P’s phone buzzes, and I shut my eyes tighter. Sleep still has its arms wrapped around me, my head heavy, my body warm under the covers. It buzzes again.
What time is it? I whine inside my head.
I roll over and tap on my phone screen: 6:48am. Ugh.
A Saturday morning when I might actually have been able to make it past 7 would have been one to celebrate.
But then I remember: Tomorrow begins the daily Slice of Life Writing Challenge! And if I want to be successful, I may as well get up, go out to the living room, grab my iPad, and write and schedule my first slice to get ahead.
That was one of the habits Ana and I suggested last year for the KLA slicers to stay consistent: Write your slice the day before and schedule it to be posted the following morning.
Some others included:
- Don’t read anyone else’s slice until you slice. While they may inspire you, they may also cause you some severe writer’s paralysis!
- Set your alarm 30 minutes earlier throughout the month of March and slice before you do anything else. “Invest in yourself first,” as the saying goes, or you won’t have that money to invest by the end of the month.
- When all else fails, use a tried and true prompt! Five senses, If we were having a coffee, What I’m currently, etc.
Ana has quite magically gone from having 16 KLA slicers join last year to convincing more than 30 KLA slicers and beyond to join for this year. I’m not surprised though — she has a way about her that just makes everyone as excited to write as she is. I’m one of the “beyond” this year, but I’m grateful to be part of the “KLA and” community.
This year is going to be a tough one, I think. It’s “March madness” at my work — our busiest season. 22 student travel programs in the field, from Ireland to Iceland, New Orleans to New Zealand, Québec to Costa Rica. Many new schools too, putting their faith in us to deliver solid programs that are educational, fun, and of course, safe. I love our small but mighty team and I know that we are prepared for this. I also know it’s going to go by in a flash.
Just like this writing challenge. We anticipate it all year long. We prepare for it. Ana even gave us all customized blank March calendars and orange stickers to track our posts, inspired by a few slicers from last year. And it will be over before we know it. Not without its challenges, of course (otherwise, it wouldn’t be called a challenge). But 31 days is just 31 days, after all.
I’m happy to be back, and I’m looking forward to reading my fellow slicers’ blogs again, too. Happy slicing! We’ve got this! See you in the comments 🙂
Writing With Abandon 
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