The One With Scribbly Notes

This month, I'm participating in the Slice of Life challenge with Two Writing Teachers. If you want to participate, you can link up at their Slice of Life Story Post or you can head on over there to check out other people's stories and follow along with the fun. For more information on what a Slice of Life is about, you can go here. 

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I spend a lot of time writing on my laptop. I took keyboarding freshman year in high school so I can type and type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts but I still find putting pen to paper a great way to explore my thoughts. I especially love free writing or processing my thoughts with pen and paper. 

I worked on my poem this weekend and wanted to share my scribbly notes. Maybe you've seen this image from Demetri Martin that shows what "success" really looks like.

I'm not quite sure I consider my poem to be a success yet but it's definitely been a messy process...so I'm going to take that as progress.

Poetry especially seems to start off as pen to paper for me as I try and get tons of thoughts down and then I can start to look at how to my ideas connect and come together. That's when I move to my computer. 

I love stopping to think about my process and what does and doesn't work. It's never quite the same and I try to roll with whatever feels right. In thinking about working with student writers, asking them to stop and think about their process and what worked for them or what didn't work from piece to piece is important because it allows them to know themselves as writers. Because every piece is different, it's important to try different things and to think about what works and what doesn't work and to know that just because one piece came easily, it doesn't mean that the next one will....and it doesn't mean that one strategy that worked will or won't work another time. 

And most importantly, we have to remember that we can always be collecting ideas and strategies for writing. I love learning about other writers and what works for them. Sometimes I try it myself and sometimes I tuck it away in my brain (or my notebook) in case I might need it later!