Formal Fluency Listful Challenge

Details

Fall

Isn’t here

Not yet anyway.

It whispered in yesterday,

On a late summer breeze

Hinting at pumpkin spice

And falling leaves.

Not yet.

Soon.

The seasons aren’t quite ready to change yet, but they’re on their way. For this challenge, I’m going to ask you to do two things: write a list poem about the changing seasons and create a stairstep effect with it. What do I mean by stairstep effect? In the example, my first line has 1 word. My second line has 2 words, and so on and so forth, until the midpoint of the poem (which is completely up to you where you put it). When you get to the midpoint, start counting back down to one word. We’re not counting syllables, just the number of words per line.

What’s a list poem? A list poem is designed to explore things in greater detail. I’m not talking about a grocery list, not in the sense of “I need eggs and flour and an avacado.” In my example, I look at fall using the breeze that blows in, pumpkin spice, and falling leaves—all things that collectively help define fall for me. I would like you to do the same for the season of your choice.

Want some more info about list poems? Try here.

Let's get listful.

Winning entries

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Prizes

Rules

• Entries must be received before midnight of Friday, September 7th (UTC time) and the winner will be announced within one week of that date.

• Entries must be list poems forming a stairstep effect as stated in the description about the changing of the seasons. It doesn't have to be summer-to-fall, it can be any season of your choice.

• Part of our mini-contests is sharing what you've learned: although it's not required, we'd appreciate it if you come weigh in on the group discussion thread here.

• Only one entry per member, please. Multiple entries will all be disqualified.

• Work must have Public visibility on Scribophile until winners are announced.

• Winners must have a valid Paypal account, or we won't be able to send the prize money!

Submission guidelines

• To enter the contest, post your work on Scribophile and check the box that says "Enter this work into the Formal Fluency Listful Challenge." Your work will automatically be considered. The checkbox will be visible until the contest deadline, which is in UTC time.

• Entry is free, but you'll need karma points to post your work. You can earn karma points by writing critiques of work by other members.

• If you have placed in a contest in the past with a particular piece, you may not resubmit that piece in other contests.