A month.
Back when I first started blogging, it was my goal to publish a post at least once a week. For the most part I succeeded in publishing a post each week. In fact, I surprised myself when I posted each day during the month of March for the Slice of Life Challenge.
Following the March Slice of Life Challenge, I could seem to get my groove back into regularly blogging. I have published posts but not with as much confidence or fervor as I was when I was posting daily.
Now I find that I keep wrestling with my inner writing critic. And I have not found passion in what I want to publish in a blog or publishing in another format.
I am grateful that I didn't stop writing, at least in my notebook. A few weeks ago I came across a powerful quote from Ralph Fletcher's Breathing In, Breathing Out. I wrote it and taped it in the inside of my current Writer's Notebook as a reminder to myself to keep going: "Keeping a notebook is the single best way I know to survive as a writer. It encourages you to pay attention to your world, inside and out. It serves as a container to keep together all of the seeds you gather until you are ready to plant them. It gives you a quiet place to catch your breath and begin to write" (Heinemann, 1996).
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| A reminder from my notebook |
I have lots of seeds in my notebooks. Fortunately, I never got out of the habit of writing every day. But I am not pushing myself as a writer like I yearn to. I know I need to cultivate my work, but I cannot help but feel a little lost.
Fellow bloggers and writer, what gives you purpose to fill your writing heart?
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That's a tough question. I have learned I can't expect anything from a nebulous blogging audience. What pushes me is having a record of my thoughts, knowing there is an audience even when I'm not aware of it; keeping my skills sharp so I can be an authentic writing teacher. I firmly believe that to teach writing we must write. Writing is different from coaching a sport, for example, and to teach writing well, we must write, and knowing someone may read what I write helps push me.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with your statement that to be a teacher of writing that we must write! I know this, but it is a great reminder!
DeleteI am always grateful to others who discuss their writing struggles; thanks for doing this. I'm intrigued by Glenda's response because mine is nearly opposite. What keeps me blogging is, in fact, the idea of the audience. I know that a small group of people is likely going to read what I write, and I have come to value their feedback. More than that, when I first started blogging Elisabeth Ellington over at The Dirigible Plum said that the March challenge was more a publishing challenge than a writing challenge. One of the things that gives me purpose is that challenge. I ask my students to "publish" to me, at least, regularly. In exchange, I try to make my writing public regularly, too. Today's, for example, needed a little more work - but in the end, I hit publish anyway & it's a better piece for me having gone back over it even as much as I did... I suspect my students have felt this way & I suspect I will feel it again. But, oh, that feeling when I publish something that works! That, too, keeps me writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughtful comment, Amanda! I feel like I write too much about the struggle of writing - not enough about successes! I really enjoyed reading your perspectives too!
DeleteIt was interesting to read your post and Glenda's and Amanda's response. I am not entirely sure what keeps me writing. I am actually surprised I am still blogging. My audience is small, I haven't figured out what "my thing" is, and my posts vary in style and quality. Partially I write because I expect my students to write and I wish to show an example. I have to say that sometimes it maybe just one response from a reader, knowing that my words mattered to someone, that fuels me. Having pauses in my blogging does not worry me too much anymore. I hope you will listen less to your critic and more to your inner writer.
ReplyDeleteTerje, thank you for stopping by. I was also so intrigued by Glenda and Amanda's response, too. Both of them left me such interesting points to ponder over! I do agree that it is the response (even if it is just one) that helps me too... connecting with every one person is so important.
DeleteAs always, your posts resonate so much with me! I always find it odd how I find it easier to write, to have ideas, to bring ideas to some kind of polished form, when I am blogging every day. But then, most habits are easier for me to keep if I do them daily. I also am not entirely sure what keeps me writing. Probably being part of a community. Does anyone really notice and feel let down if I don't Slice? Maybe not, but after I've skipped a few weeks (as I have over the past 6 weeks or so), I find myself really missing that community and wanting to connect again. What I do wish is that I could find some kind of way to write and publish more frequently outside of March. Maybe you and I need to connect outside of blog comments and try to figure this out since it's a struggle we both have!
ReplyDeleteElisabeth, I would love to connect with you! I will try to find you on email!
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