What does it mean to be an onchain poet, and how do you become one? Well, the first thing you would need is that you create poetry. If you create poetry, you are a poet. From there, it is a matter of where (and how) you publish your poems. Traditionally, this is in books and magazines, gated by editors and their editorial boards. Of course, you can also self-publish, which is happening quite a lot.

You can also share your poetry with the world through social media such as Instagram or TikTok. Or... you can mint your poems as NFTs on a blockchain. If you do that, you are an onchain poet. No matter which blockchain you mint on. Ethereum and its L2s, Tezos, Solana, there are many to choose from.

If you are looking to mint (the act of creating an NFT is referred to a 'minting') your first poem onchain, or you maybe have taken a break after the hypewave came crashing down the last few years and you want to get back in the game, this post is for you. This is a simple how-to article for getting your first poem onchain. To make it as simple as possible, I've decided to show how to create an NFT on the Base Network, an L2 of the Ethereum blockchain. There are more, an d if you like, please explore Tezos and Solana as well.

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The start: a wallet

It starts with a wallet. In the wonderful world of blockchains, your assests (cryptocurrencies and nfts for example) are stored on the blockchain itself. You can access them for transactions (putting in money, taking out money, collecting nfts) by using a set of cryptographic keys. These keys are personal and you need them to manage your assets. Without them, you can no longer control your money. This is an important thing to note, and to live by. Blockchains are about self-custody. This means you alone can access your belongings, and you alone are responsible. If you lose it, nobody can help you. So, if you create a wallet, be very sure you store your private key in a place that is safe and where you can find it when needed.

To not overcomplicate things, we are starting you off with a web-based wallet, often referred to as a hot wallet. If you increase your crypto assets, it is wise to consider a hardware wallet (or cold wallet) such as Ledger.

There are many wallets to choose from, and almost all are very much linked to a specific blockchain environment. It's difficult to use a Bitcoin compatible wallet on the Tezos blockchain, because some essential elements of the underlying tech are not working nicely together. For the Ethereum environment (Ethereum and all related level 2 chains such as Optimism, Zora and Base) you will have to look for a wallet that can be used on these chains. Metamask was an early big player, and I have used it a while with great pleasure, but there are others. Coinbase, Zerion and Rainbow for example. You should do your own research (DYOR) to find which one suits your needs best. I'm currenlty using Rainbow Wallet mostly. Head over to their website, and either download the mobile app or an extension to your web browser to get started. Just follow the steps in the instructions and you'll be good. But be sure to read every bit of info with great care. Again: if you lose your keys, you can't manage the contents of your wallet anymore.

Now that you have set up your wallet, use the function of the wallet app to get some crypto. Don't go overboard. Add 25 to 50 Euro worth of crypto to start with. I would start with getting some Eth on the Base network.

Get creating

The beautiful thing about your cryptowallet is that it not only holds your assest, but also allows you to connect to blockchain-related websites without creating a new account everywhere. It's your one login key for all. Your (chosen) identity is also in your wallet. So, to create, head over to Zora. This is not only a level 2 blockchain, but also a marketplace for NFTs. Simply click the log in button, select the wallet you are using (Rainbow for example) and sign the message that connects you to the site.

Read carefully what you are allowing this site to do. In this case, don't worry too much, Zora is legit. But in other cases, always be sure to check what you are allowing the site to do. A lot of crypto has been stolen because people allowed sites to move funds. Don't fall for that.

Once you are logged on to Zora, it's time to create. You need to prepare a poem (or other piece of art) so you can easily put that onchain. It can be an image, audio or video file, a pdf or a text.

Also good to know: NFTs are organised into collections on Zora, so think about how you want to call your collection, and maybe have an image ready for that. You can always change it later, if you so wish. Now that you are ready, find the + button on top and start creating.

Three steps to make your NFT

On the top right of the creation page, you will see a section for the collection, and a dropdown menu where you can select the collection your new piece belongs to. This is likely to be empty, but if you click the dropdown, you will find the option to create a collection. It needs a title, a description, a cover image and... you need to select the network. I would recommend Base here, but the most important thing is that you need a tiny bit of funds to be able to store all this on the blockchain, so pick the one you have used when you added money to your wallet.

On the left you see Upload imagination. There, you can either upload your prepared file, or you click in it and start typing (or copy-pasting). Back to the right-side of your screen, you will see a big black post button. Just above, a link to toggle the Advanced Options. This is where you can set a price, a mint-duration and give a description of your nft. When you're ready with that, press post.

This will trigger a message pop-up from your wallet application, that will ask you to approve this transaction. You will have to pay a small amount of gas and maybe the protocol fee if you have selected 'mint first'. Don't worry, if you have selected any of the L2s to do this on, you should not be paying much more than the equivalent of 2-3 Euros at the moment.

Sign all the messaged and boom, congrats, you are now an onchain poet.