The first half of 2023 was just plain empty in terms of writing. Because of work, I couldn’t write and also, there was a major writer’s block (yeah, that happens) 🙂

So after getting a chance to travel in May and June, I found my creativity back and started writing again. Although, didn’t publish many haiku/senryu. Well, I mostly write haiku poetry and in awe of this art. I wrote lot of poems and enjoyed the journey.

Here’s what I learned-

  1. Staying consistent challenges the resistance

There are times, when you have some ideas and are able to write it on a piece of paper but there will be times, when even though you wish to write, you’ll find yourself lost without any inspiration.

Consistency beats that challenge in almost everything. Because with a certain habit you can train your mind to do that despite the resistance.

So, for the 30 days, I wrote everyday in morning. Only first few days were a bit challenging and later on, this became a habit.

2. Getting in the flow state is more important

When you are in flow state, the words come easy and you can always edit later. But many a times, you have to wait for the flow state by just keep carrying on.

In this challenge, no matter how busy I was with other goals, taking out one hour in the morning just for the challenge helped me immensely getting into writing flow state.

There were days, I wrote ten to twenty poems in a day, and there were a few when I struggled to write even one simple haiku.

3. Challenges are a fun way to explore your creativity

Often times, we are not very sure how good we are at what we were pursuing. So, such simple challenges helps us to explore that dimension that how much progress we can make if we assign a set time to it.

Also, you will be shocked to see the results, if you give yourself some kind of deadline to do that, both in terms of quality and quantity.

4. You might find a new way next time

Often, we are stuck in the old patterns of our way of doing work, be it writing, studying or working. What once excited us with anticipation becomes monotonous.

So this challenge helped me find new inspiration everyday. Just when I had thought, I have exhausted the resources, I would be surprised by a new idea, new inspiration.

Experimenting, hunting for new ideas made me even more aware of new ways of writing.

5. Perfection can be achieved later

Now when I was writing everyday, I used to feel inspired to write even at the midnight, mid work, watching a movie, on a walk. So, I would simply jot down ideas and would later work on them.

Now, thanks to this challenge, I have more than 50 drafts after finishing thirty poems.

I didn’t count exactly but I was able to write more than 30 perfect poems.

Conclusion

Poetry, writing or any other form of art, is something you must enjoy, if you feel pressured to do this then may be it’s not what you actually want.

But challenging yourself, experimenting with styles, numbers, themes can be really fun. You will see your creativity in a new light.

And yes, you should never compare yourself critically with others, as what’s your better can be someone’s best and vice-versa.

Note-

I was not aware of the November challenge to write 50,000 words for a novel by “NaNoWriMo”. I recently came across the article and oh, how happy I am, that I did the challenge in my own way by writing 30 short poems. Always wanted to do this challenge, might try again in future.

Over all, it was beautiful to be able to write.

Hope you enjoyed reading my experience. I have also posted the 30 poems that I wrote this November 2023 as part of the challenge.

Feel free to share your views with me, also if you wish to do such a challenge.

Wishing you lots of inspiration 🙂

Laetus Scribere (Happy Writing) 😀