Poem-a-Day (PAD)
May 23, 2009
Inspired by a friend who has a streak of more than 800 consecutive days recorded as part of his own personal poem-a-day (PAD) challenge—and driven by a need to improve my practice and practices—I am starting a PAD challenge of my own.
Update (7/14/09): This should really be called “Words-a-Day” as I’ve expanded to include prose poems, flash/sudden fiction and tiny essays. Basically, if it’s self-contained and—at least in terms of a first draft—“complete.”
Eventually I’ll post all of the poems here, but they aren’t really intended for (and won’t interest) most readers who stumble across this site. It’s just a way to keep myself honest.
My PAD rules:
- First effort, best effort. Better an imperfect whole than a shiny bit of the obviously incomplete.
- It’s a poem if I say it is.
- No stockpiling, no backfilling. More than one poem emerging from a day’s work is great, but not a replacement for consistency.
- Stealing from myself is OK. Stealing from the world around me is better.
- Remember that quitters never win, etc. I can quit anytime I want after poem 10,000.
- I shall number my poems X.Y where X is the current unbroken sequence and Y is consecutive number (this is simpler than it sounds).
- I shall keep in mind I’m writing daily poems, not etching my epitaph in marble.
- If I fall, I get up.
- Listen, listen, listen.
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May 24th, 2009 at 9:09 am
[...] my personal rules for Poem-a-Day writing prompted me to think about my more general guiding principles for writing. I didn’t get [...]
June 16th, 2009 at 7:57 am
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June 16th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
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June 16th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
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June 16th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
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June 16th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
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June 16th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
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June 17th, 2009 at 7:30 am
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June 17th, 2009 at 7:37 am
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June 18th, 2009 at 7:29 am
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June 20th, 2009 at 9:21 am
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June 25th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
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June 25th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
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June 25th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
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June 26th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
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June 27th, 2009 at 9:15 am
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November 22nd, 2009 at 5:47 pm
[...] my personal rules for Poem-a-Day writing prompted me to think about my more general guiding principles for writing. I didn’t get [...]
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
[...] [pad 3.1 – 6/16/09] [...]
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
[...] [pad 4.1 - 6/23/09] [...]