Where I’m at
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve recently become active on Twitter, which, for me, primarily entails responding to a lot of micropoetry prompts and networking with other poets on that platform. It’s fun. And ~ it’s time-consuming.
It’s very clear to me that writers in the modern world must expand their networks on different channels; as my blogger-friend Ingrid recently mentioned to me in a comment, most of the traffic she receives on her WordPress blog comes from other WordPress bloggers. For me, this is also true, which is why I’m mentioning it.
In other words, even if a writer wants their WordPress blog/website to be their primary online ‘home’, they still need to promote it on other channels. In fact, this is obviously one of the potential benefits of getting one’s poetry published elsewhere – the opportunity to include a link to one’s blog in his/her biography could drive some traffic to it.
Twitter is incredibly different than WordPress (duh). Here, at The Skeptic’s Kaddish, I’ve become very reluctant to post more than 3x over the course of 24 hrs… And, usually, I try to keep it down to twice a day. Twitter, on the other hand, has an entirely different dynamic because the platform encourages its users to tweet countless times daily. I’ve gotten into the swing of writing multiple Twitter micropoems in response to various prompts every day… not to mention that I x-post every WordPress post to Twitter also.
On the one hand, I take my blogging very seriously, and I’m strategizing about how to continue increasing my involvement and my readership here at WordPress. This is, in part, why I’ve been responding to more writing prompts (beyond those offered by d’Verse, which I’ve been following for quite some time). It’s also, in part, why I’m giving some very serious consideration to launching a writing prompt of my own (BTW, I’m open to suggestions on that, Friends).
On the other hand, I am increasingly realizing that I need to draw back from WordPress a bit, or at least manage my time here more effectively (a constant struggle for all of us writers)…
While, yes, I’m managing better than before, I still need to step my game up… Otherwise, I’ll never be able to dedicate myself to submitting poems of mine to other publications, which I would really like to do.
It’s a difficult balancing act, for sure; and, as always, I’m learning as I go.
A writing prompt of my own?
As I just noted, I am very seriously considering launching a writing prompt of my own, in addition to responding to other writers’ prompts. The thing is, I’d like mine to have a unique flavor… to be something more than responding to a single word or picture, as so many other prompts are.
- Maybe I could ask for responses to poems (or snippets of poems) that I and others have written…
- Or, maybe I could explore a different form of poetry every week through my prompt?
I’d really love to get your feedback on this, Friends… whaddaya think I should do?
This is not something that I plan to do immediately, but it’s important to me that when I do launch my own writing prompt, it should be engaging and challenging. I want to create one that I can feel proud of and interested in myself!
The Skeptic's Kaddish 🇮🇱 
I rarely respond to prompts – I have too many things I want to write about. Though I do my once a year NPM prompts… anyway I might do a prompt if it catches my fancy. I know that Pensivity101 does weekly prompts (I think she authors several a week) plus participates in loads of others and they are interesting. I read but have only participated maybe 3 times in as many years… I’d still read and comment on some of the people linked to the prompt but probably wouldn’t write for them. Though I can’t promise that – I may be so taken with the prompts that I write for each one?!
♥️❤️ Muri ❤️♥️
I would like to see a different format of poem or type of poem each week. It shakes things up a bit and leaves us something to look forward to.
💙 Pamela 💙 ~ thanks!
-David
🥂Twitter, on the other hand, has an entirely different dynamic because the platform encourages its users to tweet countless times daily. I’ve gotten into the swing of writing multiple Twitter micropoems in response to various prompts every day… not to mention that I x-post every WordPress post to Twitter also.🥂
Lovely
💚💕 Abi 💕💚
I like exploring different forms–and you have explored so many yourself, so you have a good library to draw from. Jane used to do a prompt with forms, sometimes with word suggestions or an image (she is a master at finding interesting images). That’s where I really started writing poetry, and doing my collages with words on a regular basis. She also did a month of Yeats, with excerpts from Yeats to respond to, which was quite inspiring. So both your ideas seem good to me.
I admire you and Ingrid for relentless promoting your work. Perhaps I’m just too old and tired. Still, as I told Lisa, though it’s nice to get published, I think more people read (and in my case look at) our work on WordPress than in any literary magazine. And that’s undoubtedly even more true of Twitter. (K)
Ingrid is at a whole nother level… She’s published books!
She’s a force of nature for sure.
Hey David! A writing prompt would be delightful! However, you’ll have to take out time to read them.
I also like the idea of exploring different forms of poetry. That’ll be fun!
Also, what about weekly blogging tips? It will be a great help for newcomers and will also get you some organic followers. I’m aware that there is a category on your blog but sharing it on a weekly basis with a header would be different.
Thanks, Harshi ❣️
I think I don’t have enough advice to make the blogging tips weekly, but I do post them as I gain new insights…
I think it was you who said @stick to what you do David…..
This is what you do :
“Or, maybe I could explore a different form of poetry every week through my prompt?”
So go with it…
You won’t catch me there tho unless somehow I could figure out how to manage all of these platforms.
The retweet drives me crazy as we could never leave our devices then!
❤️🥰
Have fun!
💟🤍 Cindy 🤍💟
💖💖
I could’ve sworn that I left a comment here last night. 🤔
You did, but I don’t approve or respond to comments on the Jewish Sabbath, which is from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday ❣️
best of luck David, For me, you confirm the reasons not to get involved with twitter: life is to short to spread oneself too thinly…
I hear you ❣️
One reason why I try to blog only on Fridays at a particular time. My audience knows when to expect it and then I repost it to my three other Twitter type accounts. So much social media out there now that we have to identify our audience and limit our time to where they are.
💓❤️ CC ❤️💓 – exactly.
I like the exploration of different poetry forms…
♥️💙 thanks, Paula 💙♥️
“Maybe I could ask for responses to poems (or snippets of poems) that I and others have written…”
That’s a good prompt idea. I think it’s more fun to respond or riff off another idea that a picture of a dock or path, etc. Is there any concern about losing control over what you have created? Let’s suppose someone responds and you take something of their responsive poem and you change it a little… but they think you usurped it. I don’t know. I’m totally new to this but I think it would suck to publish something then have someone say that whatever it was belonged to them. It’s a problem endemic to blogging and sharing … not something a poet in the 1950s with his poems in a notebook would have to consider.
“Or, maybe I could explore a different form of poetry every week through my prompt?”
I think forms are for serious poets. Maybe if you want to be a better poet it’s best to play ball, so to speak, w more serious players. It’s probably a smaller population of writers and posters that are going to want to play in the poetic world of strict forms. But maybe that’s what you want.
You do great work! I love how you live and breathe all this!!
I wouldn’t public anything without the author’s permission ❣️
I don’t think anyone offers a weekly response poem prompt, at least not that I’m aware.
I like that idea 💡
❤️