I read about the comment challenge and decided to join it. It took me forever to find Lanny’s post. After an email and a short wait, I opened the post and realized we were to comment on sixty posts.
“How was I going to do this?” I worried.
Fortunately, I came up with a plan, I would complete half on Saturday and tackle the other half on Sunday. I started and managed to complete the thirty comments on Saturday.
Reading the posts was extremely enjoyable. I found a few with similar themes but written completely differently, with different approaches, from different perspectives.
I learned a lot of ways I could use some of the ideas to match the genre I would be covering in class. Although taxing, I learned many new words I have never used, some I had read in novels but never used when writing. Saturday was fine, I managed to scatter the commenting throughout the day and had breaks in between. This made it quite enjoyable and easy to complete my plan.
On Sunday however, I had a very packed day; many visits were planned, I had no time to sit and read the comments but I needed to persevere. The delay for me was also because not only did I read the slice and comment but after posting my slice, I would read some of the other comments. I did not want to be influenced and needed to give my meaningful comments without bias.
I visited church, my son at school, my sister, visiting brother, my mother in law and got home late in the evening. At that point I had my thirty comments to complete. I knew I would and could. I read many posts and as I was in the swing or had gained some rhythm, this was getting done. If felt like a lit candle, the wax was melting slowly. My tally marks were like barn fences looking stable and sturdy. It was when I got to the forties that I felt drained. I had many thoughts:
Should I give up now? Can I do this?
Whilst reading posts I was learning, learning from other writers, learning for me and my students. When I got to fifty-two I felt rather proud. I was almost at the end of the road, I kept trotting, till I got to the finish line, panting. It was very late in the night. A wave of achievement swept over me. I did it! I had ‘pushed’ myself, as I was advised in one of the posts during the week. My plan worked!
What triggered this post was after I read and commented on the post by, mschiubookawrites.wordpress.com/2019/03/11/eye-on-the-prize
Leave a Reply