Last week, I challenged myself to write a poem a day for thirty days. On November 16, I will have written thirty poems. At the rate I’m going, thirty mostly bad poems. I’m thinking: just in time to make a self-bound book of bad poetry to give to family and friends for Christmas. Hey, hey!
I set out on a similar mission about six years ago (the challenge, not the gift). But that was before Goldberg and Lamott gave me permission to just write.
- “You are free to write the worst junk in America.” Natalie Goldberg, Rule #6 of 7 rules of writing practice in Wild Mind
- “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.” Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Six years ago, I was barely a week in when I abandoned the challenge because as my words found the page, my mind was screaming, “This sucks!” and “That’s crap!” Back then, I didn’t understand the importance of showing up to create no matter what.
This year, I’m showing up for poems for thirty days. I don’t care if I write thirty crap poems that suck. One good one might spill onto the page, but I’ve released that expectation, too, so that my inner poet can play, unfettered by the dread of failure or the pressure to write to someone else’s standard.
Thirty days for thirty poems.
It’s an excavation of sorts. Already I’m learning something about myself and the crystalline topics that have been forming in my head for six decades. If the challenge doesn’t transform me in some way, I’m sure it will inform me.
Have you given yourself or taken on a thirty-day challenge? What came of the challenge? What did you learn about yourself?
©Pennie Nichols. All Rights Reserved. 2024
I did NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) several times – 50,000 words in 30 days (the month of November) . You just write and write and worry about editing and polishing later. It’s quite intense. One of those manuscripts, I know, helped my mental health after being in a flood back in 2011. It doesn’t surprise me that you would have benefited from this exercise. It doesn’t matter if these drafts never go anywhere (like my NaNoWriMo manuscripts). I learned it’s the act of writing that counts. Alana ramblinwitham
Yes. I’ve also done NaNoWriMo. I sort of do that all year now :O. I would break if I didn’t write. My mental, emotional, and even physical wellbeing depend on it.
Many times I’ll write what I think is crap at the time. A year later (even more sometimes) I’ll look at it, and think, “That wasn’t so bad.” I just write these days. As they say, rewriting is rewriting. I think your poem idea is wonderful! I’d love to see it.
I feel the same. Goldberg in Wild Mind advises “Write dumb. Just be dumb.” Sometimes when we take our need to be clever and interesting off the table, we can finally be clever and interesting. 🙂