I is for Inspiration #AtoZChallenge

I is for Inspiration!

Where do you find your inspiration for the A to Z Challenge?

I find it in the everyday moments that spark my attention. I find it in the quiet times and the loud times. I find it in the in-betweens.

Where do you find your inspiration to keep blogging all year long?

This is my struggle. I love doing the A to Z Challenge. (I've tried other challenges, but none of them have grabbed me like A to Z has.) But I struggle to post consistently throughout the other 11 months. Some years I do great, others, not as much. Bringing on a co-blogger to keep me accountable definitely helps! What keeps you inspired all year long?

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Hop to as many blogs in the challenge as possible. Grow and strengthen the community.

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I is for, well, I. #AtoZChallenge

 I is for, well, I.

We're now in the second full week of A to Z, and I want to encourage you all to not lose sight of why you're doing this challenge. I won't speak for you, but I will share with you the reasons I am participating.

1. I want to encourage others to challenge themselves.
2. I want to challenge myself to get back to writing again.
3. I want to share my blog with the world.
4. I want to find more blogs I love reading.

What are some of the reasons you are participating?

G is for Giant #AtoZChallenge

G is for Giant

Sometimes things that we think are

GIANT

today turn out to be little tomorrow. 

 B is for Beauty

There is beauty in resilience, don't you think?

Whenever I see a rainbow after a storm, I'm reminded of the resilience of nature. The beauty that is encapsulated in this simple act of nature makes me think of other beautiful and resilient things in nature. I always think of all the animals who had to literally weather the storm. There is beauty in imagining the emerging of the animals from their shelters as the storm lets up and the sun begins to shine again.

As we embark on Day 2 of our A to Z Challenge, let's all remember the beauty in our resilience as writers, as bloggers, as people. 

Tell us about the beauty you find in resilience!

#AtoZChallenge X is for...

 

The team's theme of the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge this year is:

ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAMS, AND THE DUALITY OF 22

X is for...

Well, indeed, what is X for? Few letters in the alphabet are as difficult as X is. When I set out to write this post, I did some internet searching. I looked for synonyms of "dream" that included the letter X. I figured that even if the words didn't start with X, I could still use them in some clever way. Except...there were none. On an entire webpage of 160 synonyms and antonyms of "dream," there were 7 Xs on the website, most of them in ads and footers, and two in one of the "use the word in a sentence" locations. I went back to brainstorming, and I thought:

Dreams aside, what is your favorite X word?

For my own blog, I am using Rebekah Loper's book The A-Zs of Worldbuilding for my A to Z posts, so I was able to borrow (with permission!) her word: Xenial. Every time I see it, I have to remind myself of its meaning: of, relating to, or constituting hospitality or relations between host and guest and especially among the ancient Greeks between persons of different cities.

As I create my fictional world for my next novel, it's an important thing to think about, and also something to think about as we work toward our dreams. How do the relations with our guests and acquaintances impact the success of our endeavors? Are there expectations we should make ourselves aware of ahead of time? These are important things to ask ourselves as we work toward our dreams!

So please share with us our favorite X word, and maybe its meaning. It's good to learn new things! (And if you're interested in Worldbuilding, Rebekah's book is an excellent help!)

~Jayden R. Vincente

Erotic Fiction Writer at jrvincente.com (Adults only!) 

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Please follow us on social media.

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Be sure your copy is updated with everyone who signed up for the challenge. Hopping to other blogs to leave comments is half of the challenge!

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O is for Objective

The team's theme of the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge this year is:

ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAMS, AND THE DUALITY OF 22

O is for Objective

As we work through our A to Z, we want to remain steadfast in our objective. We always want to remember what we're working toward, and how we're going to get there. 

So for the month of April, we make a plan to accomplish A to Z in whatever way works for us. Every plan may even be different! And as we think about our other dreams, we remember to create not just the objective, but also our plan to achieve it. 

How are you planning to finish your A to Z objective this month?

~Jayden R. Vincente

Erotic Fiction Writer at jrvincente.com (Adults only!)


bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
 @a.to.z.challenge  @atozchallenge
 @AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge
Please follow us on social media.

