the prompt from one of The Lemons.
3) Write a poem inspired by the prompt.
4) Add your poem as a new chapter in your book.
5) Tag your book “lemonsweek”.
Challenge yourself to do at least four prompts. At the end of the week, all books tagged “lemonsweek” containing four or more chapters will be put into a pool. The Mods will randomly select three winners, who will each receive a copy of Sharks in the Riversand Fancy Beasts, Figment totes, and stickers!
Want to see yesterday’s prompt?
1. One entry per person, please.
2. The promotion of your contest entry is not allowed on Figment. This includes self-promotion and the promotion of other users’ contest entries in the Figment forums, the comments and reviews of stories, and the Figment Facebook page. Independent promotion on sites unrelated to Figment, like personal Facebook or Twitter accounts, is fine.
3. Works must be submitted according to the instructions above between the announcement of the contest and the closure of the contest. This means a new piece must be created for the contest; adapting an old Figment piece published before the start of the contest will make the entry ineligible to win.
4. The rules of the contest are both strict and open to interpretation by a moderator.
5. The creation of multiple accounts to heart or otherwise vote for your contest entry on Figment is prohibited, and may result in the disqualification of that entry, the deletion of your Figment account, and/or the blocking of your IP address permanently from the site, at the moderator’s discretion.
Hi,
I am wondering if you have to be in first person pov for the animal or not, or if you can just describe the relation between yourself and the animal? Hope that makes sense.
Hi Abigail
You can explore the relationship; it doesn’t specifically have to be from the animal’s POV. Feel free to email me at Maria@Figment.com if you have any other questions.
What do you mean ‘give the animal a voice’? How loosely are we able to interpret these prompts?
Hi Rachel
By giving the animal a voice, we mean making clear that it has a personality, a viewpoint, an opinion, etc. Make it a live thing that makes it known it’s mad at you because you’re home late from work and haven’t given it a snack yet, and it’s so mad it turns its back on you and occasionally looks over its shoulder to give you The Look of Death for neglecting it >_>
True story.
Feel free to email me at Maria@Figment.com if you have any other questions
My dog does that. It’s scary when your favorite person (using that word lously) gives you a death stare, and won’t let you pet it… ::makes scared face::
Just wondering, is this the last prompt? And is the deadline today?
Yes, this is the last prompt. The deadline is midnight tonight (EST).
Hi MODS,
Does the animal have to be existing or can it be fantasy?
Hi Lauren
Yes, the animal can be fantasy
Thanks Maria!
how long do we have till the new poem theme comes out? Ex: 12pm
Hi Taylor
There were only 5 prompts, with today being the last one. If you would still like to participate, just make sure you address at least 4 of the 5 prompts, and tag it “lemonsweek” before midnight EST. Best of luck!
Does a fairy count as an animal?
Sure!
Now that the Deadline is met, am I still allowed to go in and edit my poems for spelling errors and such? I wouldn’t change any body or story line of the poems. I have all 5 prompts and I would hate to be disqualified if my poems were edited after the deadline.
Hi Jenny
We ask that contestants not make any edits to their entries after the deadline has passed. Please feel free to email me at Maria@Figment.com if you have any other questions.
so is the contest over? Is it too late to enter? I just found out about it, how much time do I have?
Hi Kendra
Unfortunately, the deadline for entries was last night at midnight. Check out the contests page for contests that are still open, and we’ll be posting another contest some time this week.