Young Writers Society

Like, a place to discuss what's happening in NaPo, okay?
How is it making you feel? What do you think you've accomplished if you had a goal for yourself? If you didn't, have you learned something? Is it making April happy for you?

For me, since I was like all prose no poems for a year, I was slowly getting into that really simple, concise prose that seemed to be what everyone wanted, right? But poems this April help me remember how to see things. I can't wait to keep going and keep bringing out what I see, because it's great just to bring it up for me again.

And have you been doing collaborations? Have you been inspired by specific things?

For me, a lot of inspiration from writing together with Pingu. Picking objects or prompts and just seeing where we go and how it comes together and how it goes apart. LOVE YOU, PINGU.



How's your NaPo? What would you like to see other people do in NaPo?

That's difficult to answer.

I've certainly surprised myself given the volume - the amount! Over 30 in 12 days - I've produced in so short a time, but then, it takes all of two minutes to write my tiny, contained poems. Still, I wanted to do it this year for a reason, and that was because I hadn't written anything for quite some time, several months in fact, and I thought doing something as simple as this, repetitively, methodically - it would help, it would chip away at my inactivity and generally inspire me to write and finish work more often. Certainly, the ideas are there, and I feel fresh creatively, but I won't know if it's worked as a tactic until the end of this month.

I definitely feel more energised and optimistic about my productivity. The amount I've done may seem trivial to all of you prolific writers out there but for me, after so many months of nothing, I appreciate it all the more.

This is my first NaPo (and I won't be doing it the next year as I'll be preparing for GRE) and I really enjoyed it. It is just a study break where I write this out, but I feel like this has helped me concentrate more on studying and improved my sense of poetry. I don't have a goal, just go with the writing. Is it making April happy, no really, but it sure is making it worthwhile.

I get inspired by other poems and objects. An idea floats when I'm almost off to sleep in the night and I work on it the next day.

I maybe terrible with poetry, but in all, I'm here to have fun and maybe improve my writing.

As to others' NaPo, I love reading them. Sometimes, one of them, is enough to get me inspired for my NaPo. And I hope to learn something of poetry as I read theirs.

Well, the only goal I had was to write at least one poem a day for twenty days. I missed writing yesterday's poem, but I can still reach the goal so it's fine. It's sort-of fun, actually, and it's...freeing to know that I've written a piece of work everyday (the day I didn't write a poem I was working on a novella). Especially since it's my first NaPo, and like Lava, I've got exams next year so I won't be able to do it then.

My inspiration is the music I'm listening to, and some of my short stories (summarizing them in poems). The poems I'm studying for English are also pretty inspiring, actually.

Certainly, the ideas are there, and I feel fresh creatively, but I won't know if it's worked as a tactic until the end of this month.

I definitely feel more energised and optimistic about my productivity. The amount I've done may seem trivial to all of you prolific writers out there but for me, after so many months of nothing, I appreciate it all the more.

So are you working toward that idea of kind of sinking into a habit? Like, working on a poem or more a day for so many days that even when NaPo ends you won't stop and you'll still be able to keep that flow of new, fresh work going, whether it be in poetry or not?

And, ha! I definitely think there's something to be said for productivity. For me, it's tying me more closely into NaPo. If I wrote ONE poem a day, I could do it at midnight and forget about poems for the rest of the day, but if I'm constantly looking for another one to write, it helps me stay longer in that mindset and get more used to moving around in it, so I think what you're doing makes sense. Do you think working on a longer poem and trying to edit it for the entirety of a day instead of writing anything else would help you in similar ways?

I maybe terrible with poetry, but in all, I'm here to have fun and maybe improve my writing.

Right! For sure NaPo can be fun. Do you feel like when NaPo is finished you'll just be done with poetry for a while, though, or has it scratched deeper into you? Or don't you know yet? xD And are you thinking about anyways you want your writing improved?

The poems I'm studying for English are also pretty inspiring, actually.

That's cool to know that you're reading something along with NaPo. What sort of poems are you reading in class and what are your discussions on those poems? What kinds of things do you learn from them and HOW do they inspire you?


Ask each other questions, too, if you're interested, yeah? xP

I didn't mean I was using it to try and instil a routine whereby further poetry could be produced, but just writing in general, yeah - prose, actually. I'm no poet, any fool can see that.

I would be interested to try that one-long-poem-for-a-day idea, though.

I think that I've written some of my best poetry (which isn't saying much) during this. I've only recently learned that 'ZOMG POETRY DOESN'T NEED TO RHYME' so I'm wandering into freestyle and liking it very much.

It's been cool so far. We aren't halfway yet. Sort of exciting if folks can keep it through.

Mine's going okay. I haven't quite finished yesterday's and I haven't started today's, but this is as far as I've ever gotten so I'm pleased by that at least.

Lava wrote:I won't be doing it the next year as I'll be preparing for GRE

Y'know, what better way to prepare for the verbal section than flexing your poetry muscle? Pull up a list of GRE vocab words and write a poem including those words, and you'll remember them way better than if you used flash cards.


As long as I can keep finding downtime at work to write, I'll be okay. I just cannot write at home, between the old lady, the dogs running around chewing each other's faces, cooking, cleaning, going out...I just can't focus. But, somehow, having a few silent acquaintances in the same room as me tapping on keyboards and clicking mice is soothing.

I think about poetry all day, but I tend to only write one poem a day once I've got the ideas solidified and then edit it in the wee hours of the night (after the lady and the dogs have fallen asleep). So yeah, I put all my eggs in one basket.

Even though I'm normally a strict prose writer, I relish this chance to play around, clean out the closets, and see what tricks have been laying around without a home for too long and expose them to the sunlight. Spring cleaning, as it were. Take the little threads that aren't yet strong enough to support a 5,000 word story and make a 500 word poem.

Inspiration? The rest of you good people. Not necessarily a strict 1:1 inspiration, but more the feel of your words and the heart of your topics and just being among like minds.

sargsauce wrote:

Lava wrote:I won't be doing it the next year as I'll be preparing for GRE

Y'know, what better way to prepare for the verbal section than flexing your poetry muscle? Pull up a list of GRE vocab words and write a poem including those words, and you'll remember them way better than if you used flash cards. :D

You have given me the brilliant idea to use my NaPo to study my German. Yay for productivity and creativity combined!

As for me, my main reason for doing NaPo this year is to see what happens. It's a nice change of pace to just write and post something without (or very minimal editing), and already I've got a couple of poem bits that might be promising later on.

Besides, I'm having fun.

sargsauce wrote:

Lava wrote:I won't be doing it the next year as I'll be preparing for GRE

Y'know, what better way to prepare for the verbal section than flexing your poetry muscle? Pull up a list of GRE vocab words and write a poem including those words, and you'll remember them way better than if you used flash cards.

You got me think there. I just might spew out a couple of poems with fanciful words in them.

Hannah wrote:Right! For sure NaPo can be fun. Do you feel like when NaPo is finished you'll just be done with poetry for a while, though, or has it scratched deeper into you? Or don't you know yet? xD And are you thinking about anyways you want your writing improved?

I definitely won't be done with poetry. Mainly because I've learnt to experiment with it more. But, after these 30 days, I probably will give poetry a break. As for improvement, my first goal is to churn out those poems. And then, let;s look at editing.

The end is so close I can almost taste it! So exhilarated! Hope you guys are too!

I had a lazy streak and only had 6 poems; so I went on a haiku binge. It actually turned out really well- I wrote some of my best haikus and really improved my style.

I must say, I never expected to get this far, or that I wouldn't feel like setting myself on fire on rereading the stuff I've done.