The rules are simple because there aren’t any. Well, maybe one (the hashtag). We announce a Tweet-Party date and time; party is hosted on Twitter. It lasts one hour. Someone, usually @tspoetry, provides the prompt — an idea, a line of poetry, even a tabloid headline. You respond to the prompt and then play off the other tweets. You work within the 140-character limit set by Twitter for all tweets — just make sure each tweet includes the hashtag — #tsptry. That way, we can find your contributions. It’s a good idea to follow @tspoetry and as many of the participants as possible (see Tweet-Poet Friends in sidebar) — but @tspoetry is the critical one.

After the Tweet-Party concludes, we usually tweet around and congratulate one another.

All tweets for the Tweet-Party will be assembled into an overall “twoem” or “Twitter poem.” We’ll post it on this blog, with the best lines singled out and identified by contributor. You’ll get credit as a co-author, too. As for royalties, well, don’t hold your breath. We’ll let you know if any show up.