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Ashley Lister

Writing Exercise – Hávamál

by | July 6, 2017 | | 0 Comments

by Ashley Lister

It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since I mentioned the Hávamál on this blog.  The Hávamál is a Viking poem, but it is often called a book of wisdom. Written somewhere around AD 700-900, the Hávamál is one of the more well-known Eddaic poems and, amongst other things, it contains nuggets of universal wisdom that still apply today, more than a millennia after these words were first written.

Here is an example from the Hávamál:

A man needs warmth,
the warmth of fire
and of the shining sun.
A healthy man
is a happy man
who’s neither ill nor injured.

A typical Hávamál stanza usually contains six lines or two units of three lines each. The first two lines in each unit are tied together by alliteration, and the third is also decorated with alliteration. For those who’ve forgotten: alliteration is the repetition of similar sounds, usually the sounds of initial consonants, as illustrated below:

Better a humble
house than none.
A man is master at home.
A pair of goats
and a patched roof
are better than begging.

It’s also possible to look at the stresses used in the Hávamál but, for the purposes of this exercise, I’d prefer to see writers focusing on words of wisdom and the use of alliteration.

And that’s this month’s exercise from me: produce a six line poem in the style of the Hávamál, sharing words of erotic wisdom in the comments box below. Remember to keep a tie of alliteration between lines one and two (and four and five), and to ensure that there is some alliteration across lines three and six. This is my attempt:

Naked flesh
flavoured with sweat
can easily excite.
And it aint just
an appetite for
savoury tastes that it satisfies.

Have fun with this and I look forward to reading your words of wisdom.

Writing Exercise – The Lune

by | June 6, 2017 | | 1 Comment

The Lune

By Ashley Lister

No time for foreplay
I want you
Let’s get naked now

The lune, otherwise known as the American Haiku, was first created by the poet Robert Kelly.  Kelly, seemingly frustrated with the English interpretation of the traditional haiku, adapted the form to a 13-syllable poem with 5 syllables in the first line, 3 syllables in the second line and 5 syllables in the final line.

I like this form because, unlike he traditional haiku, there are no restrictions on content or subject. With a lune the poet can be serious or humorous, solemn or playful, abstract or concrete. As an exercise to get creative writing juices flowing, the lune is an ideal entry-level poetic form.

Inhaling your scent
Then tasting
Leaves me wanting more

As always, I look forward to seeing your poetry in the comments box below.

 

Ash

Writing Exercise – Fibonacci

by | May 6, 2017 | | 1 Comment

By Ashley Lister

One
(Two)
Fingers
Deep inside
Both of us moaning
Above the wet sounds of our love

 

The Fibonacci Poem is an experimental Western poetry form, bearing similarities to haiku, but based on the Fibonacci sequence.

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21…

A typical Fibonacci poem is six lines in length, although it can be longer.

You
Want
Me. And
I want you.
It’s late. And we’re drunk
enough to make some big mistakes.

As always, I look forward to seeing your poetry in the comments box below.

 

Swifties Revisited

by | April 6, 2017 | | 0 Comments

By Ashley Lister

More than three years ago on this blog I mentioned the swifitie. Because I still think it’s a lot of fun, I figured it was time to revisit this writer-friendly parlour game.

Tom Swift was the central character in a series of books produced between 1910 and 1933, the majority of which were attributed to author Victor Appleton. One of the characteristic (and much parodied) features of the narrative in these stories was the speech attribution. These attributions, usually adverbial, have become the source of an entertaining parlour game where the attributive adverb has to be linked to the content of the sentence, usually with a pun.

“We must hurry,” said Tom swiftly.
“I’m working as a security officer,” she said guardedly.
“I have a cold,” he said icily.
“Do you want to see my pussy?” she purred.
“But I asked for a cabernet sauvignon,” Tom whined.
“I was just looking at pictures of my mother,” Oedipus ejaculated.

Take a shot at producing a small handful of your own swifties in the comments box below. It goes without saying that these swifties are entertaining as a writing exercise, and a great way for warming up your pen hand and getting words on the page, but they should not enter into serious attempts at fiction unless you’re determined to stop your readers from enjoying your work.

I genuinely look forward to reading your swifties.

