Nearing the halfway mark for the month and writing a poems a day, I had to make one big change to my routine. For whatever reason, I was dragging my feet to finish and post poems until the very last minute of the day. That was weighing me down as I tried to wade through the writing and reading that is supposed to be a pleasure.

Posting late mattered because I took it to heart and made it a responsibility to write a poem a day, right. So I had it to do and it was on my mind all day, each day. It popped up throughout the day, whatever I was working on, that I had this obligation yet unfulfilled. It created a measure of pressure and distraction that I decided to eliminate. Today was my first day being really early to post a poem, and it felt really good.

I’m so early today until I hardly know what to do with myself. I’m home early and trying to catch up on reading and other writing. For sure, I’m going to try to go to bed early to see if I can get up even earlier than my usual 7:30, hopefully to read more poems. The poems are really fantastic!

And there’s lots to read. Where I’m posting my notifications, at Read Write Poem, there are more than 200 writers posting their works and comments–daily!

I’m also visiting the places listed in my National Poetry Month section in my sidebar. If you want to read more, and possibly better poems, by all means visit these places and get reading.

One place I have to mention I came across a few days ago, is Poetic Mindset. This blogger introduces a poet a day. It’s an ambitions effort that I am enjoying immensely. You should check it out.

So, how’s it going? Have you changed anything big in your poem a day practices? Have you come across any interesting sites? Or are you doing anything unusual for NaPoWriMo? I’d love to hear about it.

Today begins the challenge to write a poem a day, to the prompts from Read Write Poem. This morning’s prompt offers an interesting challenge. And this is one reason I enjoy writing to prompts from others: they take me in directions I may not have considered.

If you have no plans for NaPoWriMo, visit the links in my sidebar for NaPoWriMo 2010 activities. Visit Read Write Poem to see all that’s going on! There’s likely to be something that interests you. And the posts are very well connected so you can get the full breadth of what’s up for grabs, without missing a beat.

I’m signed up and ready to go! I got my first poem in my email today. And I believe I may even have a theme to write to for this month as well. I’d been toying with the idea. And I think Pamela Villars may have pushed me over to the side of a thematic effort.

Good luck to us all! Remember to enjoy the effort! I’ll be reading the poems posted as time permits. I look forward to reading yours too. And I hope to hear from you along in the month.

With two days left before NaPoWriMo begins, I’ve been thinking about what goes into writing a prompted poem daily for a month. One key is to use routines wherever you can. You know what you have to do and you get used to going through the steps. Breaking down my strategy, I found that a routine surfaced, and I want to share it.

Eight Steps to a Poem a Day

1. Read the prompt as early as possible. Give it time to marinate. Let your subconscious have first crack at it, while you go through your day.
2. Consciously dismiss all concerns and distractions at writing time. You may even try saying aloud, “Time to write a poem.” Focus on the prompt and how you interpret it.
3. When a prompt takes you to a particular place, that’s where you start writing. If that doesn’t happen, write whatever thoughts come to mind. In this stage of associative writing (I call it that) you’re stirring your personal knowledge from the bottom up, and things can surface that may have been dormant for many years. It happens and it is quite useful.
4. Eventually something will strike you. That’s the theme you wan to give your attention to and develop.
5. Find the sense of what you’re hearing in the words. Write words that are fully expressive of what you’re thinking, in colors, smells, emotions. Write to reflect the rhythm you feel, breaking lines however you like. Just get the words down to flesh out your message.
6. Shape your poem. You’ll read your poems several times before it’s over. First reading: Listen to the flow and revise your line breaks and punctuation to convey the rhythm and breaths you use.
7. Read aloud with affect. Does it sound like you want. Read with different rhythms that play from your shape. Listen for what readers may hear. Make changes as you see fit.
8. Take a break from the poem. If you’re like me you may not have a lot of time for this. But it helps. When you can, move off your poem, to something else. Return later to repeat the process of reading and editing  until your comfortable, (or run out of time), and post.

A Word about Speeding

These steps are from my experiences with daily poem writing on my own, and with prompts in November 2009. The writing goes fast, and so does the editing. In fact you can do it in a day or in an hour as time permits.

My point is that your goal isn’t to perfect your poem. That comes later. What you’re doing is making it work so that 1. your message is understood, and 2. you’re willing to let it go live. Easy, right?

