A JCPL librarian interviews published writers about their favorite writing prompts—exercises that can help inspire, focus, and improve your creative writing. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, a novelist, essayist, or poet, you’ll find ideas and advice to motivate you to keep writing. A partnership with the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning.
Prompt to Page Ep 18 Quintos
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Carrie: Welcome to the Prompt to Page podcast, a partnership between the Jessamine County Public Library and the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. I'm your host, librarian and poet, Carrie Green. Each episode we interview a published writer who shares their favorite writing prompt. Our guest today is Danni Quintos
Danni is the author of the poetry [00:01:00] collection Two Brown Dots, chosen by Amy Nezhukumatathil as winner of the Poulin Prize and Python and ekphrastic chapbook featuring photography by her sister, Shelli Quintos. She is a Kentuckian, a mom, a knitter, and an Affrilachian her work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, Cincinnati Review, Cream City Review , and the Margins,
Best New Poets 2015, Salon and elsewhere. Welcome Danni and thanks for joining us.
Danni: Yeah, thanks
so much for having me.
Carrie: So I know that you teach as part of the Carnegie Center's Young Writers Project and I think you have an upcoming workshop on graphic memoir. Do you wanna tell us a little bit
about that?
Danni: Sure. And that kind of relates to the prompt that I was gonna talk about today, so
Carrie: Great.
Danni: Yeah. Nice segue. Yeah, I love that program. I've been teaching there, I [00:02:00] think either since 2018 or 2017. And sometimes I teach poetry, but I feel like it's easy for them to find a poet in Lexington . So sometimes they ask me to teach something else.
Totally excited to kind of expand it. So graphic memoir a lot of the class is based on writing prompts and activities that are Lynda Barry's. She is, like one of my favorite writer illustrator, weird, awesome teachers. And I, I have a lot of activities of hers from her book, What It Is, Making Comics, and Syllabus. And she.
One of my favorite books of hers is 100 Demons, which is a graphic memoir. She describes it as autobifictionography so it's, and it's graphic too, and it's very like collage and kind of chaotic. And I, I just think it's like such a cool way to think about like storytelling [00:03:00] with through imagery. Mm-hmm. and especially for those who might be afraid to draw or feel like they can't draw or haven't drawn since they were little.
I think that Lynda Barry is a, a really cool teacher cuz she embraces that kind of shaky, timid line. Because a lot of times that's where something kind of comes alive the most, more so than somebody who's very practiced and knows how to make something look like exactly what it looks like in real life.
Like that shaky line, especially drawing people is super, super neat and kind of rare to see. And so mm-hmm. , I, I'm excited for this class, for the people who know how to draw very well and enjoy it. Mm-hmm. , but also for those who haven't come back to it in a long time, to kind of play and experiment and like make something
maybe like weird or ugly, cuz I think sometimes that's more interesting than making a pretty thing.
Carrie: Yeah, no, I, I definitely
agree. And that's something here at the library we have started a, a [00:04:00] program called Fail Better Craft Afternoon . And it's kind of all about just trying something out and not worrying about, I think people, even in a craft class, people get kind of stressed out about having to make it
perfect.
Danni: Yeah. And then with writing, it's like, what is perfect? Like nothing is perfect when you're mm-hmm. when you're writing, when you're making things, you know, .
Exactly.
Carrie: And so have you, have you created graphic memoirs yourself?
Danni: Yeah, a little bit. I, I started like getting really into LLynda Barry's work and like doing more graphic illustrated stuff
when I was an undergrad at the Evergreen State College, I took like an autobiography class that was really cool. And my final project was like a graphic memoir. And I, I have always loved to draw. And when making comics came out, a friend of mine got it from me for my birthday and I was like, [00:05:00] okay, you get it too.
And we're gonna, we're gonna go through this together like a, like a self-led class. And so I think it's been like two years now, but like every other weekend. , we'll meet on Zoom or FaceTime and we'll like pick a prompt and do it together and kind of share it. Mm-hmm. . So yeah, it's, it's definitely, it's like a part of my practice when it comes to like writing and creative, creating things.
Carrie: Oh, that's great. And it's great that you have a buddy to to do it with .
Danni: Yeah, for sure.
Carrie: So that obviously plays a role in your writing process. Do prompts play a role in your process?
Danni: Oh, yes.
I love prompts so much. I really love writing with other people. Especially like I have some, I have some favorites people that I really love to write with.
And, and when I was in my MFA I lived in a house of other people in my MFA program. It was very like a writing house. And on, I think it was Saturday mornings, we would meet all [00:06:00] together, like at a, a table and we would each come with a prompt and we would, you know, write on each prompt for like three to five minutes.
