“Blogging is a conversation, not an editorial.” Glenda Funk
This statement gave me pause and had me reflect on how I Slice. In fact, Slicers sharing their experiences and perspectives during our Zoom Slicer meet up gave me food for thought.
A consensus is that SOLSC is about community, learning, reciprocation, and communication.
This is why I am back this year, despite my writing chops being glitchy due to my concussion. (See my previous Slice, Malfunctioning Software)
The topic may be our individual slices, but the issue is much bigger than our individual slices. This gives me comfort.
Glenda gave me the advice of revisiting past words for inspiration. Upon doing so I discovered a draft I started 4 years ago – a collection of mentor texts and ideas collated from SOLSC. I spent the afternoon sifting through them and formatting a new page, Writing Structures & Ideas, on my blog to share with others. Unfortunately, the page isn’t populating on my site, despite showing published in the editor. Any WordPress tech savvy people out there with suggestions? This page is one small way for me to give back to the community.
This brings me back to the title of this post. What is your process? Where do you garner your writing ideas? Where do you get your inspiration? How do you see yourself as part of this community? How do you Slice?
Wordsmithing 
I appreciate your provocative questions and post. Your opening quote is priceless as I think Glenda is incredibly insightful and a gifted writer. Since I am fairly new at WordPress, I have no advice. I just posted about writing ekphrastic poetry though and I find this type of poetic writing inspiring. Hope you get a lot of interesting responses to your questions.
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Thanks, Barb! I agree that Glenda is talented. I will have to give ekphrastic poetry a whirl.
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Well, I just want to give you a hug and make everything work the way you want it to function: your brain, Word Press, all of it. I taught communication (speech, rhetoric, etc.) 38 years, so I spend a lot of time thinking about how I and others are in online spaces. Long story, but at one point I studied online communities of practice extensively and what makes a space work or decline. As you know from our Zoom meeting, I have lots of strong opinions about these things. I do hope this month lives up to both your expectations and needs. I’ll check in often because I feel invested in your health and happiness at this point. Hugs and peace.
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I often look around and find inspiration in my daily life. What did I just do and how could I slice about it? What am I doing right now that I could slice about? It takes practice! One thing I love about SOLSC is that the topic isn’t formal.
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Thanks, Lisa
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I always plan to be a planner- I have a list of 50 ideas collected for this year. Then, in the reality of the day-to-day I sit down and see what comes out of my fingers on to the page. I have not yet looked at my list… I always mean to take more time and be more purposeful, but after dinner each day is my writing. time and unfortunately the “get it done” side of me prevails over the “craft it well” side. I d sooooo value the community here though and read more slices than I could ever comment on. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
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It was nice to meet you yesterday! I agree…the challenge is all about community. I love the idea of you sharing your ideas that you’ve collected. I don’t know how to fix the WordPress issue though. 😦
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I slice differently on different days. Sometimes it’s something that happened right then and I just write casually about it. Other times it’s something I’ve had on nalist for a while and I might take more time with writing it more formally. Sometimes it’s about how I feel that day, mentally or physically. Sometimes it’s poem form. Sometimes it’s longer. It just kind of comes out how it’s going to come out.
I think however and whatever you write is perfect.
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I do keep a running list in my notebook of ideas to write about. Each day I add things I think about or ideas I have gotten from other slicers. It does help ease the panic of OMG what am I going to write about!
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What an excellent question and I am glad you had such a take away — the best part of this whole challenge is the community!
I like to focus on an event that happened in my day since it was always my understanding that a slice was a focus on a moment in your day. If there was nothing that caught my attention, I try to write about something from my past — maybe pulling up old pictures or looking for writing prompts. Sometimes I will see if someone has sliced about a topic that resonates with me and I try to tackle it.
I also like the recommendation of keeping a list of prompts or ideas either on my phone or in my notebook. I find support in my other writing community through teachwrite.org and their writing group is amazing for community support even beyond the slicing time.
I hope I answered your question 🙂
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Erica, thank you SO MUCH for your thoughtful reply. I will have to check out the writing group at teachwrite.org. Thanks for the tip!
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It was fun to see you at the slicer meet up. I’m struggling a bit this year. I’m sure that I’ll hit my stride soon. The beginning is always the hardest. More ideas will come later in the month. Until then, I’ll fall back on some of my familiar topics – . books and grand kids. I also rely on ideas from other slicers. Which reminds me I haven’t written any poetry yet this year.
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It is fun to consider that question and to hear different perspectives. I didn’t attend the meet up, and appreciate the glimpse into it that you gave. Thank you!
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Heidi, nice post about your process. I have two types of posts I make, sometimes it is literally a slice of my life from that day or the day before. Other times, as part of this community, I am inspired by something someone writes that I’ve read, and then I write a response or my version of it (like I will probably do my version of Glenda’s “8 movies that would help you get to know me.” I write those ideas and where they came from in a notebook for when I need an idea.
This community is so big in March that I feel like I’m just a small cog in the system. I do have some friends I always read their blogs, so perhaps feeling Kind of like I’m part of a mini community within the big community, but even that is not always consistent. Oh, I’m rambling!
I wish I could sit with you and WordPress and figure out why your new page doesn’t show up. The only thing I can think to ask is if your theme supports it. You have HOME, CONTACT, and ABOUT. Is it possible a different theme would show the new page?
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Denise, thank you SO much for thoughtful and detailed response. I will have to tinker with WordPress.
I agree that we can ideas from others writing. It is great to have an anchor text to refer to.
Happy Slicing!
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I am sorry you have health and tech problems. I hope both will pass. I am happy for you that you were able to participate in the slicer meet up. The challenge in March isn’t the writing but keeping up with others. I am sad that I miss out on a lot of good writing and can’t reach to as many people as I wish. I am not sure I have one well tested and rehearsed process. I try to look for the small moments and remember them. I don’t use my journal in March but rather write directly to the blog. I don’t have a routine time for writing, sometimes it is in the morning before school and sometimes late before going to bed.
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Terje, thank you SO much for sharing your process. I agree that it is the connections with others that matter. We have so many people participating that it is challenging to comment on everyone’s.
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