How to Get Your Phone to Write Your Poems for You by Steve Bogdaniec (HOW TO Series)

How to Get Your Phone to Write Your Poems for You
by Steve Bogdaniec

Open an app that will save text, like email or a notebook. Make sure you have suggested words enabled, whatever that looks like on your phone.

Type in a word. It could be straightforward like “I” or “the,” or it could be wacky like “forsook” or “gigabytes.”

After typing that word, click on the first suggested word you are given.

I don’t know if I would want to do this in any case but I don’t know if I would want to do this

Keep clicking on every first suggested word until it starts to repeat or you feel like you have enough material.

Forsook is a great idea about the acoustics of the mental aspect of the mental aspect

Copy those words somewhere, then start the process again with different words. Be sure to experiment with different parts of speech.

Expanding things like yoga or dancing at a public or family event and is not taking the place of the service Valerie’s husband and I will be ready to go to the bathroom at a public or

Form your poem by carving out phrases, lines, and stanzas. The art here is creating meaning out of what might well be mundane gibberish. Decide what to cut and what to keep, and mess around with order if you feel it.

The art here is creating meaning out of what might be mundane gibberish and the two major areas seem to be appointments made by repeat customers vs unique customers and customers who have been able to call Valerie their friend and their customers vs unique

Slap on a title on it—picking an enigmatic 3 to 6-word phrase from the text usually works well—and your poem is ready!

IMAGES: Collage of paintings by Ed Ruscha.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I crafted my poem, “The Acoustics of the Mental Aspect” (included below) out of material gained from the methods I described in this piece. The “chunks” of text from my phone appear in the indented paragraphs, and one appears in the screenshot (included at right). In order, the starting words were “I,” “forsook,” “expanding,” and “the art here is creating meaning out of what might be mundane gibberish.”

The Acoustics of the Mental Aspect

expanding things like yoga or dancing
at a public or family event is not
taking the place of the
service

I don’t know if I
would want to do this
in any case

the two areas seem to be appointments made
by repeat customers
and customers who have
been able to call Valerie
their friend

it is a great
idea about
the acoustics of the
mental aspect

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Steve Bogdaniec is a writer and teacher, currently teaching at Wright College, Chicago, IL, U.S. Steve has had poetry and short fiction published in numerous journals, most recently in Eclectica Magazine, Silver Birch Press, and Jellyfish Review. His work can also be found in the Nancy Drew Anthology: Writing & Art Inspired by Everyone’s Favorite Female Sleuth. Check out stevebogdaniec.com for links to published work and updates on new stuff!