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Teachers Write Starts Tomorrow


I'm grateful for writing. Next week begins Teachers Write. Yikes! I'm excited, scared, overwhelmed, and really wanting to bury my head in the sand...but I won't. Cynthia Lord wrote an amazing facebook status that turned into a blog post about writing. She said, "All you have to do is sign up and you can do the program all five days a week or as life permits. But let me say something about 'as life permits',  just so you're prepared.  Life *doesn't* permit." 

 Please read this post. It's wise and inspirational and will be posted in my office and in my notebook. 

 Now to specifically address today's question: 

It's a valid question. Why? The easiest answer is I have to write. Last night I reading Annie Dillard's book The Writing Life and this quote found me..."It's easy, after all, not to be a writer. Most people aren't writers, and very little harm comes to them." (Julian Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot) 

When I write, I feel alive. This past year I've been "searching for my story". Going into Teacher's Write for the third year, I finally feel like I have an idea of what I'll be working on. That feels good. I've been blogging and writing a lot lately and I've come to the conclusion, that the more I write...the more ideas I get. 

I write because I have to write. 
I write to untangle my life. 
I write. 

Thank you to Kate, Gae, Jen, Jo, and everyone involved with this amazing opportunity. I'm ready!

Night stand is stocked with writing tools!

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  1. Terje July 6, 2014 at 12:56 PM

    How exciting! I hope that you will surprise yourself!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Margaret SimonJuly 6, 2014 at 3:00 PM

    I have also done Teachers Write for 3 years. Well, I think this year will be the third. So let's make a pact right this minute to give each other love-support at all times. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to keep up. For 2 of the weeks I'll be traveling. But knowing you've got my back will give me courage. Ok? Thumbs up?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Holly MuellerJuly 6, 2014 at 4:19 PM

    I had to come see what Margaret commented that prompted you to post on my Facebook. :-) YES! I'm in! I'm excited for Teachers Write - I, too, will be traveling in July/Aug, but will write when I can. I love this post, Michelle. I love Annie Dillard and that quote. I also loved Cynthia Lord's post. I ALSO love your night stand. Can I love anything else? Ha. Can't wait to see what you and Margaret write!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jen VincentJuly 7, 2014 at 12:12 AM

    This is beautiful! Thank you for sharing this. You made me all teary. Isn't Teachers Write just great? After three years, I feel like I have so much more to write, too. I had some ideas three years ago and I've written a lot since then but now I really have ideas just bursting out of me and I see ideas all over the place. On the way to Nerdcamp today we were sitting in traffic and a car came barreling down the shoulder just passing all the traffic. My husband scoffed, saying how he can't believe how anyone could think it's okay to do that. I turned to him and said, "What if there's a pregnant woman having a baby and they've just got to get to the hospital?" He just shook his head at me but I knew I made him think. It seems like I can imagine all sorts of stories all over the place now.

    Make the time, girl! You can do it! I like how you said writing helps you untangle your life. I love writing and I've found that it does help me think through life and people and it's amazing. Let's do this!!!

    ReplyDelete

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