The Magic Words

by Joseph Fasano

This inspiring book of simple poetry prompts invites everyone to express themselves and unlock their inner poet.

We all have stories inside us, whether or not we consider ourselves ‘creative’. And with these 50 simple fill-in-the-blank poems, anyone can write poetry, whatever age or ability. By adding just a few words of your own, you create something beautiful and wholly new that comes from within.

Discover the magic of putting your feelings into words and be inspired by sample poems submitted by people of all ages and walks of life. Exploring themes like friendship, love, grief, gratitude, and hope, these inclusive, accessible, and deceptively simple poems express powerful emotional truths, written by you.

Genres: Poetry, Writing, Nonfiction, Art

164 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

Joseph Fasano is the author of the novels The Swallows of Lunetto (Maudlin House, 2022) and The Dark Heart of Every Wild Thing (Platypus Press, 2020), which was named one of the "20 Best Small Press Books of 2020." His books of poetry include The Last Song of the World (BOA Editions, 2024), The Crossing (2018), Vincent (2015), Inheritance (2014), and Fugue for Other Hands (2013). His honors include the Cider Press Review Book Award, the Rattle Poetry Prize, and a nomination for the Poets' Prize, "awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year."

Fasano is an educator focusing on innovative learning strategies. He is the author of The Magic Words (TarcherPerigee, 2024), a collection of poetry prompts and educational tools that help unlock the creativity in people of all ages.

Fasano's writing has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, The Yale Review, The Southern Review, The Missouri Review, Boston Review, Measure, Tin House, The Adroit Journal, Verse Daily, PEN Poetry Series, American Literary Review, American Poetry Journal, and the Academy of American Poets' poem-a-day program, among other publications. He is a Lecturer at Manhattanville University, and he hosts the Daily Poetry Thread on Twitter/X at @Joseph_Fasano_.

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘A writer is someone who believes in other people,’ says poet and educator Joseph Fasano and this quality is something that has long endeared me to his efforts to spread the love of poetry and writing: he believes in others and helps them to believe in themselves. Even before going viral in 2022, Fasano (a highly recommended twitter follow @Joseph_Fasano_) had made a name for himself by inspiring everyday people to believe in their abilities to be a writer through his poetry prompts, kind-hearted advice and social media interactions, a frequency of sharing and signal boosting the works of other poets that spoke to him. The Magic Words, his newest book, is a collection of poetry prompts with fill-in-the-blank options that works similarly to mad-libs to help inspire creativity but also direct readers to think about the structure of poems and metaphors and see the vast possibilities behind a single word choice in a larger work. There’s nothing that warms my heart more than artists of any kind encouraging everyday people to interact with art and encourage them to attempt their own, and I really enjoyed seeing Fasano share all the poems people sent him based on a prompt he created for a school visit he did to teach 2nd graders ‘about the craft and magic of poetry.’ You can try it for yourself:

Self Poem

My name is (name).
Today I feel like a/an (adjective) (noun)
(verb)ing in the (noun).
Sometimes I am a/an (noun).
Sometimes I am a an (noun).
But always I am (adjective).
I ask the world, "(question)?"
And the answer is
a/an (repeat your words from line 2).

Interspersed with short inspirational one-liners on the power of the imagination and filled with fantastic examples of completed prompts from people across any age, these prompts have just as much value for their fun as they do educational value. I really enjoy all his brief descriptions of each poetry prompt, which often incorporates quotes from writers and poets to help spark inspiration and to think deeper about the themes. There are poem prompts for a really wonderful variety of topics, both happy and sad but I really appreciate how much ideas of self-acceptance and self-empowerment take a focus in this book.

SELF-ACCEPTANCE POEM PROMPT

The (animal) cannot help being (adjective).
The (plant) cannot help being (adjective).
The (celestial body) cannot help being (adjective).
And I cannot help being (your name).
Even in my sleep, I dream of (something you like).
Even in my sadness, I love my (noun).
I swim in the rivers of my (emotion).
I climb through the mountains of my (emotion).
I travel for years and years.
And on the other side is (your name), beautiful (your name), his/her/their (adjective) (noun) (verb)ing in the (noun).

