Wednesday, May 11, 2016

I Did It (Again!): A to Z Challenge 2016 Reflection



Last month's A to Z Blogging Challenge was the fourth I've completed. It was also by far the easiest. I'm not sure if that's due to the subject matter or the fact that I write more now than I ever have before. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

One thing I've gotten better with over time as a writer, especially with all the experience of these A to Z Challenges, is to let go of expectations. I've also learned to trust myself. So tomorrow is the day for letter X and I have nothing written? No big deal. I've got ideas and I know something will come of it before the day is done.

When I chose to write about "Books that have been significant to me," I figured that would translate to "My favorite books," but that wasn't the case. Sure, some of the books I wrote about were my all time favorites, but when I looked at my list of titles, I realized the books that packed a punch for me in my life weren't exactly fun easy reads.

When I chose to write about Under the Banner of Heaven, I was a little self conscious. Here in The West, Mormonism can be a touchy subject. Plus, the book's main story is gruesome. Did I really want to confess to loving this book? I followed my gut and went with it. Two days after that post went up, I received a message from a friend who knows the author and she got my book signed for me!


It was positive reinforcement, proving that following my intuition and putting myself out there has rewards. For all the times I put myself out there and no one notices or comments and for all the times I take a risk and fall flat on my face, here was an instance of being noticed and that felt wonderful!

The friend who introduced me to this challenge is also a writer. I've known her since elementary school. After we reconnected through Facebook, we've become pretty good pals again and participate in an online book club, even swapping books through the mail. I invited her to choose the same theme as I did, and so we both wrote about the books that have influenced our lives as writers and as human beings in general. I loved comparing our posts each day. We have very different writing styles and reading preferences yet we overlap from time to time and it's fun to see. We didn't double up on any books but were close on two. She chose On Writing by Stephen King for O, which I almost chose. Then I wrote about Watership Down by Richard Adams for W and she had almost chose that one as well!

All in all this was a fantastic year for me for the A to Z Challenge. I've encountered quite a few blogs that I will visit regularly and made some new connections. I'm already looking forward to next year!




6 comments:

  1. I loved and noticed every post, these blogs were one of my highlights recently. Well done friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for reading them all. You are one of my biggest motivators for continuing to write and post! I appreciate your support more than you know! xoxo

      Delete
  2. This is a heartening Reflections post. Always good to hear of the success stories of happy A to Z'ers. Thanks for sharing this!

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment and for hosting the challenge each year. It's become a big part of my writing life!

      Delete
  3. I really like how you're working on letting go of expectations. I think that's a great exercise for all of us. And I agree that there wasn't as much overlap between books I loved and books that influenced me as I might have thought. I guess that's why we need to constantly challenge ourselves as readers!

    ReplyDelete
  4. First off, I love you very much! You're a rock star, and I'd know, cuz I've met a few in my life. Secondly, I randomly clicked on your blog this morning after realizing I haven't checked in here for, oh, well over six months. I was surprised to see that your last post went up on my birthday. Normally I'd just text you to say hello, but I figured I'd also reach out here. When it comes to the creativity of others, and especially the effort needed to put out real product (blogs, records, feature length films with light saber battles, etc) I am a big fan of "JUST GET SHIT DONE." So I'm very, very rarely critical of people's writing or music, etc. However, it's YOUR blog, and I'm commenting cuz you posted on MY birthday, which even though I don't consider myself to be narcissistic (I think!) this is a very narcissistic thing to do (I think). Cheers my friend! And Merry Christmas (Eve)!

    ReplyDelete