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01 February 2011

Blogging from A to Z Challenge, April 2011

See that shiny apple badge in my sidebar? It is your magic portal to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, the brainchild of Arlee Bird over at Tossing It Out. What's it all about? I'll let Mr. Bird explain:

The premise of the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge is to post something on your blog every day in April except for Sundays. In doing this you will have 26 blog posts--one for each letter of the alphabet. Each day you will theme your post according to a letter of the alphabet.
You will only be limited by your own imagination in this challenge. There is an unlimited universe of possibilities. You can post essays, short pieces of fiction, poetry, recipes, travel sketches, or anything else you would like to write about. You don't have to be a writer to do this. You can post photos, including samples of your own art or craftwork. Everyone who blogs can post from A to Z.

Obviously, participating in this challenge has many moral, physical and spiritual benefits. Personally, I'm planning to use it as a warm-up to the even more terrifying Story A Day in May challenge.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm, interesting! That sounds like a lot of fun. But the "A Story A Day In May" makes me want to fall to the ground in convulsions, and I'm a fast writer. Go, you! :D

-Mercedes

Elizabeth Twist said...

Mercedes, I feel exactly the same way about Story a Day. That is why I am doing it.

Plus, I'm spending some time right now figuring out how to write twitter-length flash fiction. Should save some time.

Unknown said...

I like this idea!

yeah, twitter-length fiction is the way to think short. it gets really hard to start with the notion of writing 500 or 700 words, but for me, starting with the notion of a 6-word story, or a 25-word complete story and expanding it is much, much easier

Deborah Walker said...

*Le gasp* Is that picture by Lucras Carnach the Elder?

I know it is, because I've got the print in my house, and he painted my avatar.

Sorry, got distracted. That a-z idea sounds fun. And with your excellent taste, I know it's going to be great.

Elizabeth Twist said...

@ Eileen: The twitter-length market wave seems to have crested. Maybe there will be a second wave. Nonetheless, starting with the idea of 20 words makes it very easy to write something under 200 or 300 - exactly.

@ Deborah: it is indeed! I also totally dig the way he's done the bodies in this one: Hercules and Antaeus

Elizabeth Twist said...

And: I could be wrong about that twitter fiction wave. I just checked your blog, Deborah, and found the link to this: Weird Tweets

Deborah Walker said...

That Cranach image is amazing. It reminds me of the Hindu swastika.

It would be so cool to get a tweet on the Weird site, I think that's what they mean. Trapeze is a good venue, too.

Elizabeth Twist said...

Deborah, that's an amazing analogy. Your mind is so elegant.

Deborah Walker said...

Aw, thanks, Elizabeth. That's made my night.

Unknown said...

crested or not, I don't like reading twitter length fiction. But I find it a really good writing exercise. :)

Elizabeth Twist said...

I wasn't convinced that twitter fiction was any good, either, until I read this essay by N.E. Lilly, Thaumatrope's editor, about the structure of jokes and twitter fiction:
Twitter fiction is a joke
It might not redeem twitfic altogether, but it's a great argument.

Lindsay N. Currie said...

Hi Elizabeth! Found you on Trisha's blog and am enjoying looking around yours. I am planning on doing the A to Z challenge for the first time as well and am looking forward to it!

Elizabeth Twist said...

Welcome, Lindsay! I'm looking forward to the A to Z Challenge.

Unknown said...

Hey I heard about this A to Z challenge and am definitely going to do it. Sounds like a load of fun!

Elizabeth Twist said...

Excellent, Trisha! It looks massive.

Anne R. Allen said...

Sounds like way too much work for me. But for people with extra writing time, it ought to be fun.

Elizabeth, I came over from Elena's blog because I'm so grateful for your comment on the fact the verb "to be" does not always indicate passive voice. I also added the comment that "He was sitting when the guy punched him" does not mean the same thing as "He sat when the guy punched him." We should not be denied the use of the progressive tense because people don't understand the difference between it and the passive voice. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Story a Day in May makes our Write1Sub1 project look like a kid's game. Kudos to you!

Elizabeth Twist said...

Hi Anne, and welcome. I am working at writing very short pieces. I'm planning to use the A to Z Challenge to work on keeping it short and sweet (or sour, salty, astringent, what have you), so I'm hoping it won't take up too much time.

Who among us has extra time, really? It's all about having maximum fun with the time you do have.

Thanks for your thoughts on passive voice. I see where the original post was coming from, and had a nice exchange with Elena about it via email. Where structure allows more vibrant verb choices, then certainly we should avoid "to be." However, "was" should not be verboten, nor should it be forever associated with passive voice alone, as you deftly point out.

I did feel like Conan the Grammarian leaving that comment, though.

Elizabeth Twist said...

MJF, Write1Sub1 is no kid's game! But I am getting a lot out of it so far.

I am scared for May, but looking forward to it.

Arlee Bird said...

Thanks for the plug, Elizabeth. I will link to this on my upcoming "Thank You" post.

Lee
the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2011

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