Today marks Day 24 of the Slice of Life challenge. Join me as I work to write every day in March – and beyond!
This is only my second year participating in the Slice of Life challenge, but I’ve still noticed patterns. Perhaps that’s the systematic, mathematical part of my brain that always wants to go for a spin. However you break it down, though, I’ve noticed threads.
The biggest thing I observed is that just about everyone, at some point, struggles for something to write about. Those posts come in various forms: the “I-didn’t-know-what-to-slice-about-so-I-wrote-this-poem” poems, the “I-had-writers’-block-so-this-was-what-I-came-up-with” posts, the “I-didn’t-think-I-had-anything-to-say-until-this-happened” entries, and so on.
And within these entries lies the true genius of this challenge:
We DON’T have to have great ideas every day.
We DON’T always have be be refined and articulate.
We DON’T have to love everything we write.
But we DO need to write every day.
We DO need to be in the practice of putting work into the world.
We DO need to maintain that muscle memory of going from thought to written word.
For me, that (re-)discovery is critical. It’s the practice of writing, of allowing enough mental quiet to listen for words to come, even when I think I have nothing to say. It forces my growth as a writer.
This challenge, this struggle, is what so many of my kids come up against every time they face a blank page, a blank screen. And the fact that we writers go through this difficulty ourselves, it makes us all the more earnest in our own teaching of writing.
We’ve been there. We know what it’s like. We’ve felt the anxiety, the dread, the disappointment.
Our kids need to know that.
We’ve also come through the other side.
Our kids need to know that.
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
Thank you for this. I am in that rut today and feeling stuck. Thank you for the reminder that this is normal and that I just need to keep writing through this road block.
Thank YOU! I keep having to re-learn that we as grown-up writers still need solidarity and validation. It’s what makes me so grateful for this community.
This is perfect! I don’t usually write during the day but I have a break in conferences so I decided to write early. I have no topics. This slice made me feel better about that. Thanks for the validation!
And thanks for the solidarity. Now I’ll have to dip over to your blog and see what you ended up with!
You are so right. It is important that we write even though we think we have nothing to say. I have been there several times. And yes, our students need to know that we struggle just as they do and we do come out on the other side just as they will. Thanks for a great post.
Thanks! For what it’s worth, I still have that voice of doubt about what I’m saying, even when I’m posting something I believe strongly in. Which perhaps says something deeper about perfectionism. But there you go…
Every word you’ve written is true. I see those patterns you name. Yes, teachers writing gives them insight into students’ writing struggles. I think when students see their teachers as writers it deepens the relationship, too.
Before the challenge started I wrote a post about how I find topics and the list I started a couple weeks prior to March 1. I’ve reread that list but only used a couple topics from it. I think my students would have “throttled” me had I said I have nothing to write about.,
Ha! I think you’re right about the throttling- especially when we think about how we as teachers often respond to our students when they balk at a particular writing activity or exercise. It certainly serves us a slice of humble pie!
Your essay is a great pep talk! I needed to be reminded that I don’t need to always have great ideas, to be refined and articulate, and to love what I write. My post today is mediocre, but I just needed to crank something out.
Thanks for the solidarity! I’ve had my share of posts that I’ve looked back on and thought…”meh.” But you’re right. Sometimes it’s a matter of just keeping the machine moving.
This is what drove me to participate this year. I didn’t think I would be able to make the time or space or devote the mental energy, but it felt so important to put myself in my students shoes. There are days when I struggle to write (and, honestly, there have been two days that I have not posted), but having this experience puts me in the shoes of my students, reminding me that every day doesn’t need to be brilliant, that I never know what I will grow from an unexpected sentence, that the benefits of this practice far outweigh the difficulty of those stuck moments.
Thank you. And yes! I can’t help but think that our children love and respect us all the more for our struggles. It makes me think – how would WE respond (or how would an ordinary teacher respond) to a kid declining a writing assignment by saying, “I just don’t feel like writing today.” They don’t *have* that choice – which fuels my respect for them even more.
Yes, it’s the sit-down-and-write, put-the-pen-on-paper, little-writing-is-better-than-no-writing that matters. And, yes, the students need to know that we too have the struggles. These days happen to everyone, even for the ones who have written for a decade.
Your comment makes me wonder if there are sources for authors writing about their own struggles with writer’s block, or their difficulty with anxiety or perfectionism. That would be an interesting deep dive…
Your post is WHY we write again and again and again…as a reminder to ourselves and our students. Writing is not easy and having to write does not mean an idea; however, writing every day is an exercise just like going for a walk and when you are in the habit it is a wee bit easier!
Yes, it’s that habit of writing – I feel like I need to train it more for myself. I really like the idea of seeing it as exercise, and you’re right – both the discipline of it, and the benefits that follow. Thanks for the new perspective!
