Monday, March 30, 2015

What I think I learned this month

I know there's still one more day of blogging, but I have been thinking about all this experience has brought to me and I wanted to reflect on that today. This was my first year with Slice of Life.

Though I have written for years and I take writing seriously, I had never written a piece every day for a month like this. Sometimes it was hard to fit it in or I had trouble thinking of something to write about. But the discipline of writing every day felt good. And mostly, it got easier.

I learned that every post is not going to be excellent. Some are going to be so-so or even less. But I realize that that's okay. You have to write a lot of lesser stuff in order to write the outstanding stuff, which I hope I do now and then. I have been telling my 4th graders that for years, and I have always believed it, but now I'm living it.

Sometimes the teeny idea that seems sort of boring turns into a wonderful post. In fact, sometimes it works better to start with an everyday, unexciting idea than to tackle a "big, important thought."

This community of writers is awesome! Every writer who commented on my posts wrote positive, thoughtful comments. I am totally spoiled now. I write two other blogs that people read, but almost no one ever leaves a comment. But besides the comments on my posts, reading other people's posts was an exciting journey every day. There are so many outstanding writers in this group! So many people shared parts of their lives, opening up their unique experiences to the rest of us.

There are so many generous teachers writing here! I came away with so many ideas that I want to try. Some I'll be trying in April, when we'll be writing poetry to celebrate National Poetry Month.

I feel empowered as a writer. I feel ready to tackle new challenges in writing. I have a friend who just wrote a book, because he wanted to. Maybe I will do that, too. And I feel even more excited about teaching writing to my students than I did before this month.

Thank you, Stacy, Anna, Beth, Betsy, Tara, and Dana for creating this challenge and this community. Thank you to all the writers who read my posts and commented. Thank you to everyone who shared great ideas.


4 comments:

  1. Thank you for all your wonderful posts and comments also! I have enjoyed reading your posts, and I was always happy to see your comments on my posts. You captured it perfectly when you said you felt "empowered as a writer" after participating in this challenge. More power to you! You have a wonderful voice to share.

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  2. "I have always believed it, but now I'm living it." I just love how this line glows with positive practice and encouragement. So glad you have had a great month of learning and writing. It is an amazing community. I hope you will continue writing on the weekly Tuesdays too!

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  3. I thank you for joining this community of crazy, wanna-be writers, interspersed with professional writers, and those of us who are just learning to be writers. Every time I do this I ask myself, "Why?" Yet, I already know the answer. We have all always known what it takes to write....now we live it year after year....in March. I am glad I found you....stay in touch...every Tuesday in the SOL community.

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  4. Glad you enjoyed writing this month! There are so many terrific writers in this community- hope you will continue slicing with us on Tuesdays!

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