Did you know you can use Plottr for brainstorming and writing more than novels and short stories? You can use it to plan poems, your calendar – anything you can think of.
Try this limerick template, for example, and have fun with rhyming and deliberately groan-inducing doggerel.
What is the Limerick Template?
First, let’s define a limerick:
A limerick is a short, usually humorous poem that tells a story or makes an observation. You know a limerick when you hear one due to its distinctive meter and rhyming scheme.
Comical, sometimes bawdy, often ending with wordplay, the limerick was popularized in A Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear (1846) — but it is believed to have first appeared even earlier.
Another theory is that the limerick as poetry was based on an Irish soldier’s song from the 1700s, called “Will You Come Down to Limerick?” or “Will You Please Come Up to Limerick?” and popular among Irish poets who composed limericks during drinking sessions.
A limerick is five lines long, with a rhyming scheme of aabba in anapest meter. Or, as this poem demonstrates:
A lim’rick’s not hard to define
But it needs to do more than just rhyme
It’s the meter that matters
The pitters and patters
If not, you’re just wasting my time.
– Fred Hornaday
Limerick-writing contests were popular in the 1800s, often with large prizes. Famous authors from Robert Louis Stevenson to Mark Twain experimented with the form. There are variations on the structure as well, such as double limericks, reverse limericks that answer to other limericks, tongue twisters, and truncated limericks, which have a shortened final line.
The Limerick template in Plottr will guide you through the process of writing a standard limerick.
Who Is the Limerick Template For?
If you’ve never tried your hand at writing limericks, or if you need help with remembering the structure, the limerick template in Plottr gives you a step-by-step outline. It’s a great tool for practicing rhyming, wit, and just having fun with words!
Plot Points of a Limerick
Limericks often tell stories in miniature, so you can plot them out before finding the right words and rhymes:
Line 1: Introduce the situation. Here you’ll set up the small story your poem shares.
Example: There once was a man from Nantucket.
Line 2: Elaborate on the situation. Add an extra detail that charms your reader.
Example: Who kept all his cash in a bucket.
Line 3: Twist 1. This adds a bit of surprise to your story, or changes the focus.
Example: But his daughter, named Nan…
Line 4: Twist 2. Use this to add another unexpected elaboration!
Example: … ran away with a man …
Line 5: Conclusion. Tie up the tale with something pithy and fun; puns and other wordplay are common here.
Example: And as for the bucket, Nantucket.
How Do You Use the Limerick Template in Plottr?
First, make sure you have Plottr installed or can use Plottr Pro (browser-based) and have an active Plottr membership. Alternatively, get started with a free Plottr trial.
Then just follow these easy steps:
- Step 1: From the Plottr dashboard, click Create From Template
- Step 2: Choose the Limerick template, then click Create New Project
- Step 3: The template will open in timeline view with a line for instructions, guidelines for the beginning, middle, and end, and cards for writing out your poem’s title and theme
- Step 4: Click on or hover over the scene card labelled Start Here to read instructions, and then proceed vertically downward to finish each part of your limerick
And there you have it! You’ve written a limerick!
Once you’ve mastered the standard format, you can start to play around with variations.
Limericks often comment on the form itself:
The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I’ve seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.
Give it a Try and Have a Laugh
Do you enjoy reading limericks? Have you ever written them? Sign up for a free trial of Plottr, and share your favorite creations in the comments below!
And if you want to plot something more serious, try these plot templates:
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