Reflections on the A to Z Challenge

First of all, congratulations to all the participants who completed this year's Blogging from A to Z Challenge. 

This was my second year, and my first year with a theme--the A to Z of literary devices. I found the theme to be both a plus and a minus. Plus: readers interested in literary devices came back time and time again. Minus: others popped in one day and disappeared. Last year, I did random posts and seemed to get more comments. Next year, I'll either go sans theme or have a more general theme.

Unlike last year, I stayed on top of posts. I wrote a week ahead. In a perfect world, all my posts would have been done by April 1. But my life skews to crazy, so I was happy with staying a week ahead.

I love this challenge, and I plan on doing it again next year. However, I did find the participant list (1,656 at last count) to be overwhelming. I'd love to see people sign up under headings--food bloggers in one list, writers in another, and so on. That doesn't mean I wouldn't try out non-writer blogs, but I would spend the majority of my time getting to know other readers/writers.

All in all, it's an amazing challenge. I'm grateful for everyone who stopped by in April and shared some comment love. I hope all of you will stick around!

To check out other Reflections posts, visit here.

What was your favorite part of A to Z this year? If you didn't do it, would you consider it for next year?

Eagerly Awaiting Discovery: ROW80 Update

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they're supposed to help you discover who you are." Bernice Johnson Reagon 

I started to not write an update today. Technically, I am NOT writing an update "today" since it's 1:46am and therefore tomorrow, but I digress...

Life has continued to challenge me. After a great trip to Colorado, I came home to go downhill fast. Truth be told, I never really kicked the first illness, and my body was not appreciating it.

"What's all this grand talk you've been spouting about slowing down and taking care of yourself, Missy," my body screamed.

The last few days have been a blur of sickness and commitments. Long story short, I ended up in Urgent Care with two breathing treatments and steroids. The diagnosis: sinusitis, bronchitis, and the beginnings of pneumonia. Four scripts later, I was home.

I admit it. Life's challenges have paralyzed me. 

Those who know me, know what it takes for me to say that. I appreciate how blessed I am, and how much worse things can get. Yet, I feel immobile.

Now, I eagerly await the discovery phase. 

But first, a codeine-induced sleep.

Eye: BlogHer NaBloPoMo Challenge

The theme for BlogHer's September NaBloPoMo challenge is... EYE.

According to BlogHer (see post here)...

Eyes are said to be the windows to the soul, and what else are you doing on your blog except baring your soul by writing about your hopes and interests day after day? This month, we're going to explore what we see... and what we don't... with our eyes. We're going to think about how we build memories, and which senses we use to access them later. And in delving into our Wordsworthian "inward eye," we're going to explore how you see the world around you.

This is NaBloPoMo and we love to play with words, so as much as we're going to be examining that body part, we're also going to think about how often you use the word "I" when you write and focus on your unique point-of-view.

As a writer, the idea of evaluating and defining my "eye" really speaks to me. Not only do I need some renewed writing energy, I love the idea of some good, old-fashioned soul baring.

I hope you'll join me.

And a Happy Labor Day weekend to all my friends and family!

(I am running my first half marathon tomorrow, so please wish me luck!)

On Blogathon: Thank You, Michelle Rafter

Thank you, Michelle Rafter, for another lovely post-a-day-in-May challenge through Blogathon. For several days, I've been considering how to best wrap up the experience.

Then it hit me, the ABCs of Blogathon. Well, of course. Granted, I just came off the Blogging from A to Z Challenge in April, so I might be a bit A to Z crazy.

ABCs of Blogathon

Achievement. It feels good to commit to daily blogging and have the support necessary to achieve it.

Note: I had several posts I'm particularly proud of, one that was also featured at BlogHer: Reviewing Without Prejudice. Plus, I saw increased page views and comments.

Blogs, blogs, everywhere. I love the diversity of subject matter. Everything from animal narrators to mommy stories and writing adventures to adventures on a bike and planning dinner parties.

Community. If you have ever felt alone out there, wondering if anyone reads your posts, you need to find a blogging community. Blogathon is one of my favorites.

Decorative. With so many blogs for inspiration, it's nice a way to see what you do and don't like in blog design and then consider your own blog decor.

Engaging. Michelle is active in the Yahoo group and reading blogs. She cares and encourages participants to share their success stories at the end.

Fun! Who doesn't enjoy a good Wordle (or in my case, Tagxedo) post?

Generous. I'm always amazed how much time people will give to helping others. When questions are posted, people jump in.

Haiku. What would Blogathon be without Haiku Day? It's just another way Michelle pushes us to try new things and believe in ourselves.

Interesting. Both in what you'll learn and the blogs you will read.

Jan Udlock. Michelle's right-hand woman this year. I met Jan last year, and she's as gracious and supportive as they come. Thanks, Jan! (a shout-out to Jennifer Willis and Jackie Dishner, too, since we are talking Js).

Kaleidoscopic. I can only imagine that all the blogs viewed at once would create a beautiful pattern of words and colors.

Lessons Learned. Several of the bloggers have posted lessons learned both here at the end and during the theme day, If I started blogging today, I would...

My related posts
If I Knew Then What I Know Now
Community and Knowledge Go Hand in Hand

Michelle Rafter. Without you it would never happen. Many thanks.

New to...

Old. No matter how long you've been blogging, you will learn something along the way in May.

Photography. I'm not a good photographer, so I especially appreciate all the wonderful photo posts.

Questions. Several come up every year, and Michelle and her cohorts are quick to help or point bloggers in the right direction.

Rest... is for June 1! ;-)

Social. With Twitter pre- and post-parties and interaction on Yahoo groups, Blogathon is a very social and engaging community. A few bloggers in the Portland area even organized an in-person meet up.

Thirty-one Days of Blogging Fun.

Uplifting. You will believe by the end that you can do it.

Variety. I mentioned it above, but there's no shortage of subject matter. If you have an interest, Blogathon has the blog.

Welcoming. Michelle, and her team, make sure each blogger feels the love.

X marks the spot! (Come on, X is hard!) 

Yahoo Groups. Some don't like it, but I find it so much more personal than Facebook. Plus, last year's kept going long after Blogathon!

Zany. You can't help but catch the creative bug when you see how interesting other people's perspectives are.

I admit that I'm still finding my way through the participating blogs. My goal over the next two weeks is to visit every single participant on Michelle's Blogroll. Wish me luck!

Congratulations to everyone who found out something about themselves, whether you managed 31 posts or not.

What was your favorite part of Blogathon?

Food Network-Style Writer Challenge: Exposing my Food Obsession

Yesterday, I was running at the gym and watching Food Network. My first thought... how unfair to be running and watching food. But I wasn't complaining when my four miles was over and I barely noticed. Clearly I'm obsessed.

I love food. Wish I didn't, but I do. I blame a mother who put out a Thanksgiving-like spread at almost every meal and greeted me at the door after school with warm cookies. Shame on you, Mom! ;-)

My favorite Food network show right now is Chopped. In case you aren't familiar with the show, four chefs are given mystery boxes containing three food items. These items are not obviously connected. Each chef must use these ingredients to deliver first an appetizer, then an entree, and finally a dessert. Each round has a different food basket. The winning chef receives $10,000.

For fun, I've reimagined the game as a writer's challenge. Enjoy...

Unplugged

Four writers gather in front of three book critics. After each round, a writer's laptop is unplugged and he/she is dismissed from the game.

During each round, the competing writers are given a basket with three mystery objects.

Round 1
Each writer must write a poem using the following three objects: a strawberry, a pencil, and a leaf. Time limit: 20 minutes

Round 2
The three remaining writers must write a short story using the following three objects: a dead ant, a flower, and a paintbrush. Time limit: 1 hour

Round 3
The final two writers must complete an outline and the first five pages of a novel using the following three objects: seeds, a baseball, and a stuffed panda . Time limit: 2 hours

Each week the mystery objects change, and the winner receives $10,000!

Would you participate in a televised writing challenge like this? What other types of game shows or television competitions would be fun to turn into writing games/competitions?

Have some fun with this. I did!

A Flexible Challenge: What Could be Better?

If you frequent my blog, and little makes me happier, you've heard all about A Round of Words in 80 Days. If not, it's time you do.

Kait Nolan's challenge is "the writing challenge that knows you have a life." How grand. I considered joining NaNoWriMo next month, but ultimately decided to wait until the next one (or Camp NaNo next summer). First, Mom and I are committed to finishing the follow-up to Depression Cookies. I am going to be working on my solo YA project when Mom has the book, but know I can't completely commit to it.

ROW 80, however, lets me set goals and change them throughout as necessary. I learned so much from Round 3, my first. See my post detailing those lessons here.

Round 4 runs from October 3 through December 22, perfect for your year-end writing goals. Whether a longtime writer trying to finish a project or a newbie trying to kickstart scheduled writing, you will benefit from this lovely group of writers. And this Round, I am a sponsor.

From the ROW 80 site, a bit of explanation about the challenge:

We have 4 rounds a year, each running 80 days.

Your goal can be anything you like as long as it is measurable (e.g. number of words/pages, specified amount of time to spend on writing per day/week, number of pages edited, etc.–for more on what makes a measurable goal, see this post).

Once you have settled on a goal, you write it up on your blog (yes, you must have one) and link to it on the Goals Linky for the Round, which will be posted on the ROW80 Blog.

If your goal changes before the end of the 80 days, simply write up a new goals post and link to it on the latest check-in day.

We have check-ins twice a week on Wednesday and Sundays where you will update us the same way (e.g. write up a blog post of your progress and link to it on that day’s linky).

On Twitter we use a hashtag of #ROW80 if you wanna come hang out

And if you happen to find us after a round has begun, just write up your goals post and hop on in whenever. We’re a friendly bunch.

I hope you'll join us for Round 4.

Do you enjoy the accountability of a challenge?