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The March Slice of Life Story Challenge
The March Slice of Life Story Challenge
hosted at the Two Writing Teachers.
Join us for a month of writing!
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I open my laptop. And I sigh. It's the last day of March and I think about what to write. There are no stories worthy of the "last slice," but today I share some thoughts at the end of this journey ...
This year the challenge was different. It was easier for me to write my slices of life -- about my every day, ordinary, small moments of life. I wrote mostly about my girls. I wrote to capture memories that I knew I would soon forget. I wrote to share those stories with them.
In the past, I thought I never wrote for the comments. I thought I wrote for myself and the comments just came. I thought this was still true, but this year the commenting was different. I had my core visitors that I have connected with over the years (thank you!), but rarely anyone new. This surprises me as there were over 200 committed to the writing every day and I wonder why. I would have over 50 - 60 views of a post, but as little as 4 or 5 comments. Did I not connect with the reader? Did I link up at an odd time? Was the catch line not catchy enough?
Sometimes I wonder if the community is too big. I started this challenge eight years ago with about 60 slicers. It was manageable to visit blogs several times throughout the month. You get to know each other and the styles of writing. I am happy to see the community grow and more teachers are writing, but I think about the impact and the challenges it brings.
I did my fair share of visiting and commenting on at least 3 other slices, and usually I did way more than the expected. Yet, I still feel like I didn't do enough because most new blogs I visited had only one or two comments ... and some usually had none. Is everyone doing their fair share? Are all slicers visiting and commenting? Yes, the goal is to write every day, but the goal is also to support the other writers. Comments matter.
In years past, I was sad that March came to an end and I continued to write anyway. That habit of writing and creating and posting was alive. This year though I am relieved that the challenge is over. I don't have any more to give. With such a busy life, I try to participate without interrupting my daily life, but you know how that goes. I'm still going to take more photos and capture words and stories in my notebook. But that daily writing habit is just plain old tired and needs a break.
Yet, I will be back. I am closing the door on March with a sense of accomplishment and also with a sign that says: See you on Tuesday! Thank you for joining me on this journey!
Sometimes I wonder if the community is too big. I started this challenge eight years ago with about 60 slicers. It was manageable to visit blogs several times throughout the month. You get to know each other and the styles of writing. I am happy to see the community grow and more teachers are writing, but I think about the impact and the challenges it brings.
I did my fair share of visiting and commenting on at least 3 other slices, and usually I did way more than the expected. Yet, I still feel like I didn't do enough because most new blogs I visited had only one or two comments ... and some usually had none. Is everyone doing their fair share? Are all slicers visiting and commenting? Yes, the goal is to write every day, but the goal is also to support the other writers. Comments matter.
In years past, I was sad that March came to an end and I continued to write anyway. That habit of writing and creating and posting was alive. This year though I am relieved that the challenge is over. I don't have any more to give. With such a busy life, I try to participate without interrupting my daily life, but you know how that goes. I'm still going to take more photos and capture words and stories in my notebook. But that daily writing habit is just plain old tired and needs a break.
Yet, I will be back. I am closing the door on March with a sense of accomplishment and also with a sign that says: See you on Tuesday! Thank you for joining me on this journey!
I agree with you that the comments are so important, and we need to make sure they are spread out for everyone. Sometimes I would read a more "popular" poster and feel they had plenty of comment-love, and move on to find someone who needed my effort that day. Over time we get our regular readers, and I love that, but we also need to reach out to the new and unknown participants. Which equals more work :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, congrats! Even though this March was harder for you, you did it. And I'm happy to see your "See you on Tuesday!" sign!
Congrats! We made it through another March. You're writing inspires all who read it, but I know what you're saying about the comments I've gotten a few different people, but mostly the same ones who continue to comment each week. Maybe it's a lack of time to investigate different slicers, maybe some don't relate, maybe they don't know what to say, maybe .... But if nothing else, write for you, for me, for the girls - to share your thoughts, concerns, stories - that's what really matters. Love ya, Mom
ReplyDeleteI agree with much of what you said. This has been a hard year for me to write and I'm glad I did it. I didn't get to as many blogs as I would have liked to. I wanted to make an organized system for myself but it never happened. I don't know what the solution could be for helping others get more traffic to their blogs. I didn't get as many comments this year either but I know I didn't get to comment as much as I would have liked to. Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteAs a new slicer this year, I have to admit, I found the number of posts to choose from each day overwhelming. . . There were some familiar faces, and I did find myself gravitating there. I really appreciated the comments from the SOL Welcome Wagon--it was great to get to know a couple of people that way. It did make a difference to have a couple of people who commented regularly, so it helped me to get to know them. I agree about writing for myself--but it was nice to know that others were reading my slices, too!
