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Archive for the tag “National Poetry Month”

21 Apr 2014

Inspiration through Participation

My favourite poetry book

My favourite poetry book (Photo credit: Nick Kenrick . enuf protesting)

This being National Poetry Month, I challenged myself once again to writing more poetry. Last year I wrote a lot of new poetry, but didn’t make the goal of a new one every day. I followed one community’s challenge, and some days the prompt simply didn’t work for me or I tired out.

This year, I am following not one, but five challenges. The Poetic Asides blog is doing it’s annual Poem A Day challenge. I discovered the NaPoWriMo (National Poem Writing Month) blog which posts daily prompts. The 30 Day Challenge page on Facebook is another to write a poem a day. I also joined the A to Z blogging challenge, which means blogging every Monday through Saturday in April with a consecutive letter of the alphabet. And there’s the challenge on the Sims game forums again this year, but for a poem a week instead of one a day.

Last year I ended the month with 19 new poems. This year, I have written at least one poem every day. Some days more. With nine days to go, I already have 30 new poems! What really made a difference was having so many prompts to choose from. I could combine different prompts, or choose just one, or do something completely different. In addition to just the prompts, I met new bloggers and poets, and was inspired by their poems. It was from following a fellow blogger‘s AtoZ challenge that I learned about the Elfje poetry form, which in the few short days since I tried it has become a favorite.

Don’t limit yourself. It’s by broadening our horizons that we find inspiration. 

Mary Butterfly Signature

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Posted in Community, Creative Writing, Mary's Expression, Poetry and tagged , , | Leave a comment
08 Jul 2013
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Witness to the Art and Dedication

"Writing", 22 November 2008

I have a nine-year-old son and a husband who both love my attention. I know they both have Quality Time as one of their top love languages (and mine!), so it is important. However, this has made it even harder for me to write when others are around. My son wants to share, or do something with me. My husband comments “but you had all day to write”. So I tend not to write on weekends or breaks from school. Or if I do, I get cranky from all the interruptions. Then an event like NaNoWriMo comes around, or National Poetry Month. I think: this is important! I will make an exception. But the boys don’t see it that way. To them, it’s the same as every other day. So as the month goes by, I would do less challenges in evenings and weekends. Until I eventually stalled out altogether, feeling I wasn’t getting the support I needed.

I have since realized my mistake. It’s impossible to prove to someone that my writing is important if I don’t act like it is. I haven’t made it a priority. I can’t expect them to respect my writing time when I don’t respect it myself. When they don’t *see* me write. I put that to the test last April. Both husband and son were made aware that I was going to write a poem each day, and be spending time on the poetry forum, even on weekends and spring break. In return, my husband helped remind my son when I was working, and I got the space and support I needed. And it ended up being my most successful poetry month.

Now that it’s summer, I’ve put into the schedule for one hour of writing every week day. It’s not a perfect system yet. My kid is good with schedules, and has been giving me the hour when I ask for it. I need to be more consistent in doing so, and not wasting that hour when I do.

How do carve writing time for yourself? How do you convince those in your life that writing/creativity is important?

Mary Butterfly Signature

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Posted in Creative Writing, Creativity, Mary's Expression and tagged , , , , , , ,
10 May 2013
6 Comments

Mary's Poetry Month Success

I was very pleased with my poetic productivity in April. Here’s the breakdown.

I competed in daily challenges on the Sims 3 forums. These consisted of weekly themes, and daily styles/forms. Not all poems had to be newly written for the contest.

  • Wrote 19 new poems, and entered all but one day.
  • Won twelve days (half of those were ties).
  • Earned 2600 points ($26 of Simpoints which I got in stuff for my game).
  • 1332 words of poetry written.
  • Compliments on my poems, as well as small gifts from other contestants.
  • Four new Sims friends (fellow poets).
  • Overall winner (most wins and points).
  • Eight poems packed with potential that need polishing.

I’m so glad I participated in the Sims 3 Forums rather than the Poetic Asides blog this year. It was much more intimate, and I think that helped to inspire me as the month went along.

I also composed two Book Spine poems, one which I shared in my last post. The other is one I did for the library contest. Below is my poem showing what the library means to me. It was a finalist (top ten of over 100 entries).

Mary's Library Book Spine Poem

Mary’s Library Book Spine Poem

Brink of Chaos
The Great Escape
Gateways
Haven

Doing the book spine poem at the library also had another benefit. See that bottom book? I grabbed it solely for the title. I glanced at the front cover blurb due to the butterfly. Went on instinct, and checked out the book. Read it in two days. LOVE. The book is HAVEN by Kristi Cook. It’s a YA about a girl with precognition, who transfers to a school where everyone has some sort of psychic ability. In the author’s own words: Think X-Men meets Twilight.  Loved the characters, the fresh spin on the plot. Could not put the book down. Immediately checked out book two, MIRAGE. Now eagerly waiting for book three to come out (this fall!).

To end the post, I will share with you one of the poems I wrote last month. A Villanelle.

The Author

A goddess, many worlds do I create
to fill with danger, passion, magic, flight,
with words alone manipulating fate.

A lonely princess on a grand estate,
a dragon in his lair just out of sight,
a goddess, many worlds do I create.

Each character is given a strong trait
then thrown into some unforgiving plight;
with words alone manipulating fate.

When countless suitors seek to procreate,
the dragon takes them out with just a bite.
A goddess, many worlds do I create.

A hero uses wit to then debate
and keeps the dragon occupied all night,
with words alone manipulating fate.

The dragon tricked to eat some poisoned bait,
the princess freed to her own tale rewrite.
A goddess, many worlds do I create,
with words alone manipulating fate.

Mary Butterfly Signature

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Posted in Creative Writing, Mary's Expression, Poetry and tagged , , , , ,
12 Apr 2013
6 Comments

Poetry Month: Book Spine Poetry

If you’re not aware, April is National Poetry Month. Next week is also National Library Week. AtYourLibrary.org is celebrating both with a contest. Use the books from your library to compose a Book Spine Poem telling why the library matters to you (deadline April 20). I haven’t made it out to my library yet, but wanted to make my own book spine poem. This isn’t themed about the library, and was made using my personal library.

A book spine poem is made by stacking book spines so the titles make a free verse poem.

Mary's Book Spine Poem

Mary’s Book Spine Poem

In case that’s hard to read, or the image doesn’t load, it reads:

The Shadow Warrior
Exile
Out of Avalon
Through Stone and Sea
Too Stubborn to Die

It was a fun challenge going through all my books, pulling and mixing and shifting trying to find something I liked and that told a story. I’d lvoe to see what you come up with from your own libraries.

Mary Butterfly Signature

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Posted in Contest, Creative Writing, Creativity, Mary's Expression, Poetry and tagged , , , , , ,

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