Friday, May 3, 2013

A to Z Challenge: Is it Over?




I can't believe I was able to pull it off. As many of you may know, I decided to combine the A to Z challenge with NaPoWriMo (which required me to write a poem a day ~ even on Sunday).

Although I love writing poetry, I must admit it was a challenge to write a poem with the letter of the day in mind.....I couldn't just write anything.....it had to speak to me in some way....I had to feel it and then and only then would the words flow. Seriously, it wasn't easy thinking up a poem about something starting with C, W, Q and Z.....just to name a few.

This whole month of April, I could be found writing on the plane, in the car, in bed, on a couch in the lobby of a hotel....anywhere I could find so that I could post my poem every day.

I was often lost in thought during the day and then burning the midnight oil at night to get the words just perfect.....most nights I stayed up until 2 or 3 am! I even wrote until 4 am once.....ugh!

I didn't have much luck trying to stay ahead of the game by writing my poems ahead of time, because I was constantly playing hide and seek with my muse. I was able to get some poems done ahead of one of my trips where I wasn't going to have access to a computer, only to find out 15 minutes before I left that I had accidentally erased one of the poems! WHAT!!!!

Talk about panicking.....I lost my X post. I tried to re-write it from memory, because I didn't write it in my notebook. Fortunately, I remembered most of the words by the time I got through security and I called my daughter and had her type into my blog. It wasn't exactly how I originally wrote it, but it was close enough and the plane was taking off with or without me. Talk about stressing out.....ha!

But, I must say that I loved this challenge. I combined the two challenges and through this process, I came across many amazing blogs (there is no way to list all of them here) but I would like to highlight a few of my favorite A to Z Challengers:  Zainab of Metamorphosis, Sania of Embracing Dawn, Nick of Scattergun Scribblings, Sarah from  Simply Sarah, Dana of The Daily Dose, Julia from Writing Jewels, Sandy from Oozing Out My Ears, AJ of Words from Sonobe and Kate from Another Clean Slate.

I learned a lot about myself.....and so did my kids. By the second week, my kids were trying to help me come up with subjects for my poems that fit my so called "requirements" as they saw it.....my son said....what starts with R that is depressing and sad. ha!

Anyhow, it's been such a wonderful experience and I look forward to next year....I must say I'm a bit lost since it's been over. Kind of sad.

Thank you Arlee and everyone else who helped get this challenge rolling. I can't wait for next year.

I also want to thank all my readers for taking the time to read and comment....I hope to continue this amazing blogging journey with you all.

Are there any other writing challenges that you are participating in?

Also, which of my poems was your favorite? I would love to know. Thanks!

A: Among the Broken Glass
B: Beauty
C: Confusion
D: Death
E: Erase
F: Fate
G: Glimpse
H: Help!
I: Inspirations
J: Jupiter
K: Kryptonite
L: Loss
M: Moments
N: Nothing
O: Oblivion
P: Precipice
Q: Quiet
R: Revelation
S: Stifled
T: Tangled
U: Untethered
V: Vengeance
W: Weep
X: X Marks the Spot
Y: Yours
Z: Zoning Out

15 comments:

  1. I loved all of ur poems. There was one which ended with,
    "the mother of dragons/shall rise again" (it was my favourite ;p)
    I'm sorry if I got that wrong, I don't seem to remember the letter you wrote it for. Anywho, it's been great meeting you through this challenge! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you....I'm so happy to have met you through this process.

      Delete
  2. Thank you for the shout-out, Jules.

    I don't know if I could pick a favorite; I loved all your poems and looked forward to your post each day. Can't wait to read more! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dana.... :) I love your poetry and your blog! Always makes me smile.

      Delete
  3. The We Work for Cheese writing challenge is one of my favorites - kinda low key, usually takes place in the summer.

    From one AtoZ cohort to another ~ cheers!

    thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tami. I will definitely check it out and pop over to your blog! Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  4. Jules - You gave yourself a true challenge indeed but you know what? You made it! :) HOORAY! I've enjoyed your poems and my favourite is definitely C for Confusion.

    I love that your kids ended up helping you with the A to Z Challenge. I'm looking forward to following the rest of your posts!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you....I love Confusion! My poor kids.....they probably think I'm nuts. :) lol

      Delete
  5. I learned a lot through the challenge. Oh, it was fun and I met so many amazing people--you included and your amazing poetry. I'm honored that you enjoyed my blog. Thanks for stopping by. You are awesometastic. Hugs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Julia! Thank you....so happy to have met you through this. hugs back :)

      Delete
  6. I couldn't believe that you managed to come up with a poem for every day- super impressive!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks....but I must admit....I was ready for the end ~ think I was going to loose my mind. :)

      Delete
  7. Andy, thank you for stopping by. I will definitely pop over to your blog. Hope you had a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete

All comments will be posted after moderation.

Leave me a note! I love reading your thoughts.