"I feel like I should be less serious," she said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"My writing's depressing," she explained. "I showed it to my husband, though, and he said maybe it's what I need to write. Maybe it really is what I need to write. Is that okay?"
She hung her head and waited for my reaction.
Responses swirled in my head, and I hope I took enough time reflecting and sorting through them before I spoke. I don't remember what I said in that moment, but I do know what I'm thinking now.
We slicers are writing what we need to write. And sometimes it's a function of what we're programming ourselves to notice over the month of March. Sometimes it's the inspiration we get from others. Sometimes it's the thoughts we need to sort through in order to make sense.
We write what we need to write.
Sometimes, some days, we write for our audience, for the emotion we can create for unseen readers--and sometimes, some days, our writing is all about what the writer needs. Just the writer.
And that's okay.
Happy Slicing,
Thank you for saying what we sometimes infer just by the nature of what we know and are comfortable with each day...just write, right? Even if...
ReplyDeleteGood reminder. Writing helps us sort through problems, notice, wonder, figure it all out. It's different for everyone.
ReplyDeleteYes! Most days I do not even know what I am going to write until I start typing- often I am surprised by what I end up writing. We show up, we write- whatever that means!
ReplyDeleteAs a first time slicer, I do think a lot before putting things out there... but you are right. We need to write... just write! Love this!
ReplyDeleteYes yes yes. Oddly enough I didn't really start writing a lot until I had hard stuff to think through and writing was how I did it. I hope your friend knows that we write to make sense of our lives... there is a great quote about this somewhere.
ReplyDeleteExactly!! This month is truly selfish for me. I love every minute (or love to hate it). We must writer for ourselves. What I think is unique about SOLSC is that we connect with our audience for 31 days - our needs and the audience become intertwined in a way. I feel like I grow with my audience - we connect through writing and that inspires writing. Does that make sense? Love this slice!!
ReplyDeleteClare
I love Clare's comment here about how audience gets intertwined with our own writing needs for the month. It's one thing I love about slicing in March. I also love what you say about how we write what we need to write. In the past, I have written a lot about parenting during March. Right now, I need to write about something else and have some space and be more focused on self. I love that slicing is large enough to encompass different needs.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree and thank you for sharing your thoughts. This is why SOL is so powerful and difficult at times.
ReplyDeleteI needed this today. I've been feeling guilty because my Slices lately have been a little drearier and not really about school or education. But they've been what I need - 2018 has been hard and Slicing this month has been so helpful. <3
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. You always hit the nail on the head, Melanie! "We write what we need to write." I've been struggling to find the right balance between slicing about writing/teaching and slicing about other aspects of my life. You manage this beautifully.
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