Creation by Negation

Thwart your own impulses toward one genre or another with this generative writing exercise from Ben Purkert.

It is not the moon, I tell you.

So begins Louise Glück’s poem “Mock Orange.” It’s a weird opening, isn’t it? It’s as if we’re entering an argument in the middle and we don’t quite know what’s being debated. Why would the moon be the subject of such a tense discussion? But make no mistake: While the terms of the argument may be unclear, the tone isn’t. The tension is palpable and it all stems from negation. From the very first line, the poem insists—pleads, even—that something is not what it seems. This insistence is the motor that propels the poem—and the reader—forward.

Here’s your prompt: Write a poem or flash fiction piece or short personal essay that begins from a place of negation. Words like not or never or no or don’t or can’t or shouldn’t are your friends for this exercise. The subject being negated need not be terribly important (“No sugar in my coffee, please” or “Don’t wear black pants with brown shoes”) but it must matter for some reason to the speaker or narrator. The tone should impress upon us that it matters. Then zoom out and show us why.

After you’re done writing the whole thing, (go write it now! major spoiler coming!) it’s time for another twist. Change the form. If you’ve written a mini short story, try turning it into a poem. If you’ve written a poem, convert it into a nonfiction piece, even if only one or two images or metaphors remain intact. The important thing here is to thwart—or negate—your own impulses toward one genre or another. Push aside your intentions for the writing and let the language insist on what it must become. In other words, don’t just look at the moon. Listen to it.