Hooray and Phew!
When I decided to join Slice of Life 2016 I wanted to notice, gather ideas, and collect stories. I decided to use a notebook and mechanical pencil in hopes of making the gatherings of ideas a habit. I found taking notes in a list format my preferred method. As I typed my posts, I would add white space - do some editing and tweaking. Then I tried to share nuggets and/or why I wrote/gathered these notes. I began sharing my writing - my readers who left comments referred to my slices as poetry, quite often. I was surprised. I did play a bit with white space and words but never intended to write poetry. I'm still not sure any of my slices are poetry. They are just notes and thoughts; Snippets for/of stories. However - writers can't ignore feedback and their readers, so maybe I need to ponder the ideas of my slices as poetry.
I really did see the value of gathering my thoughts in a notebook - two slices made writing mini lessons easier the next day in class. I leave this monthly community with two more thoughts I've read, heard, and now can attest to. To be a teacher of writing, you need to write. Using a notebook is a tool for idea gathering, collecting, and rehearsal.
Thank you Two Writing Teachers!