Well, I survived! I surprised myself by managing 30 poems in 30 days for NaPoWriMo2007. In fact the month seems to have flown past, so I must have enjoyed it a lot.
I reckon I've got an awful lot out of it. Some of the poems, I think, will be worth working on and revising and eventually releasing into the wild, but quite apart from that, there's all sorts of fringe benefits.
For starters, you get to see a lot of excellent poetry from the other participants (and I'll be spending the next few weeks catching up on that).
Secondly, I found actually writing a complete poem (however imperfect) every day a big mood-enhancer. Whenever I 'finish' a poem I get up the next morning feeling the same way I used to as a kid on Boxing Day morning - desperate to get straight back to playing Subbuteo, or whatever my Christmas present was. Having a whole month of Boxing Day mornings is highly recommended.
Thirdly, and connected to that, it'll probably make me change my method of writing a bit. In the past, I've often written poems a bit at a time, piecing them together. This challenge makes you fill in what would otherwise be gaps, and although you might change them later, I've found that having something on the page, seeing the poem as complete (even if it isn't really) has concentrated my mind better on what needs to be done.
Finally, it's got me into the habit of guarding my writing time more jealously, and using it more wisely. And however much you love writing, that's essential.
Anyway, May's here, and with it the cricket season (cricket in April never quite feels right). Juggling time gets that bit more difficult for a few months, but I'm not complaining.
1 comment:
matt - congrats! i used to think that i could never ever write a poem for 30 consecutive days, until i tried it, and lasted 90 days. starting last autumn, i actually made it to 180 days - but i would go so far as to call that madness. :)
what it did for me, the first time i tried it, was to show me that i can indeed write at any time of day and anywhere (i used to think it had to be evening/night, for instance). and i find it easier to keep going than to sit down occasionally and force myself to finish something, instead of just scribbling down a few notes.
that said, i must go and write today's poem. :)
all the best
michi
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