9 things I have learned in 9 years of SOLSC

Inspired by Brain Pickings and Lisa Keeler and Elizabeth Ellington

Blank page need not to discourage. Blank page is scary. You imagine what there could be, and then you fear how you can’t do what you set out to write, and this makes you feel that you shouldn’t even start. Blank page appears threateningly huge. You think that there aren’t enough words to fill even quarter of the page. Blank page stares at you with intensity, almost as if saying “I dare you!” I can’t tell you how many times I have had the staring contest with my laptop screen and it has won. It seems so much easier to close the page and sweep the floor instead. Blank page doesn’t care whether you write or not. Blank page threat is an optical illusion. Blank page has no power at all. It’s all in your head. As soon as you make a mark on the page you are the winner. 

It's good to have some go-to formats. Slice of Life in ideal is a short, detailed narrative. The purpose of the challenge isn’t to collect only narratives. It’s about writing, writing daily. If the narrative doesn’t feel right, or ideas are stuck, then it is fine to write differently, to use some structures that provide safety. Every month I write a book spine poem and right now slice. 

Borrowing is great! Writing is a solitary act. You sit (insert a place) and think of what to write, how to write, and then you spend time getting the ideas from your brain to the paper or screen. On some days the two questions, what and how to write, have no answer. It feels as if you are all alone, lost and miserable. But you are not. There are so many people around you sharing their writing kindly every day, and you can always borrow from them. Go read some slices. Oh, she wrote about her grandma, I can do that. Oh, he wrote about sparrows hopping around, I could write about the crows. Oh, she wrote about her breakfast, I can too. The way people organist their texts is varied too. You are welcome to use these as inspiration.

I'll never be Neil Gaiman. I knew that from the start. I’ll never be him because the world doesn’t need two Neil Gaimans. I'll be me. I can learn from him though, and learn a lot. Like I can learn from many other spectacular authors. They are who they are because they have written for innumerable hours, producing uncountable pages of text, examining every corner of their writing territories, fine tuning their voice, mastering their writing craft, receiving honest feedback from readers and editors. The authors I admire write in a year more than I will write in a life time. I had a late start, write little by little, hop here and there, whisper and roar, occasionally mumble, stay in the safety of this lovely writing community. This is ok. I am me. This is my writing. 

There is no bar to jump over or a mould to fit in.This was a strange one for me. If you grow up knowing there is good and bad writing, you can’t forget that. This is to do with the annoying little critic who keeps telling that your writing is not good enough or that you shouldn’t be writing at all. The critic convinces you of some high criteria you should meet to be eligible to share your writing with others. Yes, if you are writing a proposal, or a final paper, or a massive report to keep your business going, yes, you have to follow rules and expectations and do it to the highest level possible. Personal writing for fun in order to collect snippets of your life provides lot of space for writing any which way. There is no right or wrong, no committee to judge you, no high stakes. Hush the critic and write on.

The number of comments is not reflection on the quality of writing. Knowing that someone read is fuel for writing enthusiasm. When people leave comments, you know you have made a connection with others. The responses tickle the self-esteem. Sometimes you may write a post that you yourself feel to be spot on, the best piece you have ever written, finally something almost perfect. The next day you go and find that only two people read it. The logical conclusion would be that “I guess it wasn’t that good after all.” Not true. This just happened to be the day when people were busy – taking care of their sick kid, planning for conferences, finishing their last writing for a course, getting a new kitchen sink, hosting nieces and nephews, or going to a theatre. Or they were exhausted. We all have those days. We can barely get two sentences written ourselves and then meet the minimal three comment requirement. Sometimes your best posts might not have many reader but you still can feel happy and proud for writing them.

A writing challenge expects some adjustments in everyday life. Few first years I tried to add writing to everything else that already was in my life. I felt overwhelmed. Now I know that March is a month when I will let some things go. Rotated neglect is the term I learned. First goes the social media, then the reading lessens, and in my case also exercising reaches a low level. I am not upset about it. The priorities shifted for a month and this is understandable. 

It's ok to write about the same thing over and over.This one took me some time to understand. Even though the definition of Slice of Life calls for ordinary I felt I needed to include something special, and always look for something new that I hadn’t written about before. When you live your life, things you value and like and enjoy are there all the time. Why wouldn’t you write about them? I have no problem including my family, books and tea in my slices. This repeated writing celebrates your life, keeps you grounded, and shows who you are. For some people, the recurring things might be issues that they are trying to make sense of, or a way to hold on to some memories, or a search for their identity and place in the world. 

You get better at writing by writing. It is such an obvious statement, but when you think you can’t write, you don’t write, and then the statement makes little sense, and is of little help. Only when words appear on the page there is some hope for improvement. The writing can be very short at first. And it not need to be wonderful. When you start the writing may feel boring, ordinary, even bad. As long as the words keep coming at some point there will be a piece of text that sounds ok, and then another piece that feels good. From these little successes, you get a bit more boldness to experiment more, to write more, to learn more. It may take time though until you feel that you can write. And it does not mean that from some point on all the writing would be amazing. There will be improvement. On some days, you will be surprised to read your text and realise how much wrote, how quickly you wrote, and how well the words cooperated. Writing does become easier. 

Reflection form last year.