The rules are simple because there aren’t any. Well, maybe one (the hashtag). We announce a Twitter Party date and time; party is hosted on Twitter. It lasts one hour. @tspoetry provides the prompt — an idea, a line of poetry, even a tabloid headline. You write a few lines of poetry in response to the prompt and then play off the other participants’ lines.

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 the best way to make sure you include the hashtag and see everyone’s tweets as they are tweeted, is to come to our @tspoetry Tweetchat room.

After the Twitter Poetry Party concludes, we usually tweet around and congratulate one another.

Most of the tweets from the Twitter Party will be assembled into larger Twitter poems. We’ll feature some in Every Day Poems and some on this blog, with the best lines singled out and identified by contributor. You’ll get credit and links as a co-author, too. As for royalties, don’t hold your breath. We’ll let you know if any show up!