Try this insane rhyming exercise at your group.

I mentioned the idea for this exercise at a writers’ group about a month ago, and anticipations were high. I’d kept everything under wraps, so nobody knew what they were in for. Here’s what to do…

Everybody at the table has four slips of paper each. We are going to write some words. Try to make them multisyllabic. Write them BIG! On the first slip, write a noun. A thing. On the second, write a verb. A doing word. On the third, write an adjective. A describing word. On the fourth, write an adverb. A word that describes how a verb is done. Adverbs usually end in –ly.

Now put all of the slips of paper into the middle of the table for everyone to see.

I’d like you to pick a word that you like the look of and use that as a title of a poem. We’re going to do a quick rhyming exercise. Pick words from the table and find words that rhyme with these words to make up couplets. Try to rhyme more than one syllable if possible.

On our table we have:

HELICOPTER        CREOSOTE (VERB)         ARGUING   SURPRISINGLY    SHUFFLED          CRAWLING PRECARIOUSLY   MELIFLUOUS (SWEET SOUNDING) ECLECTIC          APPROACHING     BESTIAL     MOUNTAIN         PROCRASTINATING     TABLE          BIZARRELY          ELEPHANT  MUSCULAR CUDDLING  COCKROACH         CARAVAN          EFFERVESCENT    GENTLY      MOROSELY CORRUGATED      SPLENDIFEROUS          TENTATIVELY     FORTUNATELY    PENTAGON

Feel free to turn the slips around so you can see them.

We now have fifteen minutes to develop a poem, rhyming as many of these words to any other words you can think of.

Apparently, this was one of the hardest exercises we’ve done, which is possibly why everyone insisted that I read my poem out first!

Here’s my effort. I’m sure you can do better.

BESTIAL
The doors to the zoo open surprisingly
Drawing the animals towards it, enticingly
The cage doors open, the animals are hoping
A life of freedom and peace is approaching
A different lifestyle and acceptance is imminent
For the skunks, the cockatoos and the elephants
The colobus monkey is planning a party
When the front door of the zoo opens bizarrely.
“I can’t explain how important this is for us,”
Says the rainbow lorikeet, with his feathers so splendiferous.
The zoo has provided the best transport they could offer
And the animals ride off in the giant helicopter.