the poems of November
October 25, 2021
November (coming up before you know it) is National Novel Writing Month: NaNoWriMo. Each November since 1999, NaNoWriMo has put forth a challenge: write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. More than half a million people participated in 2020.
But not all of them were writing novels. Some were writing poetry.
Fifty thousand words of poetry would be a lot (approximately 1666 a day). (For reference, Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” is about 1400 words.)
But the poet’s goal does not need to be a word count. It could be to write a poem each day (as during National Poetry Month), to complete enough poems for a chapbook, to write a series of poems on a theme, or to explore a different form each day. It could also be a time to rediscover and edit previously written poems.
November is right around the corner. What will you make of it?
For prompts, structure, accountability, and encouragement, sign up at NaNoWriMo (it’s free).
NaNoWriMo 2020
November 1, 2020

It’s November (somehow) and along with everything else, that means it’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Launched in 1999, the project’s idea is to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. In 2019, 455,080 writers participated in NaNoWriMo programs, including 104,350 students and educators in the Young Writers Program.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, NaNoWriMo “believes in the transformational power of creativity.” If you sign up (it’s free), you get prompts and encouragement and become part of a community that stretches past the 30 days of November.
Many poets participate, using the daily-writing structure and prompts to draft enough poems to fill a book. Will this be your year for NaNo poems?
. . . . .
graphic by Tyrell Waiters
are you ready?
March 28, 2020
Poets, sharpen your quills. It’s almost National Poetry Month and that means it’s almost National/Global Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo or GloPoWriMo). Again this year, Maureen Thorson invites you to register (it’s free) for prompts and encouragement and to post your poems.
If you don’t want to follow those prompts, there are plenty of other ways to get your poems going. Some people start or join 30/30 duos or groups. Some poets commit to a theme for the month’s poems. You could sneak over to the internet and grab this list of 30 prompts by Kelli Russell Agodon. Robert Lee Brewer has again posted the annual April Poem-A-Day Challenge on Poetic Asides at Writer’s Digest. Daily prompts will begin on March 30 at Poetry Super Highway. And while National Novel Writing Month doesn’t officially begin until November, the NaNoWriMo folks are concerned about your well-being, so they have started a new initiative that includes daily prompts: #StayHomeWriMo.
However you choose to meet the challenge, get ready: 30 poems in 30 days. You can do it.
your next chapbook
October 29, 2018
November, which is right around the corner, is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Some poets apply NaNoWriMo discipline to their poetry and crank out 50,000 words in 30 days.
If you’d like another option, Writer’s Digest is again offering their annual November PAD (Poem A Day) Chapbook Challenge. Robert Lee Brewer posts a prompt on his Poetic Asides blog. Write a poem each day using the prompts and then, in the month of December, pare your poems down to a manuscript of 10-20 pages in length with no more than one poem per page and submit the chapbook to Brewer for an opportunity to win fame if not fortune. At the very least you’ll have a chapbook to submit somewhere else. You don’t have to register and you don’t have to submit your poems day by day.
Read the guidelines and get ready to write.
planning your WriMo
October 18, 2018
Two weeks. That’s how long you have to get your verbs in order. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts November 1, and whether you plan to write the first draft of a 50,000-word novel or put your 50,000 words to work on poetry, it’s a great opportunity to be really productive.
2018 marks NaNoWriMo’s “20th year of encouraging creativity, education, and the power of the imagination through the largest writing event in the world.” Last year, NaNoWriMo involved 394,507 participants on six continents, and more than 58,000 of them met their 50,000-word goal. Will you be one this year?
Learn more on the NaNoWriMo website and on Facebook. Mark your calendar. Make the commitment. It could change your life.
yes, yes, November
October 28, 2016
It’s almost November, and if your calendar isn’t already bulging, please note:
- National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) celebrates its 18th year of encouraging creativity, education, and the power of the imagination through the largest writing event in the world. This year, NaNoWriMo expects nearly 500,000 people to start a 50,000-word novel in the month of November, guided by this year’s theme: Your Novel, Your Universe. More than 250 NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published. Many poets use the project as a challenge to write a poem each day of the month. To find out more, sign up, get pep talks, participate in forums, and get inspired, visit the NaNoWriMo website.
- Writer’s Digest will offer the 2016 November PAD (Poem A Day) Chapbook Challenge. Robert Lee Brewer, author of the Poetic Asides blog, will post a prompt each day. The idea is to write a poem in response to that prompt and then, at the end of the month, assemble and submit a chapbook of the best 20 or fewer of your poems. Find out all the details on the 2016 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Guidelines page.
- November also brings the Cascadia Poetry Festival (Seattle, Nov 3-6) and Wordstock (Portland, Nov 5).
- Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 6, 2016, 2:00:00 AM, when clocks are turned backward 1 hour to 1:00:00 AM local standard time.
NaNoWriMo minus eight
October 24, 2015
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts Sunday, November 1. For the 30 days of November, writers of every ilk crank out massive numbers of words toward the goal of 50,000 by the end of the month. The emphasis is on quantity, not clean copy, the idea being that if you have 50,000 words to edit, you’re really close to having a book.
And don’t let the word novel dissuade or intimidate you. Poets and non-fiction writers can NaNoWriMo, too. If you sign up on the NaNoWriMo website, you’ll find pep talks, word counters, milestone badges, forums, tips and plenty of NaNoWriMo swag. There are also local/regional activities and Come Write In events at libraries, bookstores and other neighborhood spaces. NaNoWriMo is on Facebook, too.
Whether you go for the gold or just use NaNoWriMo as a challenge to get you to write every single day for a month, just think of all the delicious words you’ll write!
Seattle Writes
July 29, 2015
Seattle Writes is a free, public program of The Seattle Public Library that offers workshops, write-ins and writing space. The Seattle Writes calendar currently includes a workshop on SELF-e, the Library’s free self-publishing platform, a presentation on book publishing by author Jayne Ann Krentz, and weekly NaNoWriMo write-ins during the month of November. Learn more on Seattle Writes.