Thursday, May 2, 2013

A-Z Reflections

   I must confess, I didn't even know what the A-Z challenge was until about mid March.  Everywhere I looked, people were talking about it.  I grew curious enough to go check it out and thought about it for a full minute before I signed up.  So many people had themes for their posts. It seemed like a smart idea.  I chose a theme that I could share with my family.  I wrote a children's story for every, single letter of the alphabet.
  Coming up with a story everyday stretched my imagination and I'd like to think it strengthened my writing as well.  It was during one of my pirate stories that I got the idea for my next novel.  I also received so much encouragement that I think I'm finally brave enough to start submitting some of my work in to magazines.  Even more amazing is the growth of my blog.  I started with eight followers and now I have fifty-three! 

   I would like to thank Arlee Bird and everyone else that worked so hard to make this challenge happen. It was an incredible experience.  I also want to thank all of my followers for joining me on my writing journey. Some of you faithfully commented on every post I wrote.  Thank you so much!

I discovered so many wonderful blogs this month.  A few of my favorites are:
Hugs & Kisses of Poetry by Fida
A Dose of Jules
Into the Ravenous Maw
S.P. Bowers
Moody Writing


35 comments:

  1. 55 now Sarah... Congrats.

    I am so glad you felt welcomed and enjoyed the challenge. This community is awesome and supportive.

    Thanks for the follow and I will look forward to learning more about your writing.

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    1. Thank you for the follow! It does seem to be a wonderful community.

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  2. Thanks for the shout out! I'll be doing a reflections post tomorrow. Congrats on the new readers and good luck with the magazine thing!

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  3. You did a great job with it, especially putting a wedding in the middle!

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    1. Thank you. I thought I was going crazy for a week there but I pulled through :)

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  4. Sarah! Thank you so much for including me. I've haven't had time to sit and write my reflections on the A to Z Challenge. I really loved your short stories....and I can't wait to get glimpses of your novel idea..... :)

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    1. Thank you. Now that my reflections post is up I think I'm going to take the weekend off from blogging. It is fun but it does take up a lot of time. Can't wait to see your post when you get it up :)

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  5. Good for you! I am sorry to say I missed out on your A to Z, but I am a new follower, and will try to get back to some of the older posts at a later time. Life in my world is a little chaotic at the moment, but summer is coming...
    tm

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    1. Thank you so much for following. I didn't get to read nearly as many blogs as I would have liked. There are so many interesting ones..

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  6. Congrats on the completion of the challenge and hope you will return next year.

    Yvonne.
    A TO Z AMBASSADOR.

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  7. I think A to Z-ing really does help us writers. It stretches our creative muscles to write something new each day. Congrats on finishing the Challenge!

    Happy reading and writing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines

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    1. It really does. It gave me a nice confidence boost too :) Thanks for stopping by.

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  8. A-Z was just amazing. You probably did improve your writing as the challenge is quite good for productivity. Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting my blog.

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    1. It was excellent for productivity. Its hard not to write a story everyday after doing it for so long!

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  9. That's the kind of success story we like to hear! I went into the very first Challenge with thirty followers and came out with over eighty. (And there were only a hundred of us participating in that first one.) Take the time to connect with your new followers and keep expanding.
    Glad you enjoyed it!

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    1. It was a wonderful experience. I can't wait for next year! Thank you for the advice on connecting with followers. Its so exciting to see my blog final begin to grow.

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  10. Congrats for finishing. I didn't get to your blog, but am here now.

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    1. Welcome! There are so many blogs that I didn't get to, as well. I'm hoping to catch up with at least a few of them.

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  11. I've never done the challenge without a theme, but I definitely find that having a theme makes it easier for me to think of topics associated with a given letter. :-)

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    1. Yes, a theme seems to make a huge difference.

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  12. Congrats on completing the Challenge.

    Nurture those new followers. They'll grow like a garden. You'll also learn a lot of great new things from them.

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  13. This is nice Sarah! I was in the same situation and I had no clue on what do! And my followers grew as well! It's an amazing way to know other people!
    And you know what they say... imagination is like a muscle! Well done!

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  14. Thank you! It is encouraging to know other people with similar dreams and interests and I do feel like my imagination is very, very alive right now. Its wonderful.

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  15. Well done Sarah, the stories you wrote were great and I can see so much of my son and his friends in Sam, Ellie and Jack. Good luck with the magazine submissions and with the next novel.

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  16. Congrats on finishing the challenge, and I'm so glad you found encouragement! Best wishes for your submissions to magazines!!!

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  17. What an AWESOME THEME!!! Baby Alice and I will be checking out your posts together starting tomorrow. She adores story time!! (I'm sorry I didn't get to your blog during the challenge. But, better late than never!)
    Connie
    Peanut Butter and Whine

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  18. I hope that she likes them! I'm glad that you found me :)

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  19. Congrats on your A to Z achievement! It sounds like you had a very successful month and that those successes are going to spill into your future as a writer!

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  20. We home educate as well, Sarah! How exciting that you will be submitting to a magazine as a result of the challenge. Hope to see you next year!


    MakingtheWriteConnections

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and I am hoping to join next year :)

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  21. Congratulations on the new followers! I'm glad you had a good experience, and wish you good luck on submissions and publication!

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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