I Did It--and I Didn't Do It!

November is always such a busy month, and this one has taken the cake. With the Washington, DC, trip with the Holocaust class and the trip to San Antonio, TX, for the English conference, I was over-committed. Then I read about NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month. But I heard about it through Poetic Asides, the poetry blog I've been participating on since April's poem-a-day challenge. Robert Lee Brewer, the moderator, issued a new challenge for November: Write a poem a day, working toward a chapbook. He issued prompts each day, and we were off.

Since I've been writing with these people since April, we have begun to feel like we know each other. In addition to writing our own poem drafts daily, we read the others and often comment. I'll admit that a response to one of my poems always made me happy. A lot of my poems had references to music, particularly that of my teen years (when music was great.) I also included some literary allusions, which should come as a surprise to no one who knows me.

I actually started the month trying to undertake both challenges. My novel, however, didn't go the direction I wanted, and then in Washington, I just couldn't keep up with the 1600 plus word limit per day. I finally did something against my nature: I didn't finish. I decided February will be a much better month for a novel; November was just right for poetry.

Now I have a nice little portfolio of poems and a little over a month to tweak them, select my best 10-20, and submit for bragging rights. For the time being, we're back to once-a-week Wednesday prompt, andI'll admit it: I miss the daily challenge.

One thing I know for sure: poetry is alive and well in the world!

I Did It--and I Didn't Do It!