Constraint(s) :
- acrostic on first letter of each sentence
- every sentence is seven words
Oulipo is a form of constrained writing.
Understand that we define our own constraints.
Like rats, we build labyrinths to escape.
Ideally we state constraints at the beginning.
Proceed, then, to play with literary abandonment.
Often we surprise ourselves, becoming better writers.
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Incidentally, Oulipo is not actually a form.
So sue me for not writing truthfully.
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Never fear breaking rules by following them.
Oulipians are slightly absurd, in my opinion.
To find confinement freeing is the idea.
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Dear reader, accost me not for blasphemy.
Each and every one controls their fate.
Avail yourself of tools at your disposal.
Dear writer, join this cemetery of fools.
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Literary puzzles are not only for practice.
One can write them as a challenge.
Now I will give you some hints.
Games sometimes require some shenanigans to work.
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Lines in poems, for example, are tricky.
Include them in stanzas one by one.
Vainly we attempt to separate them cleanly.
Every time we publish, empty lines disappear.
Dashes help mitigate this state of affairs.
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Other than that, one can write smoothly.
Use your wit to reveal the unexpected.
Live and let live in this mortuary.
It is written the wise cannot die.
Poems are not the only form possible.
Often short stories can also be bludgeoned.
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Sources:
anything whatever published by Penteract Press : https://penteractpress.com/