How to Lexpomo in Ten Easy Steps
1. Open the “poem editor” as early in the day as possible
2. Think of something to write about
3. Make a quick first draft
4. Immediately click “submit poem”
This is key–step 4 puts the pressure on.
You have fifteen minutes to edit your poem.
5. Read your poem. Check first for obvious spelling errors
6. Read it aloud.
7. Scramble to complete revisions before the option goes away
8. Click “submit changes”
9. Repeat steps the next day
10. Re-read the poem, perhaps days later, and accept that it fell short
It’s about the journey, not the failures.
Failure is the most human of prizes.
8 thoughts on "How to Lexpomo in Ten Easy Steps"
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I must be odd. Composing on the LexPoMo website never occurred to me. I go through my “archives,” find something I’d like feedback on, do a re-edit and save the new version (with the new date in the file name) in my archives (cloud, hard drive and a flash drive). Then I copy and paste the text into the text box on the website. Yes, the enjambment disappears, but this give me another opportunity to study the poem.
Yes, sometimes I find errors, but my eyesight is poor, so sometimes I don’t catch them. LoL
I can’t imaging composting a poem on the fly like that! I totally changed my approach to “first drafts” after I heard Keith Wilson, who had a Stegner fellowship, speak. He does “brain dumps” on the page — just write and write — no initial editing. No punctuation. Go back later and harvest what works. Then I keep going back again and again to tweak a poem. Months later I can see how changing or adding or deleting one word can help my poem.
I confess to my neurodiverse brain making me rather compulsive and insecure about my process. Bravo to the poets who can compose a poem IN LexPoMo. You are amazing.
Thank you so much, E.E., for taking time to comment! One of the great joys of LexPoMo is getting to know other writers. You have wisdom and insight–thank you for helping me feel more connected to this community!
Working this way is fun and I tried to do that today in fact 🙂
Indeed! I’m glad it was a fun approach for you! 🙂
love, love, love this bold, amazing method!
Yes! to ” It’s about the journey, not the failures./Failure is the most human of prizes.”
Thank you, Pam, for your kind words and encouragement!
Absolutely it’s the journey. And “failures” are only poems that need revision. : )
Thank you, Bill. I whole-heartedly agree with you!