Slice 1 of 31: Challenge

I love challenges. I don't necessarily love writing, but the Slice of Life Challenge lets me blend both together. Can I really write for 31 days straight?  This year I start off with the knowledge that I can because I did it last year.  Whenever you embark on something for the first time, the uncertainty always lingers.  It's like a road trip to somewhere you've never been.  Once you've been there once, the journey seems so much shorter.   Some nights I didn't post until 11:50 pm.  But I did make it and comment on three people for the entire month.  I even won a cool prize! Though it wasn't about the prize.

Last year it was a personal journey full of questions. Could I balance a little writing each day with work and life?  What does it mean to participate in a digital writing community? What does it mean to create a digital footprint?  How do you grow as a writer?  This year I will continue to explore those questions as well as write side-by-side with some of my graduate students. After doing a tiny Slice challenge with ninth graders for ten days last year in May, I added an open-ended digital writing project to my syllabus for graduate students s.  Part of my journey will be working with those students and dealing with the questions that arise as I read their work.  I already have some brewing!

I am also encouraging my nine-year old daughter to write with me each day. Last year as I sliced, she became more and more interested in writing and kept nagging me for a blog.  We created one and this month I hope to nurture her more as a writer. We already read side-by-side and the slice will give us an opportunity to write side-by-side.  If you are new to the challenge, welcome! If not, I am excited to slice with you again!