PROMPT: Tritina

Today’s VoiceCATCH taught the form of a user-friendly poem called a tritina.  Here’s how it goes:

1. Write a 10 syllable sentence about a place you know well.

2. Write another sentence that has 10 syllables. Try to connect this idea to the place you’re writing about.

3. Write a third sentence- again 10 syllables- searching for what you are trying to say about the place. Number the last word of each sentence. The last word of line 1 will be 1, last line of 2 will be 2, and the last word of line 3 will be 3.

4. Pass your notebook to your right. This person asks a question about the first stanza, then returns the book.

5. Begin the second stanza in the same form. Make the first line of the new stanza end with the same last word as line 2 of your first stanza, the second with line 3, the third with line 1.

5. Pass your notebook to your left. This person asks a question about the second stanza, then returns the book.

6. Begin the third stanza. Use the same end words again from the first stanza, only this time the order is 3-2-1.

Wrap up and share: How did a strict form make the writing more difficult or enjoyable? How did working with outside questions guide your writing in new places? How can this exercise help or hinder your process?