I originally drafted this post back in January. I wanted to share my #yearof100poems project and I was looking for some fellow poetry lovers. “Come on, we’ll write 100 poems together, piece of cake,” was what I would say.
But…it isn’t exactly easy. And actually the final number isn’t really the point.
More achievable? More enlightening? More joyful? I think that’s more like what we’re doing here. But saying that, there are things that I’ve learnt from doing this challenge over the past four years that have definitely made it, ‘easier than you’d think’.
Things that do make it less over-whelming and have definitely helped me to achieve (or get pretty close to) the 100 mark in recent years (if you missed it, I wrote about what the project is all about here).
For lots of readers of this Substack you won’t need convincing to give it a go.
But if the poetry isn’t exactly flowing right now, or you still feel like 100 poems is out of reach, here are some of the principles I stick to:
Notably it is never too late to join in. Pick yourself a number, grab yourself a notebook, let’s read and write more poetry together!
The 100 poems do not have to be perfect.
Because what even is that? I add a little symbol next to the title of mine in my notebook in order to categorise them - ‘rough draft’, ‘first edit’ or ‘finished’. Plenty, I mean plenty, never get past being rough drafts. And finished is a contentious subject for me anyway.
One day I might feel inclined to go back and edit some of them further. Or borrow a word or line to use elsewhere. Or I might not. Does it matter? Nope.
I try to balance structure and routine with flow.
I like to keep track, roughly, of how many I need to write a week/month in order to get to the 100. Because hoping to write 98 poems in December is crazily ambitious. This is my way of writing consistently and prioritising the time to do so. Giving myself regular writing slots. Honouring my creativity. So, I know I am looking at roughly two per week (I’ve changed this for 2024 into a monthly goal of around eight, because I’m a 28-ish day cyclical being so this works more intuitively).
Having the numbers 1-100 written out ready in a nice notebook also helps me. For organisational purposes but also for that intent piece. Of course it feels motivating to see the poems slowly stacking up. To glance back and think, “oh yeah, that one was alright actually”.
But likewise, there are times when I write no poetry whatsoever for three weeks. Don’t get me wrong I do get a bit edgy when this happens (I wrote about why poems don’t like pressure here). But then suddenly I’ll write three in a day. The tide turns. Trust is key.
Creativity can come in fits and starts and it also seems to like it when you make some space for it and push through resistance. I was chatting to a friend recently and saying how when I get stuck, I get out (out of my own head, the house, my echo chamber etc). But at the other end of the spectrum I can hear myself saying, “I can’t believe I haven’t made any progress on the poetry book I’ve not sat down to write because I’ve been waiting for inspiration to suddenly hit me.” Yeah, I know, I told the Universe and it didn’t just appear on the page!?!?!
How you create this balance and what that looks like in reality, is I hear, a very personal thing. And for me, it also moves regularly. But I just know that I need both. So I actively plan in and value both. Or I try to. Without being (too) unkind to myself when it all goes tits up. With four young kids this isn’t always easy, but who says great poetry can’t be written to a background of children’s television?!
A little gentle accountability and encouragement goes a long way.
I can manage without. I’ve previously had the deadline of a book that needed finishing which helped. But a gentle nudge from a community of other writers is a beautiful thing. And more valuable than I ever realised. Personally the weekly flow of a Sunday prompt on Poetry Pals, followed by a Friday Round Up (to share our words) works perfectly. I won’t always have a poem to share but I’m in the room, I’m being inspired by others (so inspired), I’m enjoying myself (which is so much the point).
Of the 27 poems that I’ve written so far this year, there are many that 100% would not exist were it not for this community. If you’ve only recently joined us all the previous posts can be found here. Rather than ‘you must’ it is more of a, ‘I believe you could…’ A hand being held out as opposed to a shove in the back or a dangled carrot.
Whether it’s working through a book, doing a course, finding a writing group that meet regularly or setting yourself personal check in points, figuring out how much accountability you need, what that looks like and where it comes from is worth consideration. Surrounding yourself with the right people and having a regular check in on progress (keeping that desire front of mind) does translate.
Prompts and reading tons of poetry definitely helps.
This is one benefit that I hoped would come from this Substack and it has delivered far more than I ever imagined it would. Prompts can spark up ideas and provide a launch point. They get the pen moving.
Also, I’m not 100%, but I can’t think of any other art form where it is basically ok to write a poem After someone else’s poem. Always making sure, of course, to credit that it is After their poem. I’m not talking about plagiarism, that’s not ok. But the poetry scene is a pretty ‘build-upon’, share-happy place. This brings me joy.
Saying that, I don’t always find prompts helpful. So if a prompt doesn’t work, I don’t force it. Sometimes a poem itself will overwhelm or confuse rather than inspire me.
So, again, I find a bit of both works best. Trust that if I keep on reading, keep on listening to poetry, keep on noticing and paying attention then snippets of poems will arrive on their own, prompted or not.
I like to keep the whole thing pretty relaxed.
I don’t try too hard. I’m not trying to write ‘award winning’ poems. Ok maybe I am sometimes, or I’d like to be. But that’s not where I start from. I try to start from my heart. I start as a beginner, always. With gentle expectations.
I don’t want to suggest that incredible poems just arrive in their fully-formed wonderfulness. That’s misleading and undermines the importance of craft, of learning the skill of poetry writing. Or that writers block (or whatever you want to call it) happens. Or that poetry writing isn’t tough sometimes, on many different levels.
I don’t deny this stuff, it’s just that I accept it and don’t push back. It’s like arguing with a teenager - you’ll never win. I don’t buy into the image of the tortured artist. Ultimately I want my creativity to be a source of joy and fulfilment so I try to approach it that way. Not take it too seriously. Give myself permission to play. Pick up a poetry book and remind myself why I am in love with this form of writing.
For me the key to writing 100 poems in a year is wanting to write 100 poems in a year. Properly wanting to. Wanting to do so not for money, or subscriber numbers, or the finished result, or external validation. But because you love writing poetry. Because you want to understand why you struggle with beginnings or are constantly drawn back to writing about the earth. Because you want to connect with other human beings. Because you’ve got something you need to say. Or whatever your own reasons for writing poetry are. Reminding yourself of these reasons regularly. Watch out for a Sunday pen pal prompt on this topic at the weekend.
Ok, we are just over ten weeks in. I’m keen to know how everyone is getting on. Did you set yourself a numerical goal for the year? And if so, where are you up to?
What is helping to make your poetry writing happen right now?
Nelly x
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It was brilliant finding your group. I was fairly new to Substack and finding my voice again. Yep, I set a number, at first it was 50, having had a dry patch for so long, I’m now aiming for 100. I’m loving the prompts that challenge me. I also did the Beth Kempton #tinywinterpoems challenge thing. I’ve not finished them yet. I now have 40 poems written. Most of the tiny winter poems need revision as the task was 10 mins no revision and boy I’ve written some really, really awful ones that belong in the bin. I had a great week last week at wrote 4, this week so far inspiration has only worked for revision. But like you say that doesn’t matter.
No numerical goal for me but the sheer pleasure of finding poetry again! So far I am writing one a week purely because of this community and the prompts. It’s magic. Thank you Nelly and everyone xx