This is my second year slicing and because I appreciated the
frequent comments from several slicers last year I volunteered to be part of
the welcome wagon. This affected my
slicing in a couple of ways.
First it narrowed my focus.
I began to feel like I knew “my” slicers and appreciated their writing
more because of it. Last year I kept wishing I had a way to remember who was who. The welcome wagon also made me feel
that commenting was just as important as slicing. Several days I posted quite late due to my
welcome wagon responsibilities.
I also
realize how insecure I am with my writing.
I’m learning to be a better teacher of writers, but I’m a very new
writer. As I look back on some of my
first posts last year I remember how insecure I felt slicing. My insecurity was strong as I tried to find a
way to encourage these amazing writers; I’m a Young 5’s teacher for heaven’s
sake! These people know writing! They teach big kids, they wrote for their school newspapers? But I also know that everyone
needs feedback so I commented on days that it took me longer to form a comment
than it did to write my own post.
I also realized I still shy away from writing fresh
emotions. I think I need to start these
posts as drafts, so I remember what I wanted to write about and then return to
the topic when my emotions are lessened. I guess that's how I'll write the post about my friend Mary's retirement announcement.
It’s been an amazing week.
Thanks Stacy and Ruth for the experience. See
you on Tuesday!
This is my second year doing the challenge and I am impressed that you volunteered to be part of the welcome wagon. New posters were lucky to have you. I too feel uncertain about my writing ability, but I know I have to put myself out there to become better.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first year doing the challenge, and I am so grateful to the welcome wagon ladies who commented on my posts. I like the idea of drafting posts ahead of time--when you are able--and then returning to clean them up and publish when you need to. I've done this before. It works! I hope you keep slicing during the year. Congratulations on finishing strong!
ReplyDeleteThis is my 6th year and I'm so glad to have all three of you with us. See you Tuesday?
ReplyDeleteBonnie
Sometimes composing a comment does take longer than a post. There are many that I write, reread, then delete and try again. I know comments fed me in the beginning, so I tried to pay it forward by commenting a lot. It helps that I don't work full time. I'm glad you joined the welcome wagon, with so many slicers it is so hard to catch and encourage them. I don't want any to slip away unnoticed. You have no reason to be insecure in your writing. Every writer is unique. I love reading slices because then I know what I want my voice to sound like. Keep writing, readers are waiting! :-)
ReplyDeleteAs a first time slicer, I loved how welcome the welcome wagon made me feel with their comments. I got much out of writing every day, but I got just as much out of reading and commenting. And sometimes the comments were the hardest writing.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you participated and took a lot away from it this year. Whatever you learned you will pass along to your young 5's who will become better writers thanks to having a teacher who writes!
ReplyDelete