Kicking Off NaPoWriMo 2016!

NaPoWriMo, our beloved hashtag and abbreviation for National Poetry Writing Month, is officially here. The tagline is "30 poems in 30 days," and the goal is to get yourself inspired and motivated to sit down and churn out a good page of writing each day.

I participated in this last year and it was honestly one of the most wonderful things I've ever done. I have a tendency to baby my writing, to protect it, to keep it away from the world. NaPoWriMo pushes me past my comfort zone to create something daily and share it with the world. I'm really looking forward to doing this again.

I'm not always a perfect angel. Sometimes I skip a day. Sometimes I write a few days in advance. Sometimes I lazily write a haiku so I can do it briefly, but sometimes that ends up being some of my best work. Shorter poems aren't always lesser quality, and longer poems aren't always better quality. But either way, I end up writing 30 poems in 30 days, and there's growth as a writer in that.

To tell you the truth, I might want to extend this yearly poetry celebration into a daily habit. I wouldn't share it daily because I need to save something for my books, something special for the people who really support me beyond just reading my blog. But it would keep my skills sharp and keep me in creative mode. And I like that idea.

If you're participating this year or just enjoying what I share, please do comment below and of course add your site to the official list of NaPoWriMo participants or head over there to find other people who are also posting 30 poems in 30 days! But please also comment below because I'm happy to give you a little extra exposure via my comments section and I'd love to get to know you. Cheers to NaPoWriMo2016 and to growing as poets and as readers!