Greetings, writers!
Did you know that the month of April is National Poetry Writing Month? If you didn’t, it’s not too late to get started on this poem-a-day challenge. Like NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which takes place in the month of November, the goal is simple: write, write, write! But instead of writing a full length, first-draft novel in one month, the challenge here is to write at least one poem a day. The poetry database poets.org briefly describes the history of NaPoWriMo:
“Inspired by the successful celebrations of Black History Month (February) and Women’s History Month (March), the Academy of American Poets established National Poetry Month in 1996. Along the way we enlisted a variety of government agencies and officials, educational leaders, publishers, sponsors, poets, and arts organizations to help. National Poetry Month is a registered trademark of the Academy of American Poets.”
Even if you aren’t a poet, NaPoWriMo is a stellar way study your lines of prose, too. Lines of poetry and prose are essentially born from the same place in our brains. Perhaps instead of writing a poem, you could try writing several short, out-of-context lines to really jog your writing skill.
There are several sites (some social media oriented) that post prompts daily. You can find a prompt for day 15 (as well as the prompts for days that have already passed) here, on a popular site run by poet Maureen Thorson:
Maureen’s prompt for Day 15:
“[…] And now for our prompt (optional, as always). Because today marks the halfway point in our 30-day sprint, today I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that incorporates the idea of doubles. You could incorporate doubling into the form, for example, by writing a poem in couplets. Or you could make doubles the theme of the poem, by writing, for example, about mirrors or twins, or simply things that come in pairs. Or you could double your doublings by incorporating things-that-come-in-twos into both your subject and form. Happy writing!”
Need inspiration? Maybe you’re already feeling inspired, but you’d like a little bit of guidance? Take a look at our blog posts, where you can find mountains of helpful tips and tricks as you write your poetry.
13th Floor Magazine 