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REWIND: I remember when I first heard about the A to Z Blogging Challenge. It was last March, only a few weeks before the challenge was scheduled to begin. “What a fabulous idea!” raced through my brain. I was so excited at the thought of being included in an event with so many other bloggers that I signed up.
Obviously, there were ideas that immediately came to my mind for a few letters. But then I started to think about it, really started to think—THE ENTIRE ALPHABET—and then quiver, shiver, and sweat. How was I to handle committing to a new letter each day? What had I done?
What about those strange letters like X and Z? Or what if I had another commitment on the day P was supposed to be posted and there was no way to fit that letter into my post? How could I be unique? Would I make my posts about writing, which is what my blog is geared to? Or should I veer off course? If so, what the heck do I write about? What if there was an earthquake, a hurricane, or a flood?
I think you get my drift here.
With the help of a few deep breaths, I put an axe to that train of creative-diluting thoughts and went for the fun angle. I decided to stick to my normally posting days of M-T-F, highlight whichever letter fell on said day, and committed to seeking out new and interesting ideas to post about.
FASTFORWARD: This challenge is to exercise your thoughts and push you out of that safe comfort zone. How else do we expect to grow if we don’t try new things? Whether you’re looking to grow as a blogger, a writer, or as a thinker, this challenge is for you.
Here’s a list of some fun ideas. All are special days celebrated during the month of April. Use this list as a reference if you feel stagnant during the challenge. I’ve even shared with you my official logo I’ll be using for all my ‘April’ posts! Hope you like it.
APRIL is:
- · Autism Awareness Month = Letter A
- · National Frog Month = Letter F
- · National Humor Month = Letter H
- · National Educational Mathematics Month = Letter M
- · National Volunteer Month = Letter V
Of course, there are individual days to celebrate as well. April:
- · 1st – Cents Day = Letter C
- · 3rd – Find-A-Rainbow Day = Letter R
- · 6th – Jump-Over-Things-Day = Letter J
- · 10th – Encourage a Young Writer Day = Y
- · 13th – Scrabble Day = Letter S
- · 21st – Kindergarten Day = Letter K
For a more complete list and for fabulous explanations of each, click HERE. (can you link the HERE with this http://familycrafts.about.com/library/spdays/blaprdayslong.htm. *credit for research goes to family crafts
Sheri Larsen is a published freelance and short story writer, and KidLit author. Her current YA novel is with literary agents, and she’s preparing to sub one of her picture books to agents. Her website, Writers’ Ally (http://writersally.blogspot.com), is where she explores writing, children’s literature, and motherhood. She lives in Maine with her husband and four children.
We're still accepting A to Z videos until Sunday March 11th. Details can be found in the tab at the top of this page. This video comes from Reka at A Chronicle of Dreams.