File, Make a Copy of the Master List for yourself! Click this:
https://tinyurl.com/AtoZ22
Be sure your copy is updated with everyone who signed up for the challenge. Hopping to other blogs to leave comments is half of the challenge!

Get your 2022 merchandise here:  
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/103818836

#atozchallenge: N is for Never!

The team's theme of the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge this year is:
ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAMS, AND THE DUALITY OF 22

When I sat down to write this post, I was drawing a complete blank. I had no idea what I was going to write about. "Shoot," I said to myself (or words to that effect), "I'm never going to figure out something to say."

And just like that, I had it.

You have a blog post due that your readers are dying to read, and you can't get it out of your head and into a text block. When that happens, do this: open a new text document in the editor of your choice and start typing. Anything, whether it's relevant to your blog or yourself or not. Anything at all. Just keep moving, keep throwing words on the page. You'll figure out which ones to keep and in what order they should go after you've had some time to write. Eventually a blog post will appear. Trust me on this.

You know how I know? How do you think I came up with this?

What do you do when you can't get a blog post written?

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
@a.to.z.challenge @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge
Please follow us on social media.
File, Make a Copy of the Master List for yourself! Click this:
https://tinyurl.com/AtoZ22
Be sure your copy is updated with everyone who signed up for the challenge. Hopping to other blogs to leave comments is half of the challenge!

Get your 2022 merchandise here: 
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/103818836

#AtoZChallenge J is for Just in Time!

Sometimes things go according to plan, and sometimes we are JUST in time! 

As we are jauntily working our way through our second full week, sometimes we have to remember to give ourselves grace with our A to Z posts. It's great when you have every post scheduled and up at midnight on each day, but it's equally okay if you're posting at 11:59pm, or... catching up when you are juggling all the joyful (and maybe not joyful) aspects of your life.

We hope that you are enjoying your A to Z journey and whether your posts are jingly or jetlagged, we're excited to read more!

~Jayden R. Vincente

Erotic Fiction Writer at jrvincente.com (Adults only!)


bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
 @a.to.z.challenge  @atozchallenge
 @AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge
Please follow us on social media.

File, Make a Copy of the Master List for yourself! Click this:
https://tinyurl.com/AtoZ22
Be sure your copy is updated with everyone who signed up for the challenge. Hopping to other blogs to leave comments is half of the challenge!

Get your 2022 merchandise here:  
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/103818836

Z is for... #atozchallenge

Z is for...Let's find out!

Let’s have some fun! Unscramble these words that start with the letter z:

1. maoznib
2. pepriz
3. mnaiozoa
4. cihnuczi
5. tzengis
6. grneiz
7. ndoze
8. imboz
9. peplsnzei
10. gzagzideg
11. liloniearzi
12. fictionaombiz

We hope you’ve had a great time with the A to Z Challenge! Get ready to write your Reflections about the month. Reflections will be open May 3rd-8th, and then the Road Trip will open on May 10th where you link up to your one favorite post of your own!

Looking forward to seeing you then!

And if you fill out our survey that opens tomorrow, the answer key to today’s puzzle is at the end!

U is for Ultimatum #atozchallenge

 U is for Ultimatum

Give yourself an ultimatum (don’t accept them from anyone else!). Use that ultimatum to challenge yourself to do the best you can as we get close to finishing out A to Z! We have one more week. Set your ultimatum to help yourself achieve your goals!

As we end the week, I’m specifically talking to those of you (myself included) who haven’t quite made our goals yet. Give yourself an ultimatum to meet those goals.

Meet that goal OR ____ [fill in the blank]. What happens? Give yourself some consequences. Or better yet, give yourself a reward!

My Ultimatum: 

If I don’t finish my goal, I don’t get to go on a shopping spree at a book store!

Then work toward it. Figure out what’s motivating to you and set your mind to it! With just 5 posts left, we can do it! Don’t give up now.

T is for Takeaways #atozchallenge

T is for Takeaways

As we start to wind down (only six more posts to go!), what Takeaways do you have from this year’s A to Z? Have you challenged yourself in new and interesting ways? Have you done anything you’re particularly proud of? Share with us in the comments what your Takeaways are so far!

