Select Page

A Prophetic Writing Prompt from Caroline Cabrera

A Prophetic Writing Prompt from Caroline Cabrera
This week, Caroline Cabrera asks us to think about prophecy and obsession in a prompt themed to her new book of poems, Bicycle Year, now available for pre-order from H_NGM_N. You can respond to the prompt in the comments or by email to amy@realpants.com for a chance of publication at Real Pants. (We will only reply if we would like to publish your piece.)

TheBicycleYear_cover_FINAL

A Bicycle Year Writing Prompt in Two Parts

Part 1:

  1. You may not have a year, so pick a time in the near future (the end of the day, the end of the week) and imagine there is a prophecy that says the world will end at that moment.
  2. Imagine that you don’t exactly believe this prophecy but you aren’t willing to rule it out.
  3. Meditate on this as often as you can.
  4. Choose several points at which to sit down and write all that has happened to you; every event, thought, and feeling.
  5. Trim or expand those notes into something that feels essential.

Part 2:

  1. Seek out the part of yourself that you hold most dearly and hide most fiercely from the world.
  2. Name her.
  3. Maybe draw her or build a model of her. Consider eating the model.
  4. Write to her, obsessively. Be as nice and as mean to her as you can.

Set these two pieces side by side and marry them.

Real Pants

About The Author

Real Pants

Real Pants was founded in 2015 as a website about literature and the new literary community. If you have an article you'd like us to consider, please see our submission guidelines.

Real Pants

Good hair, crooked gait

Our Sponsors

Mailing List

Keep current with literary stuff

Type in your email and hit enter
* indicates required