And at the end we would all share mm-hmm. And so, prompts are like really helpful for me. They're really generative. And I love writing with other people and like there's something about that energy of like, even if you're quiet and you're just writing that like kind of, it's exhilarating. And then being able to hear something fresh that somebody else just wrote that it's like very inspiring and it kind of, I don't know, it like makes me wanna write more and share more.
So yes, I love prompts, .
Carrie: Well, that's good. You're on the, on the right podcast, aren't you? ? Well, do you wanna go ahead and share your prompt?
Danni: Sure.
Yeah. So it is it is a Lynda Barry prompt. I, I do this a lot with like creative writing classes. I think I've done this with the Young Writers program a few times and some other
carnegie Center Creative writing classes, and with my creative classes, creative writing classes at BCTC too. And so [00:07:00] it's, it's sort of the inside an image prompt. And so she'll start with a list, which I think lists are such a cool way to, as like an entry point, because sometimes you feel stuck and the blank page can be intimidating.
So you start with a list of like an interesting, very pointed list. And a lot of these are from childhood, like memory kinds of lists cuz you're looking at an image of a memory. So some examples would be like pairs of shoes from childhood, other people's moms, vehicles, haircuts, things that that you remember.
And you make like a list of like five to seven. And then you choose one thing from that list that is associated with a vivid memory. And then, and I usually do this like as a guided exercise. Mm-hmm. , then you look around the memory, whatever it is that you associate with the thing on the list. And so there are questions about like, what season is it?
What's the weather like, what's the time of day, who's there? And then you look around like at the setting. [00:08:00] So what's in front of you? Behind you left, right above, below. and then you kind of think about the memory timewise, like what happens right before this? What happens right after this? Mm-hmm. . And then you kinda free-write and you're very, very familiar with the space of the memory and you're kind of inside of it.
And it's, it's kind of, to me it feels very magical because you're able to remember so much more than you thought you could just by paying attention, you know, and, and be, and having it elicited through those very specific and odd lists. Mm-hmm. . So,
yeah.
Carrie: So that seems like a prompt that you could really use for any genre.
Danni: Oh yeah, definitely.
Carrie: And do you ever combine that with withdrawing as
well?
Danni: Oh yeah. Yeah. for sure. Yeah, and I, I feel like I, like, especially with the person that I, I do my, you know, bimonthly drawing stuff with will like , [00:09:00] you know change a prompt or combine two together and kind of, oh, I really liked this part and this part.
So what if we match those together and make like a new prompt? Mm-hmm. . And so this one, I think the very first time I did it, I was, I was at an undergrad at Evergreen and it was part of my graphic memoir project. . And so I, I had this image that I had written about for like, maybe like a couple paragraphs, and then I drew the image, like from my perspective, and it was like the inside of
my parents' Acura car from like, like the late eighties. Mm-hmm. . So it's like looking at like the front seat, the driver's seat and the passenger seat, you know, and very specific to like, you know, what everyone was wearing and the weather and all, all of those
things.
Carrie: Uhhuh, . I think that can help you remember in different ways too.
I know that I I have drawn things. I'm not , definitely not an a visual artist. And don't think [00:10:00] of myself, you know, as someone who can draw. But just attempting to draw something. I feel like sometimes you see it in a, in a new
way.
Danni: Absolutely.
Yeah.
Carrie: Do you have any other writing tips that you'd like to give our listeners?
Danni: I think like a, a big part of kind of combating writer's block or feeling like uninspired is to like slow down and be observant and pay more attention. And like I feel like all of my prompts are just Lynda Barry prompts cuz I just love her so much. . But she has like a, a daily journal entry where she has you list like things that you did in the last 24 hours.
Things that you saw in the last 24 hours, something you heard someone say, and then you have a 30 second drawing of one of the things you saw . And so. . I think, you know, if you're, if you're feeling stuck and you, you wanna write, but you don't know [00:11:00] what to write, that's like a really nice starting point. It's a way to kind of get rid of the empty page and just kind of pay attention to the things that are still fresh in your memory.
If you do it too far back, you're not gonna remember those things. But the last 24 hours is like, these are the things that I'm gonna forget if I don't write them down. And it's also interesting the things that you didn't realize, that you noticed, like in the list of things you saw, like, oh, I didn't, I I wouldn't have even given that a second thought, but now that I'm writing it down, like it's, it's interesting or like memorable.
Carrie: Mm-hmm. . And I know from your bio that you're also a knitter . Does, does that inform your writing process in any way?
Danni: Yes. I think, I think process is the key word there, . Because I think, you know, I've, I've been knitting more and more over the last 10 years and, you know, become better at it and kind of expanded what I, what I make
As far as [00:12:00] like editing goes, I think I've learned a lot about knitting because if you mess up. you're knitting. Or if you make you finish it and it's like weird or ugly or it doesn't fit, or you know something's wrong with it, you know, you can be really stubborn about it and just leave it and then it won't get used.
