I'm a sucker for challenges

They take me to unexpected places

Photo by Author, Myanmar, 2018

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Hello. Hope you and your family are well.

That seems like such a small thing to hope for, but it has so many different meanings and levels now.

I’m doing ok. Distracting myself, as usual, with writing.

I was invited to join one of those ‘Word-A-Day’ challenges.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can’t get into them. This one was different somehow. It might have been because it was National Poetry Writing Month. (NaPoWriMo). It might have been the invitation itself.

Something hooked me, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

A side note — I love a good challenge and have sometimes been called the ‘Queen of Follow-through’, so I try to be selective.

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My intention was to write only to the prompts that inspired me. I wasn’t going to attempt them all. Just one or two, to see how that went.

If you’re interested in my process, here’s a short demonstration of how I write poems.

How To Improve Your Poetry -From a Top Writer in Poetry

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About halfway through the month, I realized I had a real shot at writing all thirty, so I doubled back and put some effort into writing to the prompts I missed.

Here are my take-aways from this creative experience.

I discovered a bit of discipline is good for me. 

• Harnessing my writing energy and directing it toward a single word ultimately sparked an idea that led to a thought. 

• That idea often led to another one and the poem began to take shape.

My writing improved.

• Practice makes perfect. Well, not exactly perfect, but my writing improved.

• I developed a technique that helped spark inspiration if a prompt wasn’t inspiring any ideas on its own.

• I became more efficient at creating each post. Tags, title, image, links. When you write to an ongoing challenge you have to get efficient or you fall behind. No pressure, right?

New fans, new friends, and new readers.

• I don’t often submit to Literary Impulse, so there were readers there who weren’t familiar with my writing. I was delighted to read their comments and meet new friends. 

• I always reply when someone comments on my work and I read something of theirs as well. I found several fantastic new writers to add to my reading list. 

New opportunities. 

• I’ve been invited to participate in a Podcast, which scares the heck out of me. So that’s why I should do it, right?

• It’s possible that one or several of my poems will be included in an anthology. Cool, right?

My views and reads for the month increased by about a third.

• I’ve been experiencing a lag in reads the past few months and was excited to see increased interest in my writing. 

• It wasn’t just the poems either. Other work was being discovered by readers, which is always gratifying.

It was satisfying.

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If you are looking for a way to jump-start your writing, I would recommend the experience.

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If this idea interests you, here’s an open-ended challenge that might inspire you.

Made Up Words Writing Challenge

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