I went to an open mike night tonight; it was the super-friendly one I’ve told you about in earlier posts and this time I read a poem I have never shared with strangers. It wasn’t my plan, but you have to go with the flow and it followed another poet really well!
I was accompanied by someone who has never read their poems in public before, and felt really good to know I had a hand in getting them there! They were really good poems, and it got me thinking how many people write beautiful work that no-one ever hears.
So this week, I’m setting you a challenge: if you’ve never shared a poem (or section of prose) before, do it this week.
You can go to an open mike event, if you have one near you. You can read to your partner, parents, siblings, friends. Record it for your blog, or add it to the comments here if you want, and you know how! It doesn’t matter, just do something to get you past that first hurdle.
Sharing work feels scary, and a room of strangers can be intimidating – it was for me. But my writing is better for doing it. My writing is alive; each time I read it aloud I listen for rhythm, for sounds; I change words or punctuation; change breaks; bend the sentences to a breathing pattern or a speech pattern that reflects what I want. It alters as I do, and improves as I identify what is strong, and what needs further development.
There’s a famous quote by Paul Valéry:’a poem is never finished, only abandoned.’ Don’t leave your poems in a drawer because you are nervous of sharing them. You could be amazing and never know.
People fall in love with poetry because they hear something that speaks to them. So go out and speak to people, and spread the poetry love!
Happy writing – and reading,
EJ
🙂
Becoming a writer 
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