Or you can take it all apart and there's something kind of painful about that. Like the term is frogging when you like rip it all out to, cuz you're like, oh, I put in all these hours and all these stitches. But you know, it's like the other side of that is, , no, it's not gonna be used. It's not gonna be functional or appreciated if you don't frog it.
If you don't rip it all out. And you know, the process of making something, making a mistake or making something that's like ill-fitting or weird is a learning process. And you learn like from those mistakes. And so I think that applies a lot to writing because if you're not willing to like edit the ugly things or the things that aren't working, , [00:13:00] you know, the, the term kill your darlings, like, then you won't get to the next thing.
And the process of making the thing that's not right is helping you get to the, the better poem or the better story or whatever it is that you're, it's gonna be better .
Carrie: Mm-hmm. . And it seems like there's also kind of an interesting tension too, between having to revise the knitting or the work or whatever, but also.
Wanting to make something that's not necessarily perfect.
Danni: Yeah. And I think like, and I don't know that like perfect is anything that I really strive for, but like functionality maybe is more , especially when it comes to knitting. Cause like, you know, if it's, if there's like a stitch that's weird or like something that's off, like, that's fine, I'm not gonna rip out the whole thing.
But like if the sleeves are too high or the neck hole is too small, then it's like nobody's gonna wear that. It's not a functional item of
clothing.
Carrie: [00:14:00] Right. Yeah, no, I, I guess I'm, I'm kind of drawing more towards what you said in the beginning about shaky lines or, you know mm-hmm. not making a drawing
perfect. So, I don't know, I it's just an interesting dichotomy, I guess
Danni: Yeah.
Carrie: Between those two things.
Danni: Right.
And like, you know, with, with poems, it's like, how do you know when they're ready for, like, the world to see them, to send them out, to be published in a journal or in a book, mm-hmm. , or if there's something that you just
keep close to you and never share, and that's okay too.
Carrie: Right.
Danni: Yeah. And, and then sometimes , I feel like with my book, because I have a lot of older poems that were written many years ago that I've worked and worked on, and then I have a lot of young poems that I wrote during the, the editing process after it was accepted that there are poems in there where I'm just like, oh, that was not ready.
But here it's in this book and now it's
Carrie: [00:15:00] Right.
Danni: It's
on paper. . Yeah.
Carrie: Yeah. Well, do you have any, any final advice that you'd like to give our
listeners? .
Danni: So, I mean, I think the, the advice that I always hear, that I obviously agree with is like, read as much as you can, as widely as you can. You know, the more you read, the better your writing is gonna be, because then you're exposed to, to more and better and more diverse writers, mm-hmm
But thinking about community, something that I tell a lot of younger like student writers is find your readers and cling to them for dear life. Like, if you find somebody who's a good reader, never let them go , because it is not super common to find somebody who understands not only the the good things that you're doing, but that their criticism, criticism, or critique is really helpful and kind of understands how to, how to make it better.
And so what I feel like I [00:16:00] was really lucky in my MFA to find a lot of those readers, mm-hmm. . You know, the, the person that I meet with and do drawings with, she's one of my best readers. I have a couple other people I do prompts with and write with. Like, I, I will not, I refuse to let them go , even though we don't live
anywhere close to each other, like they're still part of my writing community. And so being able to like even, you know, even if it's a few years, like meet up with those people, like make a, create a writing retreat for a small group of people and, and write together and, and share work. Especially like if you're not in school where you kind of feel like you're just floating, it can be very solitary.
So, you know, taking the initiative and, and reaching out to your community and making things, I feel like it's really important.
Carrie: Well,
thank you so much for joining us today. I know that I have read, I've read Lynda Barry's Syllabus from the [00:17:00] library, so I know, I think we at least have that book if, if anyone is interested in checking it out, and we appreciate your drawing our attention to it.
Danni: Yeah, 100 Demons too is one of my favorites. It's not like a craft book, it's, it's her memoir, but yes. Mm-hmm. . I love that book.
Carrie: Well, thanks so much. We look forward to . Well, I look forward to reading it too.
Danni: Yeah. Thanks, Carrie.
Carrie: Thank you for listening to Prompt to Page. To learn more about the Jessamine County Public Library, visit jesspublib.org. Find the Carnegie Center for Literacy and learning at carnegiecenterlex.org. Our music is by Archipelago, an all instrumental musical collaboration between three Lexington based university professors.
Find out more about Archipelago: Songs from Quarantine Volumes one and two, at the links on our podcast website.