Then get ready to share your Reflections in a couple of weeks. Our Reflections officially open on May 3rd, and brainstorming your Takeaways is a good starting point for that. If nothing comes to mind, look back to our bonus challenges and see if you can squeeze one in this final week.

My personal takeaways so far:

- Blogging is so much easier and so much more fun when you share the load. Bringing on a co-blogger in January has been the best decision I ever made, writing-wise.

- A to Z is a lot more fun the years I had pre-scheduled all my posts. I feel like it’s been a struggle to go out looking for new blogs, but I did manage to do that some this month. I’m very much looking forward to May and the Road Trip (which officially opens on May 10th). If you aren’t familiar, the Road Trip is when you post the link to ONE of your A to Z posts that you want people to go back and read. It’s a lot of fun, even if we are going back and reading something from a month prior.

- I need a challenge to achieve my goals. Just having a vague goal isn’t enough of a motivator. During a sprint, I can write so much more than just setting a timer for myself.

- I am a social creature. I am desperate to be back into normal socializing patterns. It’s coming! Sooon!

Okay, so I knew some of these things about myself before, but I bet you didn’t!
Now it’s your turn. Share with us your Takeaways so far!

N is for Never Give Up!

N is for Never Give Up!

Think about the challenges you have set for yourself this month. We’re just over the halfway point in the month. Have you given up? Are you still working toward your goal?

If you’re making good progress on your challenges, great! Tell us about it in the comments.

If you’ve given up, think about how you could restart your personal challenge or adapt it to fit in the second half of the month. It’s never too late to get back up and try again!

My first A to Z was abysmal. I think I finished finally in June(?), but I never gave up. I kept going. I started my blog just so I could participate in the A to Z Challenge. That whole year, I had only 155 visitors to my blog. Just five years later, I have had 858 visitors in 2021 SO FAR, and we’re only 1/4 of the way through the year. Posting consistently and visiting other blogs has made all the difference.

But all that time, I never gave up. I kept going. I posted whenever I could. And in the end, it has paid off. The moral of the story is NEVER GIVE UP. Keep trying! And let us know how it’s going for you in the comments.

H is for Hustle

H is for Hustler

by Jayden. R Vincente, adult fiction writer

When I first mentioned to my co-blogger, Richard, that I was writing a post for H for the A to Z Blog, he suggested H is for Hustler. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. It's a word I'm familiar with, certainly, but putting a definition down on paper was difficult. So, I went to dictionary.com for a little help.

Hustler:

1. An enterprising person determine to succeed; go-getter.

2. Slang. A person who employs fraudulent or unscrupulous methods to obtain money; swindler.

3. Informal. An expert gambler or game player who seeks out challengers, especially unsuspecting amateur ones, in order to win money from them.

Ah yes, the last one. That's what made me think of that word in connection with our gambling theme for 2021. But then I had a new, related inspiration, courtesy of the first definition of hustler:

Hustle:

1. To proceed or work rapidly or energetically.

2. To push or force one's way; jostle or shove.

Recently, several of us here at A to Z experienced situations that left us scrambling to get things done on a deadline (including me making this post only a couple days beforehand, when usually I'm done before April starts). It's great to work with a team who can hustle when they need to, and which is not filled with hustlers (definition 3), but rather hustlers (definition 1). The A to Z Team is a great one, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

As we near the end of the first full week, are you hustling to finish your A to Z posts for the month, or are you all scheduled out?

If you're falling behind, don't worry, one more day and then we all get a day off to recuperate go visit other blogs!

C is for Card Trick

 

C is for Card Trick

I have always been fascinated by card tricks. I learned a couple as a kid that have stuck with me, but in honor of our A to Z theme, I thought learning a card trick would be a fun game to play. I'll be sure to impress the few people I can show it to! But, I assure you that it's a beginner level card trick and you should give it a try!

Now that you've learned something fun, a few reminders on behalf of the A to Z Team:

• Make sure you're signed up for the challenge.
• Display the A to Z Badge on your blog.
• Check out our Bonus Challenges posted 3/2.
• Pick up a Challenge T-shirt!

