Getting Your Poem Published

     The Poetry Contest is a frequent competition on Neopets where you can submit your best poem and see if it gets published! Those who are published have the fame and recognition of their poem being published, but they also obtain a really cool trophy, 1,000 neopoints, and a rare item!

     So how do you get your poem good enough to be published? First, you have to write one! Writing a good poem takes time, research, and a bit of practice. All types of poems are accepted into the Poetry Content, so you could write a haiku, sonnet, vignette, or even an atypical non-rhyming poem. It really is up to you, artistic expression is very much allowed in the competition and all great writers are rewarded eventually. Keep in mind that some types of poetry are harder to get published with than others, specifically haikus. The Poetry Contest probably receives hundreds of quickly written haikus every week, as they are very short, but it is rare for a haiku to be published. Only the best of the best haikus make it in.

     For example:

     Oh, Chia, Chia,

     You are so cute, so, so, cute

     I love my Chia

     That is a haiku, but it is really bad. That isn't going to get published. If you are a skilled haiku writer, you will still stand a chance though, it isn't unheard of.

     If you aren't much of a poet, there is a fairly easy strategy that seems to do well. It isn't too complicated and doesn't require knowing a lot about rhythm and rhyme schemes. A common theme is doing sections of four lines each, that rhyme in some type of configuration, like:

     I've been feeding my Chia chocolate,

     Because without it he'll throw a fit,

     So I have to keep feeding him his favorite treat,

     Or else he will refuse anything else to eat!

     That in itself is far too short, but you can do groups of four lines like that to create a poem that is 20 or more lines long. Longer poems tend to have a better shot at being published, they show that you have taken a real effort to write it. I recommend your poems be at least 20 lines long, but in theory they could be much longer!

     Poetry Contests are typically released along with Neopian holidays, so writing a poem about Chias when Vandagyre Day is around the corner isn't the wisest idea. Write poems that relate to the Neopian calendar if you want to maximize your chances. A Toy Day special in December, or a birthday celebration poem in November, or about specific pets for their respective holidays. There are even themes for Petpets with their own days like Slorgs.

     Your poem should always be 100% Neopets themed, since it is being published on Neopets. If you need inspiration, there are thousands upon thousands of poems for your to look through in the contest archives. Take a look around there. Remember: it is okay to take inspiration, but NEVER, EVER steal someone else's work. You could have your account frozen, but it is also just a mean thing to take the hard work someone else put in.

     Before you submit your poem, read it over a few times to make sure it flows well. Change a few words, add or subtract some syllables as you need to, fix the rhyme scheme. Most importantly, make sure everything is spelled correctly and written coherently!

     Once you write your perfect poem and submit it, it becomes a waiting game. You'll receive a Neomail saying that it has been published and receive a trophy on your lookup and a rare item in your inventory. It could also be rejected, which means you should try again and take a look at your old poem and see how you can improve on it. It's also possible your poem will be held over, like if you wrote a poem about Jetsams that was fantastic, they'll hold onto it to publish it on Jetsam Day.

     So your poem was published, hooray! What kind of rewards can you get? There are tons! Some people have gotten books, paint brushes, or even super rare Petpets worth over one million Neopoints. It really is a mystery what you could get, but often times it is very valuable. You can also be published multiple times, so entering often even after being published once is a good idea. You will also get a trophy on your user lookup, and the more you are published, the number on your trophy will increase to reflect it.

     Occasionally you will get an extremely rare prize for being published in a special edition. The 1,000th Poetry Contest rewarded all those published with an item known as the "Millennial Pen". It is a gorgeous pen that is animated, possibly the most beautiful pen in the whole world. It is now worth tens of millions of Neopoints, maybe even over one hundred million at this point.

     Every 100th Poetry Contest also offers a special prize, a Neodeck collectable card of Alstaf Poogle. Alstaf is a veteran of fine poetry, and is the Neopian judge of the Poetry Contest. This card is worth upwards of ten million Neopoints at the time of this article. The 100th contest only comes around every year or two, so it is extremely rare to get published and to obtain this. The last time this card was given out was for a Hissi Day special, issue 2200. You have plenty of time to prepare for the next one, so keep an eye out and keep practicing your writing to make sure you can be the best of the best.

     Hopefully you are now inspired to take a look through the thousands of poems for some inspiration and craft up your own winning entry. This competition is a great entry level writing activity for users, as it doesn't have to be as long as an article or story for the Neopian Times, and it isn't as time sensitive and quick-witted as you need to be for the Storytelling Competition. This will get you your training wheels for the bigger competitions out there. So go grab your pen and start writing, look over some of the tips I gave above, and soon you'll be a published poet!