How did I not discover this until now?

Paint chip poetry. Utterly wonderful!

It seems there are a couple of  ways to play this game – and I do invite you to play.

Start by gathering a spectrum of paint chips or colour cards. Then use them to make poems. You can do this by arranging the chips so the paint names make a sort of poetic sense, as I’ve done in the image above. Or you can write tiny poems on the cards that relate in some way to the colour or name or… well, anything at all, really. Another approach invites you to combine these two techniques by incorporating the name of the poem into the lines you write.

Making poems in this way can be a prompt for all kinds of writerly creativity. If you’re a novelist, you may find a certain colour evokes one of your characters. Could the poem you write on that chip tell part of that person’s story?

For non-fiction writers, the (let’s face it, sometimes lurid and even ludicrous) paint names may stir images or associations that encourage different ways of thinking about your topic. Or just different ways of thinking, which might also help with your writing.

Indeed, for writers of all kinds, a frolic with paint chip poetry can be a spark to awaken the imagination. You might like to make it part of your writing ritual, sort of like a warm up. Alternatively, you may simply enjoy playing with words and colours. Either way, I encourage you to give it a go.

Have you ever played with paint chip poetry? Care to share your fabulous creations? What other fun writing prompts can you recommend?