ReplyDeleteYES! This was an issue for me too...in both receiving and giving comments. It felt different for me too. I'm still processing this year. Thank you for your thoughtful post. It helped me a lot!
ReplyDeleteEvery year feels a little different because your life is so different, but I echo a lot of your thoughts. The size of this community's growth is awesome, on one hand, but it does make it overwhelming to attempt to connect. I usually try to balance commenting on a couple of core "friends", people who have recently commented on my posts, and a few new people here and there. That balance helps me feel like I'm doing my part okay, although I certainly wish I could do more!
ReplyDeleteMichelle- I could have written this exact post. As much as I would like to say that I write for me, I really do enjoy getting comments from other people. It's hard for me when I don't get many comments. I think I leave quite a few comments for other people- usually about 20 a day, by the time I do my old friends, then my Welcome Wagon, then 5-10 more. I wonder if people don't get the idea of how writing communities are built. I was also troubled by people who sliced, but said they were not going to post within the slicing community because they didn't want the trouble of having to comment. To me, that feels more than a little selfish. I wonder if we could develop writing "camps" of around 10-12 people that responded to each other every day. Maybe they could do that instead of Welcome Wagon. That way everyone would get ten comments.
ReplyDeleteI like your camp idea, Carol. I think it would allow me to focus, but I would still know I could walk over to another "campground" for a bit of commenting.
DeleteMaybe some S'mores too???
DeleteI am thinking camp could be helpful! We could have a cross-camp commenting challenge too. Mini communities of writers!
DeleteI like this idea of writing camps. I too wondered if everyone was commenting at least 3 times.
DeleteSmoresare ALWAYS GOOD!!!!
DeleteI do miss the smaller group from when we started, but I'm glad so many are writing. I don't know what the answer is for the commenting. I have to say, I feel guilty about the number of comments I get. But I think that comes from having developed a core of readers. I know I always try to go to anyone that comes to me. Lots to think about.
ReplyDeleteWith your girls the age that they are, I'm guessing that life gets quite busy. Writing in a notebook each evening is one thing, but writing to push the publish button is a bit more of a challenge. It's always smart to take care of you first --- and know those years go by in the blink of an eye. It's okay to take a moment to breathe. I always enjoy my stops here. I find the commenting to be the biggest challenge. This year I chose to comment on the three blogs under mine, and then rove around to other blogs. Most days, I commented on more than three blogs, but still I felt like I couldn't get everywhere. I know there are still those in the challenge that I didn't get to their blog one time. I wish I could figure out a better way. As you know from #cyberPD and #pb10for10, we have to trust a little that the community will take care of each other. Congrats! You did it.
ReplyDeleteI have been focused on conferring this year in school, so I was automatically paying attention to the commenting in a different way. I notice that my stats don't match the comments (e.g. 30 views, but 5 comments) I decided not to let it bother me. I write for me. And I write for others. I joined the Welcome Wagon this year, and found it burdensome sometimes to comment for some people, so I get that some people might not be comfortable commenting. Either way, I value the connections I have made so much that I'm not going to let lack of comments get me down. I hope you'll be back on Tuesdays, but I often check in with your blog when it isn't a Slice of Life day because I value what you write!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments. My core visited, but seldom anyone new. And I kept track for the first 25 days of which blogs I visited. I averaged about 20 posts a day for most of that time. Sadly, i think a huge part is the number of slicers. It's not a bad thing. I think we just have to work within our tribe and support each other. Thanks for being part of my tribe!
ReplyDeleteI have long stopped puzzling over comments. Tried to see a correlation of comments I received with the topics, the time of publishing, the number of comments I made. Could not find a pattern. About 300 participants makes a large crowd, hard to make connections. I am super thankful to you and other old friends who visited me. I missed Linda, though. I'll see you on Tuesday.
ReplyDelete