Writing Exercise – Six Word Stories

by | March 6, 2017 | | 11 Comments

 by Ashley Lister

On Saturday this week, I was lucky enough to attend the
first day of this year’s Eroticon, the conference for writers and bloggers who
work with erotica.  As always, it was a
wonderful experience. The erotica writing community is one of the most supportive
environments a writer could encounter. Each year, I find the event is akin to
meeting up with my dearest friends.

Whilst there I was delivering a session on plotting erotic
fiction but, before we began, I gave the writers in the room a brief warm-up
exercise.

Most of us are familiar with the apocryphal story of
Hemingway writing a six word short story. (For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never
Worn).  And it was the idea of a six word
short story that I offered to those attendees participating in my session. In
short, I asked them to produce the sexiest short story they could think of in
six words.

I offered some of my own examples to illustrate the point.  

*

Him hard. Her wet. Both satisfied.

*

Her: “Harder! Faster!”

Him: “Tighter! Wetter!”

*

A vampire? He’ll get lucky. Period.

*

As always, please post your six word stories in the comments
box below.  I look forward to reading
them.

Ash

Writing Exercise – Triplets and Couplets

by | February 6, 2017 | | 2 Comments

 By Ashley Lister

I’ve mentioned triplets before.  The idea of putting three lines of poetry
together always excites me. Couplets are good for a rhyme scheme. They provide
a solid structure. But, to my mind, triplets increase the speed and seem to
allow a bigger build-up to the punchline of the poem.

Some lasses think that thongs are boss
But that opinion makes me cross
‘Cos a thong’s just fanny-dental-floss


And whilst some say the style is quaint
I would say it really ain’t
Cos a thong’s like cheese-wire on the taint


So what I’d say to every chick is
Treat yourself to some big knickers.

With this poem, I thought it might have a greater impact if
I mixed couplets with triplets. The title of the poem is ‘Big Knickers’ and the
focus is on the persona of the poem appreciating a fuller brief. Consequently,
to stress the importance of this sentiment, I thought the sedate couplet would
allow for the pace to slow down for the delivery of those two lines.

You see, when she’s ready to hit the sack
The kinkiest nymphomaniac
Does not want string across her crack


Thongs are cruel. Thongs can sting.
Thongs can be a dangerous thing.
They’re like barbed wire on the ring


Yes, whale-tails can raise most bloke’s smiles
But sit on this and think awhile
Thongs can aggravate your piles


To stop yourself from getting sick as
a cystitis parrot – wear big knickers

The poem goes on, but I’m going to cut it off there and say,
if you want to share a poem made up of a mixture of triplets and couplets, please
post them in the comments box below.

The List Poem – A Writing Exercise

by | January 6, 2017 | | 0 Comments

 by Ashley Lister

 Happy New Year everyone. I’m genuinely hoping that 2017 will
be a year when we can all find the happiness and love that seemed to be such a
scarce commodity during 2016. And, as this is my first post of the year, I
figured I’d start with a fairly accessible form of poetry: the list poem.

That Bedroom Drawer

Condoms, dildos and a long-eared bunny
Novelty nipple-tassels that look quite funny
A thumb drive of films from PornoTube
And lots and lots and lots of lube

Crops and paddles and pairs of canes
An electric device powered by the mains
Lacy corsets, a satin basque
A leather morphsuit (with gimp mask)
A mould for making rude ice cubes
And tubes of fruity flavoured lube

Various hairbrushes, that have never seen hair
Toys that we will use (down there)
Sexy toys for sexy play
Loads of sexy lingerie
Cuffs and cats and broad bullwhips
A gag to go between your lips
Sexy clamps that bite at boobs
And lots and lots more tubes of lube

The list poem is a simple form.  We’re not looking for a particular rhyme
scheme or meter.  All that we need is a
list of items that suggest a larger picture. Back in 1989, Billy Joel sang ‘We
Didn’t Start the Fire’ and used the list form to provide lyrics that gave a
chilling view of post-World War II history. Before that we have list poems in
sonnet form from the likes Elizabeth Barret Browning with Sonnet 43 ‘How do I
love thee, let me count the ways…’

It’s a fun way to approach without the confines and
restrictions of a rigid form and structure. And, as with all poetry, it can be lots
of fun.  As always, I look forward to
seeing your poems in the comments box below.

