Galley Cat will be offering great tips for writing your novel every day this month. Check out the day’s post and the archive.
Tag Archives: november
Just signed up for Picture Book Idea Month
Click to sign up. Registration is open until November 7. It’s a fantastic group!
Free Novel Writing Goodies in Honor of NaNoWriMo | WritersDigest.com
There’s a treasure trove of terrific free downloads for novelists on this blog. You can reap the benefits even if you dropped out of NaNoWriMo or never signed up! Zip over there and collect.
Write a Poem About Birth
We are nearing the end of the Poem a Day challenge on Robert Lee Brewer’s blog. It has been an interesting experience. I will either continue with my own prompts or find another community. You are certainly welcome to join me by posting in the comments.
Today’s prompt at PAD is to write a poem about giving birth. Click on the link to add your own. You can join in any time.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 29 | Birth Poem | Experience | WritersDigest.com.
Here’s mine:
I kept telling
myself that
the Queens of England
did this
as I lay on the table
under blazing lights
coming undone
the most
private places
in full view
of strangers,
And then, the doctor
said, “He’s going
to be smart.”
A nurse said,
“What a pretty
little face.”
It was like
the blessing
in a fairy tale,
especially when
eyes still blue
as heaven
cast their
virgin gaze
on me.
Linda Armstrong, 11/29/2012, All rights reserved.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27 | Hero Poem | Villain | WritersDigest.com
Today, participants in this year’s Poem a Day Challenge are writing a hero poem or a villain poem. Click on the link below to join the fun.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27 | Hero Poem | Villain | WritersDigest.com.
The Villain
It doesn’t wear black
or lurk in alleys.
It doesn’t dwell
in putrid swamps
or waylay travelers.
It doesn’t creep
around in the dark
or carry knives.
It loathes all
drama.
It resists all
change.
It has no conception
of better.
It wants everything
to stay
the same.
Child of long
evolution,
Advocate of
unconditional survival,
it does not
trust aspiration.
It does not suffer
dreams. It keeps
me heavy and silent.
It cautions me
to remain safe
inside.
Linda Armstrong 11/27/12 �All rights reserved.
via 2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27 | Hero Poem | Villain | WritersDigest.com.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 26 | Collection Poem | WritersDigest.com
Today’s challenge is to write a collection poem. Not everyone collects things, but a glance around our house would tell you that my husband and I do. He does it in a more organized way. My gatherings are distinctly haphazard.
Click on the link to go to Robert Lee Brewer’s blog and read the contributions of others. Then, add your own.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 26 | Collection Poem | WritersDigest.com.
Here’s mine:
JPEGs
They fill
the silvery
surfaces of
computer disks,
the hidden
resources
of external
drives, cloud-tops
from long flights,
footprints in snow,
drifting gold
leaves, glinting
sun on summer
lakes, blossoms
in spring orchards,
baby faces,
smiling friends,
all of them
held in virtual
memory, formatted
in universal jpeg.
Like Midas, I run
them through
my fingers,
longing to
hold on.
Linda Armstrong, 11/26/2012. All rights reserved.
Looking Back at the PAD Challenge and a Matches Poem
The very first prompt this month on Robert Lee Brewer’s blog was to write a Matches poem. I was looking back because today’s assignment is to write an Opposite poem using a previous challenge entry. I realized that I have not linked to the first few poems and this could be a problem because I want a convenient way to gather them to submit for chapbook consideration.
You can enter the competition, too, even if you haven’t been posting or writing every day. Just choose your 20 favorite prompts from the month and write to them. Then watch for submission information early next month.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 1 | Matches Poem | WritersDigest.com.
Here’s my “Matches” poem.
We’re a match,
the two of us,
you with your
temper and me
too tempered
you with your
careful pacing
and me
with my wild
last minute
dashes.
We’re a match
of seeming
opposites, seamed
so closely together
that sometimes
there is no space
between us
like sky
and sea at
sunset on the
Pacific.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 23 | Deep Poem | WritersDigest.com
Yesterday we were lazy and I got caught up in creating a special Christmas gift for my husband on Zazzle, so I am catching up on my poems this morning. The Day 23 poem is deceptively simple, but absolutely lovely. Write a “deep” poem. It can be anything deep. Click on the link to read the responses on the Poetic Asides blog.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 23 | Deep Poem | WritersDigest.com.
Here’s mine:
Deep Space
Hurtling
past the last
clumps of ice
gas, rock,
and God only
knows what
else at the fringe
of the solar system,
Voyager, a
miracle wonder
of my younger
days, swings
out into the
more thinly
populated reaches
of deep space,
just as each day
I dive further
within.
Linda Armstrong, 11/24/2012. All rights reserved.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 18 | Glosa Poem | Poetic Form | WritersDigest.com
Today’s prompt is from Carol Stephen. It is a form called the Glosa.
Visit the site to read the complicated directions and to see some of the amazing responses.
2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 18 | Glosa Poem | Poetic Form | WritersDigest.com.
Here’s my attempt:
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
(William Carlos Williams)
snow clouds drift
over
our valley
after
stair-step summer
ends
bitter winter
comes
weather bends
so much depends
on fickle
sun
swinging south
along
with bird flights
begun
weeks ago,
wedging
over lakes spun
upon
with visual
echoes
of industry
withdrawn,
a dormancy
deal
of last flash
gold
to mold-meal
a red wheel
turning through
eons
in coursing blood
and genes
in water and
marrow
cycles shifting in
farmer’s
slicing harrow;
barrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
Picture Book Idea Month Resources and Inspiration
If you didn’t register for Picture Book Idea Month, or you have not been following the great discussions on the group’s Facebook page, you can still benefit from the great advice and inspiration connected with the event. Go to Tara’s blog and look for the list of guest bloggers. Each is a link, and each post is a treasure for picture book writers.
The link below will take you to the blog.
One Way to Wonder 