Day fifteen of slicing has met me head-on with a challenge. I can't seem to think of anything to write about. My mind is completely blank... I can't seem to find inspiration anywhere. I have tried to read other slicers, I have gone back into my previous posts looking for a nugget of inspiration. Nothing, nada, nil. This is so incredibly frustrating.
This is exactly what my kids feel like at school. I give, what I believe is a fantastic lesson and send them off to write on an equally fantastic prompt (insert sarcastic eye roll here). Inevitably, someone will come to me saying that they can't think of anything. I offer advice, give ideas, smile, pat them on the back and send them on their way to write. Nothing, nada, nil... they are still just sitting there. I go back over to them and try again... nothing, nada, nil. They can't find a kernel of inspiration in anything I have said.
I get it... sometimes even though you desperately want to, you just can't find the words. Your brain can't seem to get it out. Maybe what the problem is, is that we want our writing to be amazing, phenomenal, brilliant. When what we should strive for is putting pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, and relax. Our ideas will flow once we just get going... I am living proof. Not my best slice, but I wrote one nonetheless. More importantly, I have a better understanding of what my kids go through and can show them this post to prove it!
Isn't it so strange to have that feeling? It always happen to me in March too. I'll be happily trucking along in the challenge, congratulating myself on how not stressful I've made slicing this month when bam! I hit a day like you describe, and it's like I've never written anything or had an idea to write anything in my life! Your slice captures it so well.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet you brought some great words to the page anyway! We’ve all experienced this before and without a doubt will experience it many more times. I love the way this gave you even more insight into what your students experience.
ReplyDelete...but you wrote!!! And that's what matters...maybe share this with your students! (I wrote something similar awhile ago...now this challenge is forcing me to look at my day each day and find something that I could write about. Thinking about doing this challenge when I get back to school after break. The goal is hoping it makes them notice the world around them more)...maybe?
ReplyDeleteOh - I wrote about writer's block too. I have so many things swimming in my head, but they don't turn out like I think they are going to. Writing in my head is so much easier! When I'm empty, I always take a walk. I always find something to write about. Something always pops up. Worth a try.
ReplyDeleteThis right here is why it is so important for writing teachers to write. To understand that fear of the blank page, to not have "good" ideas, and to learn how to work through the hard parts. Hopefully this "stickiness" will not last long!
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