Writing without prompts

Although this is written toward prompted poems, there’s really very little difference between prompted and unprompted poem writing. Really, the only difference is that someone other than you provides the prompts.

Think about it: Unprompted poems are really poems that you prompt for yourself. Rummaging through your thoughts, you pick up things that interest you and get working on it. So, skipping number 1, you can move through the same steps as above—I do.

Be sure to visit the links on the NPM 2010 page for links to participate in National Poetry Month. Links for this event are in the sidebar for easy access.

Let me know your thoughts. What did I miss? What routines do you have to write your poems?

National Poetry Month, 2008, 2009 Unofficial
Poem a Day Chapbook Challenge, November 2009 Official
National Novel Writing Month, 2009 Official

Attractions to Group Projects

Officially and unofficially, I’ve participated in these and other writing projects. They can be really intense. And I was thinking about why I elect to participate. It’s rarely just because I get bored.

Challenge

• Pushing myself beyond my suspected limits makes me think I’m not lazy
• It makes me know that I can reach beyond my comfort zone
• It affords me the opportunity to be part of a variety of projects
• It’s exciting both to participate and to complete

Community

• I learn of many new writers that I might not otherwise find
• One common interest brings people together to learn about each other
• Participants share resources that may be new to me
• Participants may actually become a resource
• There’s the chance to share something that others may find useful

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NaNoWriMo 2009 Update

Some people say that they don’t write with an outline. I get that. It was great fun letting my characters meet new characters, and watching them evolve. However, I’m learning what I can and cannot do regarding leaving them their own devices.

In short order I’ve managed to get a good bit behind in my writing. However, I have good reason. I needed to go back and do some mapping. It turns out that these characters with lives and personalities still need some guidance. Especially if I’m going to get them to the point of fulfilling my ideas.

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by Shari Lynne Smothers

Luminous full Moon with its
finely etched marble finish.
A beautiful lamp God mounted.

Looks like He put in
a brand new bulb.
I can see the gray markings clearly.

So brightly does it shine
in the cool blue sky,
it radiates out have its own thickness.

If I held up a paper
I could trace exactly
the picture on the side of the moon.

When my grandmother and I
were out on a night like tonight,
She would sing the moon song.

I never learned that song
I don’t even know that I liked it.
Only that I loved to hear her sing it.

She may have been flat
or slightly off key,
but there was pure joy in her voice

that gave me just one thing more
that I would one day miss,
each time I see a beautiful moon

clearly on a night like this.

From Pebbles in My Shoes, ©2004

Back-story: This is another poem from when my grandmother was sick; it was time I spent enjoying what we had left, and who I was losing, by reflecting on things we shared. The only thing left is the rest of the story. In the time since I wrote the poem, March 2003, a full moon still makes me remember, and smile.

by Shari Lynne Smothers

Only the sun showed bright.
I couldn’t tell if it was doing it though.
The air was still
the clouds didn’t move
power lines didn’t sway
as there was no breeze.

A green S.U.V. in the
middle of the street
carried people who
didn’t move or speak.
The family dog at the house
across the street

had fur that seemed
to be on pause and a tail
stuck up in the air.
And as I looked around
at the housetops and trees
I saw the telling sign.

In midair was a flightless bird
neither moving forward nor
crashing to the ground.
The world had stopped,
paying homage to
grandmother who was slowing.

A bit longer things held
to let me take it all in.
“We are all on one accord
in sorrow for our passing friend.”

As everything resumed
flying, blowing, wagging, going
and I continued to stand watching
I realized
all that went by was an instant.

From Pebbles in My Shoes, ©2004

Back–Story: This poem came out of a daily writing stint. My goal to write a poem a day happened to fall in the last month of my grandmother’s illness before she succumbed to the ravages of cancer.

On some days I’d write more than one. And often they were not so great. Still, there were those that wrote themselves workably or whole. This one came out mostly whole—much like the long poem for which the collection is titled. But, you’ll have to get the book to read that one.

Not everything that I wrote that month was angry or sad. Some poems were ironically hopeful. But I find a measure of peace in respecting or appreciating the hurting times. I’ll offer you one more bittersweet poem after this one and then I’ll let up.

As a final observation I’ll share, this poem doesn’t make me sad. It’s a remembrance of my history. As with any poem, you have to find your own reflection in the meaning, or not. When you read a poem, cracking it open is often as easy as considering yourself. Start with, “It makes me think of…” and see where you get to.