The NaPoWriMo Prep Guide
If you’re unfamiliar with it, NaPoWriMo (short for National Poetry Writing Month) is a 30-day poetry writing challenge every April, coinciding with National Poetry Month. It’s a chance for poets of all levels to challenge themselves, create, and connect with others.
I have attempted NaPoWriMo multiple times, only to miss a day and lose momentum. As we all know, one day often leads to another, and so on. In some years, I only managed to write five poems!
Does this sound familiar to my fellow NaPoWriMo participants? It can be disheartening to see your friends and poets you admire sharing their progress while you struggle.
But don’t worry; I’ll share what helped me achieve a successful 30/30 challenge in this prep guide and ultimately have one of my most productive writing years.
Build Your Community Up
✨ Attend Workshops and Co-writing Spaces
I aim to convince everyone that writing shouldn’t be a solitary act. Numerous virtual spaces are dedicated to writing together, whether through workshops or co-writing sessions. Last year, I attended over 100 virtual workshops!
These spaces not only allow you to be generative but also to be generous by providing feedback on the work of your peers. And it gifts you the opportunity to receive instant feedback on what you’ve written!
I recommend checking out Unfold, a daily 2-hour workshop space curated by poet Tristan Richards in April. I joined halfway through last year and still wrote over 30 poems because of the robustness of this community! You can also explore this calendar for a variety of virtual writing spaces.
❓ Looking for another workshop to attend? This month at The Poetry Lab, we’re teaching the Five Forms Workshop exploring five unique poetry forms. You can get more information here.
✨ Share Your Progress
Posting your progress on social media can be a powerful way to stay accountable and inspire others.
It’s normal to feel a twinge of frustration when seeing friends and fellow poets excelling in their NaPoWriMo journey. However, sharing your work can motivate you and create a community.
My favorite place to post the first draft (or the workshop draft) is on Instagram stories. Doing so allows me to get some insight to see if people are vibing with the direction I took.
✨ Find Your People
The best thing I recommend is to find your people. Join or create a group that can keep you engaged and excited throughout the challenge. Connect with like-minded individuals online or even hop on a Zoom call to share your progress and support each other.
Another term to use when looking for accountability partners is body doubling—simply working alongside someone else while completing your tasks and keeping each other company. Together, we can boost our excitement, increase productivity, and nourish our creative souls.
✨ Follow Your Favorite Poets
Many of our faves have newsletters; sign up! Some send out daily prompts via email, others will give you a month’s worth as soon as you’re on the list.
And be sure to follow them on social media to receive prompts and inspiration throughout the challenge. They know people are actively searching for something to write about, and they deliver every year!
Build Your Craft Up
📙 Read Some Poems
Reading poetry during NaPoWriMo can be incredibly motivating and open your mind to new techniques. Discover contemporary poets whose work resonates with you. Embrace different phrasing styles, experiment with tone, and challenge yourself to think outside the box. Consider doing a close reading of poems to analyze poetic devices and themes that you can incorporate into your writing.
In the past, I found poetry boring to read because I was reading really old poems. I couldn’t relate; the language was stuffy, and I thought it wasn’t for me. Then, I discovered contemporary poets and got hooked. Check out our Living Library for some fun reading recommendations.
📙 Get Outside the Box by Getting In It
What I mean is, try out new forms! Break the monotony of writing every day by exploring new poetic forms.
Challenge yourself to attempt the ones you’ve been putting off exploring or create your own variations. For example, you can try The Dipper, a form developed by Anne Marie Wells from The Poetry Lab. Alternatively, experiment with simpler forms like List or Catalog.
Let the forms guide your creativity and keep your writing fresh.
📙 Create Your Own Prompts
When it comes to inspiration, don’t limit yourself. Get creative and develop a new prompt! Draw inspiration from tarot card pulls, song lyrics, horoscopes, tabloid headlines, or anything that sparks your imagination.
Feel free to create new poetic forms, like nonce forms designed for one-time use.
And if you feel comfortable enough, share your prompts and forms with others so they can try them out!
📙 Keep It Short
On days when inspiration feels scarce, remember that a short poem still counts. Try writing a haiku or create an erasure of a previously written poem. The goal is to keep creating, no matter the length. Short poems can be a breath of fresh air and help you maintain momentum.
Check out the monostitch form, consisting of just a one-line stanza, for those minimalist approach days.
📙 Take It Easy
As writers, we tend to be our harshest critics. During NaPoWriMo, it’s essential to be kind to ourselves. Remember that these poems are just first drafts; perfection is not the goal.
Focus on getting your thoughts on paper, and worry about editing later. It’s incredible how pieces we initially criticize can become something we’re proud of after revisiting them. So, don’t count that poem out just yet!
📙 Make It Fun!
Celebrate your progress to make NaPoWriMo more enjoyable. Download or create fun tracking systems like bingo cards or print out progress bar coloring pages at your local library to visually see your accomplishments.
It’s easy to lose sight of how far we’ve come when focused on daily writing. Remember to reward yourself when you reach milestones along the way.
I hope these insights and tips help you make the most of your NaPoWriMo experience. Using this time to hone in on building your community and extending your craft offers you a wide range of ways to fill 30 days up.
Before you know it, the challenge has ended! And now, you’ll have up to thirty poems ready for the revision and publication processes!
Happy writing!
This article was published on March 19, 2024. Written by:
