A to Z Challenge Reflections

This was my first A to Z Challenge so it was quite an experience. Fortunately I have done nanowrimo and octpowrimo so I do have some experience with the task of writing everyday. It was very, very nice to have Sundays off though, which you don’t get with the other two challenges.

What made this a tremendous experience for me was finding fellow bloggers who were also doing the challenge. Some bloggers I’ve been reading for months and some were new to me, but I enjoyed reading their works progress through the month.

One of my favorites was Iain Kelly’s A to Z challenge in which he wrote a mystery using his child’s jigsaw for the letters and kept all of his readers guessing.

My regret is that with limited time, I couldn’t read quite as many challenge entries as I would have like. Hopefully I’ll add more to my reading in my future downtime (downtime? What?!).

My chosen challenge was to write flash fiction based on emotions from A to Z. While I had chosen the emotions beforehand, I’m glad I didn’t put it on my blog because there were days when a certain emotion just didn’t appeal to me so I was glad for the flexibility to write about a different one. (On “X” I had no choice so it’s a good thing to find one’s discipline!)

As for my own favorite amongst my entries? I don’t know. In some ways it’s a great big blur. Many of them are different as I chose to write them in different styles. Some are a little preachy (who me?!) and some are lighthearted and some…well…just are. I’ll probably go back and reread (during that infamous downtime) to see what I wrote.

Throughout the month, I gave some thought to writer’s block. The obvious thought is you can’t participate in one of these challenges and have writer’s block unless you want to fail. So you write through it and maybe that is the key all along. You can’t afford the luxury of a muse–you have to write. I think that’s why so many writers love writing prompts of all kinds and participate in them daily when they can’t think of what to write. It keeps the block at bay.

Thoughts on next year’s challenge. I will (as long as the fates allow) participate in next year’s challenge. I will remember that it happens in April and not get “prepared” the week before because I forgot. So maybe that’s a hope and not a reality.

I will, however, come up with a challenge earlier than a week before and give it some thought. But again, I will probably write fiction. I liked the challenge of making up something new each day.

*Yes, yes, yes. My life revolves around music and song lyrics and sometimes books and stories. 😉

S. Darlington 5/9/2017