It's day ten, and I'm happy to say I have ten quite different poems drafted. (Coincidentally, today I also completed my tenth hour of driving lessons.) I feel a little nervous saying this, but on third or fourth reading I'm pleased thus far with the results. Some are weak, sure, but I've been ambitious and risky, and the poems feel stronger for it. How are others doing?
I'm finding the biggest source of inspiration is reading more poems. I also find I'm drafting ideas sooner than I would otherwise. I tend to do a lot of drafting in my head before committing anything to paper but this month I'm committing ideas to paper before I'd normally do so. Some of these may not survive as complete poems but I've leaving serious editing until I've time to properly consider and edit what I've written during April. Day 10 and 10 drafts so far.
ReplyDeleteI would agree you Emma Lee; being inspired by reading other poets - Claire Treviens new collection, The Shipwrecked House, has been a great inspiration, as has some back copies of Tim Wells` Rising magazine.
ReplyDeletePlaying with form has been interesting, especially trying the Pantoum; the draft unfolds, in places, like the rolling out of a carpet. Approaching a poem by writing a series of questions has helped (as in your Day 2 prompt Carrie). So far I have 9 drafts, the 10th to do shortly... it has been a really good discipline to get into. I have also played around with a short line poem, another using long lines (20-24 syllables) as well as a mixture of the two approaches... a wave like quality shows itself occasionally, which is good to play with and follow when developing drafts further. Keep the prompts coming...
I started a week early - hung for a sheep as a lamb mentality - the bonus is I've been able to have an extra day with a couple of my poems. Yesterday, I picked a sonnet I like and wrote a poem that imitated rhythm, sound, line length, sentence length & tone, but changed all the words: enjoyed the exercise. I like the freedom of not needing to land a whopper. All best, Simon.
ReplyDeleteI've written ten poems and posted them to my blog. Some read like drafts and in other circumstances some would fall by the wayside entirerly, but for me the discipline of attempting the exercise in this way is the important thing. Getting material out of my workbook and into a finished (if ever any poem is finished) form is an area where I have consistently struggled for one reason or another (sheer laziness springing immediately to mind).
ReplyDeleteThe poems are being worked up from a notebook started at the turn of the year, although if I run out or stuttter, I'll have to go back to the previous notebook. I'm not posting anything that's been previously worked up as that would feel like a cheat. So if I hit a day where nothing seems to work in a way that I'm reasonably happy with at the time, then I won't post anything.
What I am finding is that I am getting better at working at drafts on my computer, which is one of the main things I was hoping to acheive. With the self-imposed target of posting a poem a day, I'm also generally waking up thinking about poetry each morning, and that's no bad way to start any day.
This is also as good an opportunity as any to say thanks for the idea in the first place - it's certainly a challenge.
I have written ten poems though most will stand some revision at a future date. I started the process by combing through a number of notebooks and compiling a list of about 60 titles that I might be able to turn into complete pieces of work. This was to relieve the panic that I might be sitting staring at a blank sheet of paper for 30 days. The best feature of the exercise is that it gives discipline. I am usually the sort of person who will find any excuse for not sitting down and seriously thinking about how an idea a phrase can be turned into a fully fledged piece of work. So far the process has worked though I still live on the precipice that tomorrow there will be no inspiration. However it always does come with pieces that often seem as if they had been written by some other person not me at all, but isn`t that part of the magic of writing poetry.
ReplyDeleteI've been working from old notebooks. I wrote a list of unfinished poems at the start of the exercise and I've turned my attention to at least one poem from the list each day but a couple of brand new poems have emerged, as well, which I'm delighted about. Yes, the discipline has been good and my husband and kids have been incredibly supportive! Best comment from my husband: "Never mind about dinner, have you got your poem written?". I'm not posting on my blog because I want to keep my options open for competition and magazine submissions. Thanks, Carrie, for roping me in to this!
ReplyDeleteI have written ten poems and it has been a joyful experience of writing them out in one draft with only a few tweaks to space them (to make the easier to read more that anything!)A couple of them have potential to become 'real' poems, whatever that is! I am surprised how autobiographical they are, as if writing spontaneously draws on very personal stuff I usually keep locked away.
ReplyDeleteI have written 11 now, on the 11th. I agree with everything everybody else has written here, and more than the freedom which is spoken of, I have learnt that I don't need to finish all the poems, now, they can be skeletons and first drafts. Everyone I know who is doing the poem a day is finding it a surprisingly good exercise. Making myself look at those old notebooks is great, like clearing out clutter from cupboards, stuff you know you should do something with, even just taking it to the charity shop - have a good look at it, make a decision. Could put it back for later!
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