Challenges Options

[Sekhmet]

Good morning to anyone who reads this.

OK - Where are all the members when the gauntlet of a Challenge is thrown dawn?
I wander about the echoing halls of the weekly, monthly, slam, short prose, and drabble sections - and see only the same names, week after week.
It is now a cosy little corner, for just a few of us - but we need new blood to survive, and what better time than Halloween to go out and hunt for it?

Why not have an extra condition placed upon all members, (apart from the two responses to other writers' poems for each poem published) -
A response to at least one of the challenges every second month. That's sixty-odd days to think up some kind of response!

These Challenges stimulate the mind into branching off at a tangent; and are important tools in our poetic arsenal. I am amazed at what turns up, unbidden, when working on a challenge.

Surely, all the members are capable of meeting at least one of the challenges every couple of months? If not- they need assistance from the more experienced writers to achieve the required result.
When Newbies, (such as myself) squeaked;
' I know nothing about poetry criticism - I couldn't possibly crit anyone else's work.'
We were all briskly told to look at other members' crits, and do your best; you'll soon get the hang of it.

Why not give exactly the same advice to anyone who baulks at answering a Challenge? Just as in the various critical sections - the standard of work will vary,from writer to writer - but we are all learning, all the time. New Challengers will get bolder as time passes, and who knows what might be drawn forth?.

Leo

[Psyche]

Hi Leo & Wally, Steve et al,

I've been without Internet for a couple of days, so I'm picking out the topics or e.mails that catch my eye.

Leo, I agree that it's always the same crowd that responds to the challenges (I hardly ever participate, for similar reasons to Wally's). But you've opened up a debate and that's a step forward to get things moving.

I prefer Wally's suggestions because an idea allows one's imagination to fly freely. Reminds me of when I did visualization therapy-poetry, where we lay on mats and the coordinator, very wisely, simply spoke softly for a few seconds about something, then trailed off into silence. Soft musical background. Candles... You could either drop off to sleep...LOL... or build on the half-baked idea left drifting into silence. We could have paper & pencil to jot down anything random, or else do that at the end of the session.

From those random scribblings, some 'great' poems emerged much later on, at home, or wherever!

So I go for the IDEA suggestion, and hope Lori will come along and think about incorporating it as often as possible. I suggest just 2 or 3 ideas to chose from each time.

Love to hear from other members!

Apologize for my absence, can't only blame Internet, it's also the responsibilities life has thrown at me this year...mmm...and to deal with alone, since my cat can't cope with anything but play such as pillow-fights!

Hugs to all, Syl***