In recent months, I have learned that to maintain my writing process I must go “all in.” What that means for me is I must write every day because writing makes me happy. I have not set a word count or a time limit. I find that if I self-impose a rule, being a rebel at heart, I won't follow it - even if I set it for myself. I have to keep it partly arbitrary to keep it motivating.
I do make it a priority.
I do take notes.
I do make a list of 10 ideas every day.
My blog is a great motivation to write. The feedback, the comments, the likes, and the interactions with teachers, writers, readers, and teacher-writers is amazing. I am always looking at my life and experiences for interesting content to write about for either the blog or a short story and how that will be relevant to my readers.
I read an article this week about a teacher who used NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month) as a writing exercise in his classes which reminded me students are motivating for me to write. Little people make my writing life richer. This fall I want to start a Short Story Club. I want to read them and then write them with students. Since I'm all about mentor texts stories, writing them is right along with my teaching style.
Recently, I started to refer to myself as a writer, not a with a capital W, but a lowercase. I write everyday. I publish on a blog. I submit to publications I am part of a writer group. I will use my writer status to influence the people around me to see themselves as writers to whatever level they deem appropriate. A bonus is I improve my teaching and stay motivated. I am always learning about the process by reading and interacting. Hopefully this fall, I can rope my fellow coaches into some writing too. Motivation to be shared!
I’ll keep you posted.
Tammy L. Breitweiser is a curriculum coach in Northwest Indiana where she is currently dedicated to impacting student achievement in grades 7 and 8. With more than 22 years of experience, she is a reading advocate who believes in the reading and writing connection. She is working a collection of short stories and poems and a book about teaching writing. You can connect with Tammy on Twitter (@tlbreit) or through her blog Tammy’s Reading/Writing Life: https://tammysreadinglife.wordpress.com/
Writing is (or can be, I should say) a wonderful vehicle for self-discovery. It's also a great way to inculcate empathy. I had a student once say, "I have the story and I have the characters, but what I don't know is why the bad guy is bad." To make a story live, a writer has to be able to climb into another person's life. It can be equally useful in real life. "Why DOES Paul wear clothes you think are weird? Why does he keep doing it, even though you make fun of him for it? What do you think it feels like to be Paul? Paul, why does Anton make fun of your clothes? What do you think it feels like to be Anton?"
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