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Concept maps, co-created word bank, and wear the suit with Felicia Zamora
This workshop is hosted virtually second Saturday of every month as part of the Chicago Poetry Center Board | Fundraiser Workshop Series. Below you will find the self-guided version of our October 11th workshop. If you’d like to attend the upcoming sessions live, you will find links at the bottom of this page, we hope you join us <3
Today, our inspiration comes from concept maps (source: Cornell University)
TLDR: Focus on connections that emerge, not resolving relationships between them.
Check‑in (2 minutes)
Take 3 big breaths. Loud ones. More if you need to.
Now, write the name of the space or context you feel a sense of unabashed play, channel that through these exercises. Remember, the goal of today is not to get to the “final” draft with perfect edits, but to bring play into revisiting & revising our writing.
Audit before we edit (4 minutes)
Read your current draft out loud once. Circle any words or phrases that feel stuck or exciting. Note quick preserve and play points for yourself you want to keep in mind for your rewrites.
Preserve - highlight at least one part of your piece to preserve
- Have you found the emotional center?
- What feels like the essence?
- What moves you every time you read it?
- Is there a word/phrase you love?
- What made you write this?
- Are the characters evident to you?
Play - highlight at least 1 part of your piece that you want to experiment with
- Are there phrases that feel over-used?
- What feels like a deviation from the core?
- What isn’t flowing when you read it?
- How do you feel about the first, last line?
- Does the title do the work of setting up?
- Is this your voice/whose voice is it?
Exercise 1: Read aloud + build a word bank (15 minutes)
- Read Felicia Zamora’s Draft & Final Triptych Version + the author’s note on the process of mining.
- Build a personal word bank: Pick one letter you’re drawn to and list at least 5 words that begin with it. Don’t overthink it. It doesn’t have to make sense.
- Bonus: Ask a friend for 10 more words to add range or use some of ours from Sept/Oct:
Rewrite 1 - Rewrite your poem/piece using at least 3 words/phrases from the word bank
- You may combine words from the word bank.
- You could choose to replace words in your draft, or write more into the existing lines.
At this stage, if you get ideas for multiple start points, end lines, titles capture all in your notes!
Reminder: The goal for this rewrite is to shift language that feels stuck.
Exercise 2: Wear the Suit (10 minutes + 10 minutes) Read/listen to a few poems from this set of Felicia Zamora poems. Note a few techniques you notice across the readings that you’re excited to try. Circle at least one to experiment with for Rewrite 2. Xibalbá :: Tunneling
(bonus for reference) Rewrite 2 || Some observations for example:
- Repetition and emphasis (splice & splice & splice; split; the phrase someone is, someone is; spotlight a charged word like “Habitual”)
- Scale and framing shifts rapidly within a verse/piece (zoom personal ↔ historical ↔ etymological; move inner voice ↔ public/academic)
- Voice moves [italics for emphasis; italics to bring in another voice or quote; call in other poets: “Limon says…” “I think of Singh..”; try a “Zamora says…”)
- Title architecture (The __ of __; longer or multi‑line titles)
- Form & layout (rule of 3s: triptych/3 verses/3 images; braid threads or “birth” a parallel strand; let an image grow; intentional transitions to build density]
- Sound and texture (play with alliteration & sonic families; associative chain of concepts: cell → lymph nodes → multiplicity]
Your task for this rewrite to release your defaults and try at least 1 technique, poetic device, form choice or layout from another poet.
Reminder: The goal for this rewrite is wear the suit of another poet’s style, or at least bravely step out of our default settings (briefly and gently), the best you see fit <3
Exercise 3: Draw the concept map across all the versions (15 minutes)
Look at the latest/all versions of the piece you have, annotate the following
- What words/phrases/concepts might we further mine from our latest version?
- What are explicit & underlying associations you have to that word?
- How do you engage with it / what are all the ways you relate to it?
- What relationships do you see between this piece and your other writing?
- Bonus: You may choose to draw it like a concept map: Illustrative: [Word/Construct You’re Mining] ↙ themes images ↘ ↘ ↘ ↘ ↘ metaphors questions senses characters ↘ ↘ ↘ ↘ symbols unknowns sound/colors textures/voices
Rewrite 3: Your task for our final rewrite of the day is to show us what you have mined: the unexpected associations that gave you pause, the obvious connections, the cliches, the unknowns, the open questions.
Reminder: The goal for this is to let that thread untie, lead it lead where it wants to go.
Self-guided check‑out (1 minute)
- Underline 1 line that you wrote during rewrites that surprised you
- Note 1 mode of play / feeling / insight you’re carrying into your day
- Choose next steps to crystallize the play: title options, a line to cut, or a place to research?
Announcements & Acknowledgements
If you’d like to join a live session with shared word banks, discussions & group reads, here are upcoming dates:
A big thank you to underbelly magazine, that introduced me to Felicia Zamora’s work, and to Felicia Zamora, whose work is a beacon for a striving creative. Thank you the wonderful humans who showed up to play today. This workshop is part of a series of fundraisers for the Chicago Poetry Center’s 51st year, to help fund 50 poetry residencies for Chicago public school students. If you’ve read this far, we hope you consider donating any amount that is personally meaningful to you.
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