NaPoWriMo 2023
This is the year I’m finally doing NaPoWriMo. NaPoWriMo stands for National Poetry Writing Month. Poets all over the world participate in this challenge to write a poem a day in April. There is also a Facebook group where there are prompts and support to keep you going throughout the month. Participating in NaPoWriMo is a way to celebrate poetry, get into the habit of writing poems, and joining a community of poets. Fun fact: 2023 marks NaPoWriMo’s 20th anniversary!
I’ve been reading more poetry lately, so this felt like a natural activity to participate in. I didn’t do much prep, but I set up a Notion page where I could keep track of each poem draft and add notes that could help me edit each poem. I typically write a poem when I’m completing my morning pages each day. With no prompts to guide me, my poems this month are off the cuff and free verse. I’m getting down the essence of the idea for each poem with notes and a first draft. As I am tracking each poem, I may go back and revise a few of them later on.
Writing a poem a day has been such a good experience. As I’m completing this second week into the challenge, it is getting easier to think of ideas to write poems about. I’m even thinking of more poem ideas during the day and jot down those ideas immediately to not forget them. Getting a volume of poems written is the goal rather than choosing the ‘perfect’ idea each day. With an abundance of ideas, it is easy to not get so precious about each idea.
I also went to a poetry reading earlier this month which was an inspiration to keep the poetry writing going. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the local bookstores full of folks eager for an evening of poetry. Hearing poetry read out loud gave me an additional boost to get into a poetry writing habit. One thing I learned about the world of poetry is that it could take a poet years and even decades to get a poetry collection published.
If you are looking for some poetry writing prompts to get started and possibly join NaPoWriMo (it is never too late to join in!), check out Writing Forward’s poetry writing prompts.
Do you write poetry? Are you participating in NaPoWriMo this year? Leave a comment or send me a message if you’d like to get in touch. I would love to hear from you!