16 Writing Prompts Based on Taylor Swift’s ‘folklore’
In Anticipation of ‘Midnights,’ Here’s a Writing Prompt for Every Song on Taylor Swift’s 2020 album ‘folklore’
When Taylor Swift dropped her first surprise album of 2020, it was a breath of fresh air — good news in the midst of the thickest bad-news-fog in living memory. It gave the general public something new to talk about aside from the virus and its attendant misery.
I was just as eager as anyone to have something new in my life. Honestly, up to that point, I’d never been much of a Swiftie (no offense to her older work), but I had to check it out so I could be part of the conversation. I’m glad I did, because I truly fell in love with folklore. For weeks, I let this heartful, pensive album play all day in my locked-down apartment. As I listened, things began to catalyze in my mind, and I eventually came to create this list of writing prompts for poets and songwriters.
Over the intervening time, I’ve become a total Swiftie, and I’m now eagerly anticipating the release of her new album, Midnights, this Friday. I’ve used these prompts in my classroom and at creative writing events, and I’ve shared them with friends. Now seems like a good time to share them with the world.
Give these a read, and write me something else to fall in love with.
The Prompts
1. “The 1” — “But it would’ve been fun / if you would’ve been the one.”
Write a letter to someone from your past. Include details of things you did together, like “tossing pennies in the pool.” What do you wish had been different about the outcome of your relationship?
2. “Cardigan” — “And when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed / you put me on and said I was your favorite.”
Make two columns. In the first column, list specific, intense emotions. Sorrow, peace, fear, etc. Consider complex feelings and emotions you have no name for (ex.: the feeling I had when…). In the second column, list images you associate with those emotions. Let the images be related to specific memories whenever possible. Use this list as fodder for a poem (or several.)
3. “The Last Great American Dynasty” — “She had a marvelous time ruining everything”
In this song, the story is told in the third person until the last few lines, where Taylor herself is revealed as the speaker. She plays on the connection between herself and this history of her home. Consider the history of your own home, your town, your name, or anything else with a rich history that belongs to you now. How does your history connect to its history? What do you have in common? You might also look at your family tree for inspiration.
Point of view is important in this song. Let this song give you permission to write in persona, taking on the point of view of another person, a group of people, a character, a myth, or even an inanimate object.
4. “Exile” (featuring Bon Iver) — “You never gave a warning sign” / “I gave so many signs”
Two voices compete in this song, telling stories that oppose one another. Can they both be right? This song explores the craft of the unreliable narrator.
Think about a time in your life when you were at odds with someone you cared about. Maybe you did or said something fueled by emotion, and later your two versions of events didn’t line up. Were you right about what happened? If so, does that mean they were wrong? Write a passage in which you attempt to tell the story from their side. Speak back to their version using your own voice, telling your own side of the story.
5. “My Tears Ricochet” — “We gather here, we line up / Weepin’ in a sunlit room, and / If I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes too”
The funeral in this song may have been meant to be taken literally, but I don’t think so. I think the speaker is alive, but something about her died. As you write to this song, consider: Was there ever a time in your life when something ended so completely, it was like a death? Maybe a relationship or a phase you went through? If so, what would its funeral be like? Who would attend? How would those people feel? And what would you say to them if you were there, either as a ghost (of what you once were) or as your “new” self?
6. “Mirrorball” — “And they called off the circus / Burned the disco down / When they sent home the horses / And the rodeo clowns / I’m still on that tightrope / I’m still trying everything to get you laughing at me”
This one reads to me like a pandemic song, although Taylor uses an extended metaphor that makes it feel more universal. [With a specific metaphor like “I’m a mirrorball,” you can explore something very real and particular to you, while letting your audience bring as much of their own life to the poem/song as you do.]
As you write to this one, consider what you brought with you into the long months of isolation and weirdness brought to us by Covid-19. When everything changed in March 2020, what remained unchanged about you? What did you keep? More importantly, who did you keep?
7. “Seven” — “In the swing over the creek / I was too scared to jump in / But I, I was high in the sky / With Pennsylvania under me. / Are there still beautiful things?”
This may be my favorite song on folklore.
Meditate on your memories. Dig through your past to a time that feels intense and mythical, like it might not have been real. Write down as many concrete details about that time as you can recall, even if you’re not sure whether they were real. Make a list-poem out of these images and see what emotions you discover that come with them. If any short narratives come up, feel free to include those as well.
