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Try This: Newspaper Blackout


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I admit to holding on to the ridiculous belief that engaging in playful, no-destination creative activities are “wasting time.” But when I do let myself work on creative projects, it ends up feeling like time well spent. There is always a payoff, whether it’s inspiration to create more things, a therapeutic benefit or just having fun.

I’ve recently been revisiting Austin Kleon's books, and decided to try some newspaper blackout poetry. If you’re not familiar with this, you choose a section of a newspaper article (though I tend to prefer a magazine piece), and use a marker to cover everything except the words you want to remain shown. It’s an enjoyable creative exercise that can result in interesting outcomes.

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I’m sharing two very simple and short ones I made last week, as examples. These are more on the personal/inspirational side, though blackout poetry can be whatever you want.

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The three-word one could apply to a number of things, but to me it felt like a hopeful message about my potential contributions to the writing world, which I sometimes doubt. So, doing this type of redacted poetry can be just for yourself, about anything you want.

Newspaper blackouts are just one of the types of exercises that I do in my journal, with others that are equally satisfying. Maybe you’d like to give this or something else new a try. It will be worth it.

-Marcia Peterson

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