Anniversary post? Check.
Spring time in Colorado? Check.
Posts about Mom, Dad, my girl? Check. Double check. Triple check.
It is March after all. The month that they say comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. In my case, it comes in with a slicer, and out with a writer. Each March I am hopeful that this routine I have carved out–the one that had me even wondering what I would write from the emergency room a few nights ago–would become the ritual that would allow me to finish those musings that are more than a slice:
There’s one about Jax and his world underground. Rain check.
One about Arley and her Nat-Geo-inspired world. Reality check.
One about whole-group reading instruction, writing to learn, and maybe even authentic tasks. Spot check. Blank check. Gut check.
This yearly challenge, it reminds me what it means to be a writer. It gives me the courage to “publish,” and it makes me a better teacher of writers and writing teachers. It also distracts me. It keeps me from the hard work of writing what needs to be written.
It is my very own “greenbelt” writing (a la Ralph Fletcher) and for the month of March and a few days in between, this is what I need. A greenbelt: a place where my writing can go wild.
But if greenbelts are spaces preserved within urban city-scapes, places of escape and “un”development, then their presence requires the contrast. The developed. The planned. The tamed. The cultivated. The disciplined.
For this month to feel like a back-to-nature, nurture-my-soul kind of retreat, the rest of the year needs to be full of writing that is less like fields of clover and more like cloverleaf exits on expressways.
My toes tickle at the touch of the wild in this greenbelt, and the pavement is mere footsteps away. I am ready. To step out of March and into an urban renewal.
I am participating in the 11th annual Slice of Life Story Challenge (#SOLSC18) hosted by Two Writing Teachers. We write each day (except–for me–for yesterday) in March as part of an international writing community. I appreciate any comments, especially those that
- reinforce writing decisions that work and
- coach into those that don’t.
Think of each comment you leave as a little writing conference we are having together. Come on, make me a better writer today! Thank you!
It's About Making Space 
I love everything about this post. The picture is wonderful. You express so much of what I think, but there are things about this month that bother me, that make me question the costs vs. benefits. Yes, writing can be relegated to this one month; it must be a habit throughout the year. Wonderful metaphor.
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Ahh…I love the nuances of language – so many multiple meanings! There is so much of this post I love! Thanks for the reminder to read a Ralph Fletcher book; I love your ‘checks’, especially the spot, blank, and gut check 😊, and your similes with clovers! So creative! What a beautifully woven post about the importance of writing.
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I love the contrast between the play on checks–so linear, and yet the kind of list a writer would make–with the wildness of your writing greenbelt. I share your feeling that this challenge can sometimes be a distraction from more purpose-driven writing. . . but I also agree that it is making me a more flexible and spontaneous writer.
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Interesting, for me, the act of writing every single day, and coming up with something good enough for other people to read, moves this beyond Ralph’s greenbelt writing, to actual writing. But I do wonder, what would it be like if I sat down and wrote in a focused way like this every day. I’m curious as to what you are planning to write next.
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