According to Grammarly, I have written 3,634,608 words since October 29, 2023…when I accidentally renewed my account with a different email address, thus forfeiting my previous streak and word-count. Sigh. Last week, I was more productive than 93% and used more unique words that 97% of Grammarly users.
Last night I had my last internship class for Grad School and accumulated all of my end of the semester assignments. There will be plenty of reflections written. Reflections on my 200 Internship Hours, reflections on the program, reflections on my portfolio that contains all of my reflections. All of this on top of the assignments for my current grad school course, where I’m writing several versions of a change plan based on data, before I can rewrite parts A-C into a final version.
It is still March, therefore I still have a few days worth of slices to write.
Needless to say, my writing to-do list is expansive.
This morning, I checked my email and saw an email from Stacey. Stacey’s email was a reminder about the April Two Writing Teachers Blog schedule. In the business of this year, I have not always looked ahead at the schedule for Two Writing Teacher posts. I just posted a piece this week, so I was sure that my next post would be at least a few weeks away. I held my breath as I scanned the list of dates. April 1: Jess.
Panic set in. April first is in just five days. I don’t even have an idea. This felt like the piece that might tip me over the edge. I immediately texted Dawn, my writing partner. It was still 5:25am. Dawn texted right back, nervous that something was wrong. I let her know that I was fine, but needed to find a time to chat. “Will you help me think?” I asked.
She responded: “‘We’ will find inspiration…or, it will find us/you.”
I responded with a quick “Thank you ❤️ ❤️❤️❤️❤️.”
I relaxed as Dawn texted that she was being called to the floor for her workout. I trudged downstairs to the basement for my own workout…where I mentally drafted a loose plan for a TWT post.
After my workout, I threw a few things into a Google Doc and shared with Dawn…”The most bare bones thing I’ve ever shared.”
By 7:30 am, I was sitting in Dawn’s room at school, my bare bones notes between us.
I know that I will chip away at my writing to-do list, one piece at a time-all with a little help and support from my friend.
Where There Is Joy 
As I read your post, I felt my shoulders crunch up, but then I imagined you crossing out each item on your writing to-do list, and I felt better. Haha. I’m mostly curious about your writing partner and what you do for each other! I love seeing my students eager to meet with their partners, and I never thought of getting one myself.
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I wrote a post all about it last year! http://twowritingteachers.org/2023/01/30/partners-in-the-process/
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Today’s slice and this post have me thinking about the various writing “partners” I’ve had in my own writing life, and how writing partners have been going (or not going) in the classroom the past few years. I do think that the first year I set up writing partners was the most successful. Last year because of class structure, I changed them every unit with some success. This year I tried that, but the students seem reluctant to engage with their partners. I know this is also on me and how I haven’t taught into it enough. Thank you for inspiring me to rethink writing partnerships for next year! And I wish you all the luck in your writing to do list! Surely you’ll knock many off your list. One at a time.
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I was hoping for a link! Yay! Thank you!
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Three MILLION words? Since the end of October? Remind me never to go back to grad school. Wow!!! I love how you panic a little & then reach out for support. That is a model for all of us. And looking at your schedule, I can already tell you’ve got this. (You do!)
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Thank you! My kids have been collecting tabs from cans at school for almost two years, trying to get to a million. I’ve seen the hundreds of thousands of tabs collected in bins at their school I wonder what 3,000,000 words looks like. It feels exhausting at times. 😂
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This is telling and real. You are well aware of overload and that comes through in an honest slice. Reminds me about ‘the grind’ and how our micro habits go so far in long-term growth. And really important that you can lean on friends (and community) to keep up the motivation. Keep grinding, you’ve got this! 🙂
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Thank you! I like the idea of micro-habits. They are helpful.
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Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed by my to-do list, my mom always reminds me to “chip away, chip away,” so your final line resonated with me. How wonderful to have a writing/thought partner for support!
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I had no idea Grammarly counted your words. As a girl obsessed with data story-telling, that’s so cool to me! And to-do lists eventually get smaller, and the feeling of crossing things out is one of life’s little things 🙂 Good luck!
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I love crossing things off so this will be so satisfying on the other end!
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Hat off to you for all the words written and about to be written!
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Cheers to partnerships!
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Your list overwhelms me just looking at it. But I know you’ll get it all done with grace as you always do!
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