This would be such a great book for educators to have in their classroom and I actually will be using it for a poetry program I am running at the library tomorrow. So thank you, Joseph Fasano!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect for people who love journaling and for people who have always admired poetry from afar, but didn’t think it was for them. Anyone can be a poet! I’m so excited to use this with my 3rd graders. Just in time for National Poetry Month!

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book with the hopes of welcoming even more poetry-related explorations and exercises into the classes that I teach. I’m always looking for more ideas.

The poetry “frames” in Fasano’s book are simple and accessible; because they ask for specific parts of speech to complete each line, they remind me of Mad Libs. I have used a similar fill-in-the-blanks approach based on mentor text examples. I was actually hoping to see more of that in this book—present a mentor text and call attention to the moves that a poet makes, and then offer a challenge to do something similar. Fasano offers an example of a completed poem here and there, but there isn’t much emphasis on craft.

There also isn’t much variation or complexity in the form of the poems included in the book. They seem more fitting for elementary students than high school students. Nevertheless, the exercises might be a helpful starting point for struggling or daunted writers who worry themselves about how to begin a poem or how to arrange lines. The frames might also work as whole-class exercises focused on word choice or figurative language or tone or even parts of speech, to demonstrate that even a common structure can render diverse results.

[Allyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great if you want to learn and or practice your poetry skills

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I doubt I'll ever finish this book as it's one I will revert to over the rest of my life.

I loved it and it gave me nothing but inspiration from start to finish and opened my eyes to a new enjoyment in life, poetry.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

very inspiring for creative writing! thank you

[Viv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and accessible. It's great way to overcome that activation energy to write again, especially when I'm short on time. I did them as daily exercises with my bf, who isn't really interested in poetry, but he ended up really enjoying the prompts as a reflective outlet and a new way to write and connect. Hoping for more works like this one day!

[Cathy Hodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful instructional book about how to put your feelings, emotions, and thoughts on paper. At first it felt like "Mad-Libs." Then I realized that the different formulas were scaffolding to build essays. Once you get the hang of filling in the styles of writing then it begins to flow as familiar writing. I found this informative. Enjoy.

[Parker Hill]

loved a few of these prompts, many were too simplistic for my liking (fault of my own as i understand these are designed for elementary schoolers!)

wrote out a couple but found the mad lib format did not unlock my ability to put my feelings into words and instead had me selecting words i thought sounded best

[Moushmi Radhanpara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to try writing poetry even if they don’t consider themselves as writers. Some of the write ups from the prompts were remarkable and the last piece from the author himself, a poetic conversation between Cane and Able sums up almost everything.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a poem recently that was created using this book. It was written by a woman with alzheimers and it was pretty good. The book, though, is basically like MadLibs for grown-ups where you just fill in the blanks with adjectives, nouns, etc., so it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

[Meghan Albizo]

Not giving a star review, simply because it wasn’t meant for me. I didn’t realize “prompts” would be multiple fill in the blank exercises. I can see its value for children or those who haven’t tried poetry before.

[Holly Dolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to learn how to write poetry without worry? This is a simple text that aids the writer in filling in blanks of poems. You will have a creative spark without knowing the structure of poems because the 51 prompts lead to your success.

If you enjoyed Mad Libs as a kid, get this book!

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of poetry prompts designed to bring out the inner poet in all of us. An interesting concept but many of the prompts seemed too forced. This would be, and evidently has been, a great tool for teachers.

[Amandanoel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. Made some notes and it sparked so much creativity. Going to do some of the exercises with my older kids 😍💗

[Samantha M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Re-packaged Mad Libs for those who might turn to AI to write their essays, yet want something that reads a smidge more human while taking a stab at creativity.

[Lady Galaxy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This method might work well for some folks, but it didn't work for me at all.

[Courtney LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book of prompts for young/early writers (meaning someone just beginning to write, not age) but nothing for a more advanced writer.

[JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry by MadLibs, more or less. A really cool and fun way to get yourself to write if you haven't in a really long time.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Teresa Witte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful mentor texts to stretch creativity and thinking. I look forward to using it with my young writers that I teach.

[VickiLee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book to encourage creativity in the English classroom, creative writing classes, or personal writing.

[Mary Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for any poet

[Cam Cam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rất hợp để dùng tổ chức các writing therapy session, theo nhóm chắc sẽ càng vui. Mỗi tội đọc các ví dụ trong sách đưa ra mà lại thấy áp lực...