Eclectic #4: I can See

Starting on March 31st, 2026, NGNVNF will be introducing a rolling series of writing prompts suitable for all levels of writer across multiple formats. There will be a chance to share your work starting in May, 2026. Watch this space.

So, I've finished teaching a small group of my Stanza students this morning a variation on this prompt, and it feels like there's a lot more to it than I might of imagined. Instead therefore of using a stock imagery piece as our backdrop this afternoon, it's time for you to imagine the perfect place where you would like to write some poetry this afternoon.

Distance and time is no object: imagine the perfect spot where you would feel the most creative. Then spend five minutes doing a free write describing what you can see from wherever that place happens to be. If you don't know what a Free Write is, and would like some context? Click here. Once you've done that, you need pick a particular section of what you've written that appeals to you.

Then, we're going to flip the perspective...

Using your phrase about the perfect place to write, now consider you are watching somebody else doing just that. Your job is to record what that person is doing, and to imagine what they might be writing. Crucially, it is not your job to experience that process, only to describe it in whatever way you wish, using whatever form of words you decide is acceptable.

Why I am I not letting you live your dream and are asking you to imagine it as something else? Because often our best writing comes from a space where we cannot attain a certain thing, or be allowed to experience the thing we most wish to. Learning to write from a displaced standpoint forces us to consider the differing uses of language and how that affects our own long-term perception.

If you find this prompt useful, please let me know :D