Thought I’d take a few minutes and explore how some of the other NaPoWriMo participants are doing. The very first comment on that heady first day was Adriene, keeper of Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World 4.7.

I really loved her traveling poem from the other day (her day 21 wasn’t as disjointed and confused as mine). Just love “Everything I have ever felt rides shotgun.”

I clicked over to her cohort of NaPoWrimers and thought Adriene’s comment about the whole experience really said it all:

When I began NaPoWriMo last year, I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to finish out the month with a poem a day. It surprised me that I could and did. One of the things I learned firsthand is that it’s not always about being “inspired” or even having a great deal of time: It’s simply a matter of doing it. If I want to write a poem a day and I only have an hour to spare, then I’ll have to write it in an hour. More often than not, though, I can find more time if I need to by using my time more wisely.

One problem with posting NaPoWriMo poems on a blog, presumably for everyone to see, is the fear that you’re not putting out your best work but simply writing something just to fulfill the requirement. Granted, that may be the case sometimes. One way to minimize the garbage poems is to keep them short, which makes it easier to write and revise something that’s at least presentable. It really comes down to whether you mind your audience seeing you in various states of undress.

I wrote some about this last year, that it wasn’t just my goal to write something every day but to post it here for other people to read. That decision wasn’t always easy but it was probably good for me. This year it seems easier, in part because I started with an over-arching theme as a starting point. Last year at the end of April I wrote:

Having a goal to write each day does make one a little more focused. Strangely like my purposeful entry into the sewing room each day. Have to get in there if I want to get anything done. Even if it’s only a little something, it’s still something. Likewise having a deadline each day to write something made me sit down and do it. Sometimes at lunch, sometimes after dinner, sometimes as the clock was ticking up to midnight.

Thanks to everyone who reads me here and greetings to everyone who is out there doing what they must on a daily basis!