Happy Blogging!

- Jayden Vincente (Erotic Fiction Blogger, jrvincente.com)

B is for Bet!

 

B is for Bet!

Have you made a bet with yourself for April yet? 

• I bet you can do at least three of our bonus challenges.
• I bet you can sign up on the Master List (which closes on April 7th).
• I bet you can go visit five new blogs right now from the Master List.
• I bet you can make sure you have the A to Z Logo Badge on your blog.
• I bet you can check out our T-shirt.

This theme is already proving to be a fun time for all as my co-blogger and I made a bet with each other, getting ideas from our readers (bonus challenge!) on our theme reveal. We've made a bet about who can get more likes and comments on their posts during the month. (Feel free to check us out, but ONLY adults! We're at the top of the Master List: J. R. Vincente Erotic Fiction Blog.)

Tell us in the comments what bets you've made for yourself for April!

An eXploration of John #AtoZChallenge

The team decided our theme for this month's posts here would be a take "2020 visions of blogging." This set of weekday posts focuses on:

A 2020 Look at the A to Z Team

12 Writing Questions for 12 years of A to Z:

1.      Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Sometimes it energizes me, sometimes it exhausts me. A lot will depend on my mood when I'm writing. If I'm in a bad mood when I'm writing, it exhausts me. If I'm in a good mood, I can go all day.

2.      If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

You don't have to get it right the first time. Leave yourself enough time to edit it.

3.      What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

I'm not sure I've ever spent money as a writer.

4.      What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

"Flowers For Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. I don't remember how many times I read it when I was in high school, and I can't remember why I did, either.

5.      How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

None. I'm not an author per se. All my writing is done for the blog.

6.      What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a blog?

The posts that I do the most research for are the music ones. I may look up some interesting facts about a particular artist or song from Wikipedia (The Blogger's Best Friend), Allmusic, Discogs and artists' web pages. I'd say probably no more than an hour.

7.      What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

Getting it right. It's why I don't do it anymore...

8.      How many hours a day do you write?

Typically about two hours. If it's going well, three to four.

9.      Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

I don't especially care for fiction, in all honesty. I think the last novel I attempted to read was Janet Evanovich's most recent Stephanie Plum novel. I read a few chapters, put it down and haven't picked it up again. That was when I realized I was burned out on fiction.

10.   How do you select the names of your characters?

I don't have characters per se. when I'm writing a memory I'll use real names. If I need to give someone an alias, I might just use their first initial. When I'm telling stories on my brothers, I just refer to them as "my brother." They know when I'm talking about them, because they'll know the story. There have been one or two situations when I've used a full name as an alias, in which case I just pull it out of thin air.

11.   Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

One of the beauties of not having written a book is not having to cope with reviews. I'll get comments on my blog, of course, and respond to as many as I can.

12.   What is your favorite childhood book?

There were several, but the one that immediately comes to mind is a collection of the works of Wilhelm Busch, author of "Max und Moritz" and other stories that were about evil children and how they get their comeuppance from adults. Busch wrote poetry in German, and the translation was beside the original text.

8 More Questions to round out to 20 (for 2020):

13.   Do you Google yourself?

I don't Google anything: I use DuckDuckGo as my search engine. ;) Having said that, I very occasionally will look myself up, just for a laugh.

14.   Are you usually early or late?

Since I'm handicapped, Mary does all the driving, and she is an inveterate early bird, so I'm almost always early.

15.   How often do you people watch?

Not as often as I used to. I spent so much time people watching in airports that I kind of burned out on it.

16.   What do you hope never changes?

My relationship with Mary. We've been married 42 years.

17.   What job would you be terrible at?

Given the troubles I have with my arm, paper hanger.

18.   What skill would you like to master?

Playing the chromatic harmonica.

19.   What takes up too much of your time?

Reading blogs. I think I follow too many.

20.   What’s the best way to start the day?

Waking up.

Do any of these answers resonate with you? Feel free to share in the comments!

Find John's blog here! 

  ~Jayden R. Vincente (adult fiction writer)

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