Writing Exercise – Christmas Poetry

by | December 6, 2016 | | 7 Comments

 by Ashley Lister 

 ‘Twas the night before
Christmas

And all through the
house

My partner was laughing

‘Cause I’m hung like a
mouse

She was wearing black
stockings

And wielding a birch

And I quietly suspected

We weren’t going to
church

As the holiday season approaches, I thought
it might be fun to try something festive. As there’s no traditional poetic form
associated with Christmas, I figured it would be appropriate to pick a
Christmas poem and use that form.

Obviously, the first poem that came to mind
was ‘The Night Before Christmas’ (‘A Visit from St Nicholas’ by Clement Clarke
Moore). However, because I have always perceived this form as four line verses,
with an x-a-x-a rhyme scheme and variant syllable count, I figured that wouldn’t
be a sufficient challenge for the regular readers of this blog[1].

A couple of other Christmassy ditties came
to mind but it was only when I was contemplating the lyrics, I realized they
were songs. Frosty the Snowman at
first, then Rudolph the Red Nosed
Reindeer. I was about to dismiss this form as being traditional song lyrics
when I realized that the form was identical to my interpretation of ‘The Night
Before Christmas’: four line verses, with an x-a-x-a rhyme scheme and variant
syllable count.

She thrashed and she
caned me

But don’t pity my plight

I knew it wasn’t just Santa

Who’d be coming tonight

I’d
never before thought
She might like CBT
But now my balls are now hanging
From her Christmas tree

So, the challenge this month is to write
something festive in this traditional form.

As always, I look forward to seeing your
contributions in the comments box below. 
And, I hope you enjoy the festive season, however you celebrate the
holidays.


[1] The original poem is
written in rhyming couplets and I’ve been perceiving the caesura as the end of
the line.

Writing Exercise – the Gwawdodyn

by | November 6, 2016 | | 2 Comments

 By Ashley
Lister

My fetish is not for your bottom
Although I think yours is a hot ‘un
But it’s not your cheeks making my interest pique
It’s your skin beneath skimpy white cotton

The gwawdodyn is a Welsh form of poetry.
With four lines, an internal rhyme on the third line, and a relatively fixed
metre, it’s a form that is easy to understand and fairly simple to master. Diagrammatically,
the structure looks something like this:

xxxxxxxxa
xxxxxxxxa
xxxxbxxxxb
xxxxxxxxa

This diagram shows the suggested syllable
count (9/9/10/9) and the end rhymes (a) and internal rhymes (b). My personal
habit with this form seems to be go over the syllable count – but I’m fairly
happy with the content so I’m not going to change these too much.

Whenever my love gets a hankering
To have her backside get a spankering
I punish all her fails when she’s spelling towns in Wales
And she gratefully gives me a thankering

I’ll be honest and admit I’ve seen a few
different versions of this form. I think I like this one because it reminds me
of the limerick which means I can be more playful with the content.

To make your pleasure become first class
I shall stick my left thumb up your ass
The sensation is great but don’t reciprocate
Cos your nails are as sharp as cut glass

As always, I look forward to seeing your poetry
in the comments boxes below.

Ash

Writing Exercise – Katuata / Sedoka

by | October 6, 2016 | | 2 Comments

 by Ashley Lister

Submitting to you
Makes breathing impossible:
You do take my breath away


Dominating you
Assuming vital control:
How we both enjoy breathplay

Last month we looked at the mondo form of
the katuata. As I’m sure everyone remembers, the Katuata is interpreted by
western poets as a three-line form with a syllabic structure of 5-7-7.

The sedoka form of the katuata comes in two
stanzas with each performing a separate function.  The first stanza presents a scene. The second
stanza shows that scene from another perspective. If we look at the poem above
we’re considering the same relationship in stanza one from the perspective of a
submissive and, in stanza two, the same relationship is shown from the perspective
of the dominant partner.

As a tool for reminding us about the
importance of perspective, the sedoka is well worth considering. It’s also a
fun way looking at one subject from a pair of diverse perspectives.

Tasting your sweetness
Savouring your musky scent
Drinking your satisfaction


Feeling your wet tongue
As it explores my bare flesh
And transports me to new heights

As always, I look forward to seeing your
poems in the comments box below.

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