If you know me well, you know I love reading, books, bookstores (especially independent bookstores with friendly booksellers!), audiobooks, libraries, stickers about stopping book bans, Libby, the freedom to read, Little Free Libraries and the people around that work.
And you might not know that I also try to live a writing life myself.
It is terrifying for me to share that.
But I'm taking a risk, because I think that living a reading & writing life builds democracy and fights back against hate & harm (including authoritarianism).
Through the amazing Two Writing Teachers writing community, I strive to post every Tuesday.
And in March, I take on the big annual challenge: posting every day.
And maybe in March 2026 - you'd like to try to write every day, too?
A "slice of life" post is an easy entry to writing. Similar to a diary, you write about your day, but rather than making a list of all the things ("I woke up, a had breakfast, I checked email"), you zoom in on a small moment - having your coffee in your favorite mug; hearing a love song on the radio; an interaction with your child or parent, a colleague, student, barista, bus driver, spouse; or another bit of your day you're willing to share with others. You dive into the details (remember those 5 senses activities from grade school?) and often share your feelings, make a connection to the world, help the reader understand why this was a worthy topic for you today (here's an example of a Slice: loving our dog Auggie).
I know many famous writers share how important it is to build the habit getting pen to paper to create the muscle memory to lead a productive writing life. (They also share that reading is key for great writing, so keep doing that, too!)
I've also found the work of writing helps me think.
- What word should I choose?
- What is the meaning in this story?
- How can I best explain my experience or emotions, my confusions, hopes or dreams?
And this work: of unpacking your experiences and feelings, considering the ways your words hit, finding a path from beginning to middle to end - these are all important things for operating in our world, too. They are the skills we need to deepen relationships, get curious about the reasons things happen, navigate relationships with loved ones and strangers.
The Two Writing Teachers community adds a special element to the March challenge, and that's the request/requirement that in addition to bravely posting, you also read & comment on three other Slicers posts. It adds such an element of community to the work, and feedback is a gift. Someone might shout out a beautiful phrase or sentence; another might notice your strong closing thoughts. Sometimes it's a personal connection ("I sometimes cry when I get off the phone with my grown kids, too.") or a bit of life advice ("Have you read/tried/considered..."), always tempered with love. This commitment to commenting fulfills that beautiful belief that writers deserve and thrive with a true audience (hence all those author breakfasts, inter-class celebrations and published poetry books we've planned in our classrooms!).
My guess is that some of you may already Slice on your own:
- Doing Morning Pages
- Writing in your devotional
- Gratitude journals
- following the amazing prompts of your favorite mentors (maybe Maggie Smith or Suleika Jaouad)
THANK YOU for your writing life and your own writing practices. I bet they help you navigate your self and your world. And I'd love to hear about them!
And, so, educator and educator-adjacent friends, if you're looking to lead a writing life in service of yourself, your students or the world, I hope you'll consider joining me over at Two Writing Teachers this March. The community is welcoming; the prompts are plentiful; the stakes are low and the reward is skill-building for a better world, filled with stories that remind us of our humanity.
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A few helpful Two Writing Teachers tools:
* The 2026 sign-up: https://twowritingteachers.org/2026/01/12/overview-sol26/
* Ana Valentina Patton's Slice warm-up - start with a sentence a day: https://twowritingteachers.org/2026/01/01/tiny-january/
* A very helpful (extended) post on Slicing - read about the individual challenge (and if you're a teacher, maybe you want to Slice with your students - another possibility!): https://twowritingteachers.org/challenges/
* And full disclosure: I often miss a day or two, and then try hard to get back to it - it's not about perfection and there is no judgement!
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