Listing concrete images (such as Taylor’s “sweet tea in the summer” and “your braids make a pattern”) anchors the reader, and makes room for this big, sentimental abstraction: “Passed down like folk songs / Our love lasts so long.”
That line always gives me goosebumps. It is able to hit so hard because it is backed by the song’s tangible imagery.
8. “August” — “And I can see us twisted in bedsheets / August sipped away like a bottle of wine”
“August” is a sister song to “Cardigan,” so we are going to make another writing tool: a metaphor bank.
Both of these songs use figurative language to great effect. The line “August sipped away like a bottle of wine” is a highly effective metaphor. It tells us not only that the speaker is longing for more time with the subject, but also gives us a glimpse into what they did together. In “Cardigan,” we get a line directed at the subject accusing him of “leaving like a father.” This tells us so much about our speaker in just four words.
To make your metaphor bank: In one column, write a list of verbs (action words) that you associate with your subject. The subject can be a person (like in “Cardigan”) or a memory (like in “August”) or anything else that comes to mind. Once you have your list of verbs, make a second column. List other things that you associate with that same action. (Example: if you have “running” in your first column, ask yourself “What else runs?” You might put “water,” “a marathoner,” and “an engine” in your second column.)
Use this list as fodder for one or several poems, to help you discover the most powerful metaphors.
9. “This Is Me Trying” — “I got wasted like all my potential / And my words shoot to kill when I’m mad / I have a lot of regrets about that”
Think of a time you ruined something. Maybe you blew a job opportunity, wrecked a relationship, or literally broke an item you cared about. Have you forgiven yourself? Write about this from where you are now — a wiser, older place.
10. “Illicit Affairs” — “Leave the perfume on the shelf / That you picked out just for him / So you leave no trace behind / Like you don’t even exist”
Have you ever done something that you knew you shouldn’t do? Done something “wrong” or something that you’re ashamed of? If you got good at doing that thing, or good at hiding it, then you must have a lot of tips for someone who’s just getting started down the “wrong” path.
Write down any advice you would give to help someone who wants to do this thing. Don’t tell them to stop. Give them advice that teaches them how to do it “right” — or maybe how to avoid getting caught?
You might address this letter to your past self.
11. “Invisible String” — “On your first trip to LA / You ate at my favorite spot for dinner”
We’re going to write a straightforward imitation of this song, remembering that imitation is a very valid artistic practice.
Write a genuine love song/poem to someone in your life. In it, explore all the ways you were invisibly connected before you ever met. Did you attend the same event, and just miss meeting each other? Eat at the same restaurant, at different times? Sing the same songs or wear the same colors? Using any details that stand out to you, write about yourself before you met them, and their life before they met you. Uncover how you were connected all along in tiny ways.
12. “Mad Woman” — “Does a scorpion sting when fighting back? / They strike to kill, and you know I will”
This song takes a stereotype and flips it, making the “mad woman” the hero of the song.
Think of something you’ve been told you’re not allowed to be, or not allowed to do, because of who you are. Write about a time you did it anyway.
13. “Epiphany” — “Someone’s daughter, someone’s mother / Holds your hand through plastic now / ‘Doc, I think she’s crashing out’”
Taylor wrote this song for her grandfather, who served in Europe during WWII.
Is there a story that’s been passed down to you from an older family member? Something that happened before you were born? Close your eyes and consider the scene. Take ownership of it, as though it is your own. Then, write the story either as a straightforward narrative, or as a collection of images and disconnected thoughts, like in this song.
14. “Betty” — “But if I just showed up at your party / Would you have me? / Would you want me? / Would you tell me to go f*ck myself? / Or lead me to the garden?”
Think of a time when you ruined something. It doesn’t have to be a romantic relationship. Maybe a friendship, or even a job interview. If you were brave enough to ask for a second chance, how would that go? Write about the best case scenario and the worst case scenario.
15. “Peace” — “Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?”
No matter how much you love someone, you can never give them everything they need. (Even if that person is yourself.) What is something that you wish you could give more of to someone else? Write some lines that include what you can give, as well as the one thing you will never be able to give enough of.
16. “Hoax” — “Your faithless love’s the only hoax / I believe in”
Write a poem about a conspiracy theory or a myth, but do not try to debunk it. Make comparisons to stories you know are true, or stories you have believed in despite their being false. What could this be a metaphor for? Can you find yourself inside the conspiracy or the myth? Uncover what you have in common with a cryptid or a spy.