Thoughtful and spot on, again, Lainie! Yes, we must just keep on, keep on. There will always be blank days, but sitting down and writing often reveals more . . . .
Yes it absolutely does. And sometimes, those days where we don’t see anything coming are the ones where words surprise us the most! There’s nothing like sitting down to write something, only to have it take an unexpected turn.
I’ve had a lot of those days this March, but after slicing I feel so good. I’ve put something on the page, I’ve honored my commitment and sometimes, I’m find surprise or delight in the words that emerged. This post is a keeper!
Yes, absolutely! I always feel better after I’ve gotten myself to write – but that doesn’t take away the occasional apprehension I have about it. Guess that goes with the territory. Thanks for your encouragement!
“Allowing enough mental quiet to listen for words to come” – that’s really it in a nutshell. This is a wonderful post! It truly captures so much about the writing process – from searching for a topic to realizing that not everything you write will be great. We certainly become our students, and feel that same struggle they do because writing, and writing every day, is difficult.
Yes, it is! I think we shape a different kind of relationship with our kids when we take on some of the challenges we ask them to do – but THAT’s a subject for another soapbox. =)
100% yes to all of this. The dos and don’ts are so important for students to recognize that we all go through this “block”. As always, you articulate this sentiment with power and purpose.
Thank you! I figured this would be my spin on the not-having-anything post…
Great post. I totally agree with this. And I feel this pressure to not waste my readers’ time reading my post if it is blah. But you are right. Thanks for the thoughts for this first year slicer. AND I loved your last three lines.
Thanks! I often struggle more with the final lines than any other part of my writing. It’s like, they’re the ones who do the work of accomplishing what I’ve set out to do. It’s a big job for them! =)
Your words are so true and this challenge always reminds me to just push through and write. I always encourage my kids to just write whatever comes to mind, don’t worry about it being perfect, it’s not meant to be perfect. Sometimes we just need to put the words on the page, get the juices flowin’, and see where our words take us. That is the hardest lesson to learn especially as adults!
Oh the perfection piece! That’s a BIG one I’ve had to let go, for SURE. Sometimes I’m ok dashing off a post and putting it out there. Other days, it’s review-revise-review-revise…it IS a hard lesson to learn for us all.
Wonderful post! I love how you use this scenario that we have probably all experienced this month to draw conclusions that enrich our teaching practice. One thing I always remember in March is what a discipline and a daily practice writing can be. I don’t always love working out, but I’m always glad I did it. And writing is the same. I don’t always love writing while I’m doing it, but I’m always glad I did.
Absolutely. There are a LOT of parallels to working out, especially where it comes to the idea of developing muscle memory, habits, technique. THAT could definitely be another post. There may even be a draft along those lines gathering dust somewhere in my collection…
Spot on!
This is my takeaway line: “Allowing enough mental quiet to listen for words to come, even when I think I have nothing to say.” – therein lies the magic. There is always something to say, infinitely something to say, if we but listen.. as always, Lainie, all is so well-said and so true. Particularly about letting the kids know that we struggle just the same as they do – and that pressing on means pressing through.
YES. And we also sometimes need to let them in on the dirty little secret: that struggles don’t just end with writing. And they don’t go away once we have our grown-up credentials, whatever that may be. Whether it’s writing, or getting along with people, or understanding ourselves or the world around us, things are MESSY. Ah…there I go again. <>
I almost mentioned that the whole writing process is MESSY…analogous with life, for sure.
It’s….only…. your second year??!! I thought you were a lifer, ma’am! 🙂
“We DON’T have to love everything we write.” This right here. I struggle with this one so much because I want to be in love with every single word I produce. I allow myself to overthink if I should have clicked publish when I’m unsure; in fact, I am still thinking about a post from week two of this month…. That’s crazy, huh? Thank you for sharing 💜
NOT crazy at all. As far as the overthinking goes, I don’t even want to tell you how many times I go back and forth between “preview” and “edit.” In my defense, there are things I just don’t notice unless I see how they will look in the final form…and, thanks for the validation and encouragement – today and every day.
YES to the toggling between “preview” and “edit.” Phew. It’s been quite the lesson learned this month. In a fun way! 🙂
Yes! This is what I love best about the 31 day challenge in March. When you expect to write, you figure out what to write. That’s what I want my students to know about writing too. We’re getting there…
Kim
Yes! And of course, when we get “there,” we realize what’s next. And then it hits us. There’s no “there” there. Always what’s next, what’s next, what’s next. Another wonderful thing about writing – and about this community!
You nailed it. “It’s the practice of writing, of allowing enough mental quiet to listen for words to come, even when I think I have nothing to say. It forces my growth as a writer.”
Thank you! Seems like this is definitely one of those things that unites us as a community.
This is so true! I’d write too, however stuck I was, if only for the kids’ sakes!
There’s a lot I’d do for the kids that I’d never take on otherwise, that’s for SURE.