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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Guest Poster: Li Vooght ~ Great Ideas for A-Z 2013


Please join me in welcoming Li Vogt, two-time challenge participant, who works in the field of special education, adores history and science (especially
the weird and the gross), and admits to being a terrible procrastinator. She also does a little folk art painting in her spare time. While she'd like to publish a collection of flash fiction at some point, right now she's concentrating on honing her writing skills and getting individual pieces published. She's got some great ideas to get our creativity flowing for April 2013. 



Hi A to Z ers! 2012 was my second year of the challenge, and I had a great time both years. I met a ton
of people, and found some really great blogs to follow. The A to Z community is a warm and welcoming place to be throughout the year.

Since it's never too early to start thinking about the next one, here is my A to Z list of possible topics and resources to get your creative juices flowing.


A. Almanacs have lots of cool trivia and stats to give you ideas.

B. Beneficence. Highlight charitable organizations throughout the world.

C. Cliches. Love 'em, hate 'em, explain their origins.

D. Dictionary. As writers/bloggers, we can all benefit from an expanded vocabulary.

E. Eating. We all do it. Feature exotic foods, cool restaurants, worst cooking disasters.

F. Fiction. If you've always wanted to try your hand at short stories, the A to Z is a friendly environment
to give it a whirl.

G. Guinness Book Of World Records. Lots of people/events you could feature.

H. Home improvement. Any DIY whizzes out there? Give us a few pointers/projects.

I. Inventions. From the practical to the wacky, there are plenty. Or, make up your own!

J. Jokes. We can all use a laugh.

K. Kings, real or fantasy.

L. Languages. Feature a word each day in a particular language – or several!

M. Movies are a popular topic. Suggest alternate casts/endings, or dig up little known trivia.

N. News. My local newspaper generally has at least one odd/weird/interesting tidbit each day.
(Drunk Bicyclist Arrested After Hitting Police Cruiser!)

O. Origins – of words, folktales, customs, etc.

P. Prompts. There are several sites which feature writing prompts on a daily basis.

Q. Quotes. I thought that it was a lame idea, and yet I am still getting plenty of hits on that post.

R. Rare anything – elements, animals, plants, diseases.

S. Superheroes

T. Torture through the ages, for those with a slightly macabre bent.

U. UFOs or unexplained/paranormal phenomena.

V. Vintage. Choose a particular time period in the past and write about clothing, customs, everyday life.

W. Weather, wars, wines, witchcraft...it's a fun letter.

X. Xerox this list if you want, but for x ideas you're on your own.

Y. Yiddish words, expressions, and terminology.

Z. Zombies. Of course. Give us an A to Z prep list in case of attack.

Right now, I'm planning on writing flash fiction again for the 2013 challenge, but in creating this list I generated two ideas that I might pursue instead. I hope you find some inspiration here as well! 

See you at the 2013 A to Z Challenge...

Li @ I Write At Flash Fiction


P.S.  I of course find her "L" idea the best.  Ahem...probably because that's what I did last year.  (Shameless self-promotion...sorry.)
Tina

14 comments:

  1. Nice to meet you Li. These are great topics.

    Tina, I gave you and the A-Z team a shout out today

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  2. Hi Heather - thank you :-)
    Hey Tina - my last name is spelled Vooght (at least one other Lisa Vooght exists in the world, which is why my email is LiVogt. It confuses a lot of people. :-)

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  3. Those are great ideas!!! I started to prep a couple of A-Z lists. One of them though, I just cannot come up with anything for X, Y and Z.

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  4. I love this list, Li...I'm bookmarking it so I can prepare for our next A to Z challenge. Thanks!

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  5. Sorry, Li. I'll change that right now...
    Tina

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  6. Superheros! Or rare zombies. Either works.

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  7. @JoJo - I think X stumps a lot of people. But there's X Factor, xenophobia, or several product names you could do a review for.

    @Jarm - glad to help!

    @Tina - no problem, it happens all the time.

    @Alex - you overlooked the obvious; zombie superheroes!!! :-)

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  8. Time flies "SUPERSONIC". Great ideas.

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  9. Great list Li! It's smart to start planning now! Julie

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  10. Hi Tina - what a great guest post by Li .. brilliant lot of suggestions for those newbies, or even those who've been there and done it - but might like new ideas ...

    I've decided on mine .. it's challenging waiting a whole year before I can start again!

    Cheers for now and have good weeks .. Hilary

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  11. Great ideas for topic. Never too early to start thinking about the 2013 Challenge, although with baby on the way I'm not sure if I'll be able to participate--we shall see!

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  12. Great list! I chose to write flash last time and am in the process of putting my stories from the A-Z in an Ebook.

    I don't know what I'll do next year.

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  13. Great ideas, love them. I also started to write about some charity projects and organizations, because I think it's a good thing to write about the awesome work that some guys do to help others. I also love good quotes which provokes thinking, jokes of course, and to know about the origin of some words. Sounds all so interesting. Keep it going!!!

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