I had a revelation this afternoon
You know. One of those aha! moments that is only possible when I write. When I take the time to reflect and write on what’s happening around me, it will come. That revelation. That aha! moment. That sense of: “Duh! But of course! Why didn’t I see that before?”
So, what I realized today, as I was writing in one of my many notebooks, was that a recurring theme in my writing is about organization, routines, and habits. How to get organized. What to do first, second, third. When to do that and for how long. What are some good routines and how I can stick with them. What habits do I want to change, eliminate, and/or replace with better, more productive ones?
And, in all of this writing and thinking, it occurred to me that I spend too much time perseverating about how to change this and that…instead of changing this and that. When I’m done perseverating (or in this case, writing), I have very little energy left to actually carry out the new organization plan, routine or habit.
What should I do, then? I will find other topics to write about. No more writing about organization and developing a writing habit. I will not spend my precious time coming up with a rigid plan for how to get there that is bound to backfire. No. I’m done with that.
Now, I’ve got to come up with a viable list of topics for writing. Just like I encourage my students to do. I’ve been in a writing rut and I will pull myself out by venturing outside my comfort zone and exploring other topics. Some will be topics that I have been avoiding because they’re too painful or not easy to think about.
But, I have no other choice. I’m excited to begin this journey in earnest.
Cross posted to the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Tuesday.
Elisa Waingort 
What a brave & honest post, Elisa. I can relate to your conundrum, and also need to push myself in a more specific direction in my writing. I’m thinking about notebooking more. Also, at Margaret Simon’s NCTE session, she shared William Stafford’s daily writing practice, which was really not all that complicated. It followed a consistent routine, which allowed for any/all writing topics to make themselves known. Check out her SOL from today if you’re interested.
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Isn’t it interesting what ruts we can get stuck in without even realizing it? I loved your thought about the time you spend planning to change things as opposed to actually changing them – so powerful! Good luck in your journey!
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Thank you for your comment. Yes! Ruts are about not venturing out. Being afraid to take risks and try new things. At least that’s my thinking at the moment.
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Your writing hooked me first, because I connected, but also because you delayed naming your “revelation” until I was well into the piece. The pace, for me, was just right.
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Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate the feedback as it helps me improve my writing.
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It’s interesting that you spend your writing time writing out organization and routines. Today, I spent quite some time literally describing everything I was doing, as though I needed to see, in writing, what I was doing to fill my time — instead of writing. I will try to follow your plan — write, just write.
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Sonia, sometimes writing about organization and routines has been easier than actually tackling these and then moving on. Once we’ve done this then we can write about other important topics. Thanks for commenting!
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Wonderful that you found the theme and this a-ha moment moved you forward. I hope you are going to have fun when you venture out of your comfort zone into new writing territories.
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Exploring new writing territories is always fun! Thanks for commenting.
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