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A to Z reflections

May 072012

It’s been a week since the Blogging from A to Z Challenge ended. Today participants were asked to write a post reflecting on the challenge, what we discovered, what we liked and what we didn’t like.

Before I list my own reflections, I’d like to invite you to add any comments sharing your own experience of reading my takes on the letters. One thing I so liked about this challenge is how it got me writing more frequently. It makes me wonder if readers thought that was a good thing, or a not-so-good thing.

But, enough procrastinating!

What I discovered

I found myself fascinated by the letters and words themselves so the challenge became almost a celebration of language.
My tendency to be interested in many different things and to be indecisive carried over into this challenge.
I discovered some new words I either had not heard of or that I had never learned the meaning of.
I can, if need be, pull together posts more often than I usually do.
I have improv on the brain.

What I liked

Taking on a challenge to post most days of the month gave me a structure that got me writing much more frequently than usual.
The game of going through the alphabet is a simple and fun idea.
I actually learned things in the process of writing some of the posts, whether it was learning a new word or discovering something about myself.
I like when things go to unexpected places and that happened a number of times.
It was cool to know a lot of other people were in the same boat.
I really liked the random blog (“Surprise Me!”) button that some people added to their page so I could visit a random sampling of other blogs.
The challenge was well-organized with great support.
I was impressed with how many people took on (and completed) this challenge. (Good job, everyone!)

What I liked not so much

I quickly noticed that many of the participating blogs were oriented around certain topics (like Young Adult fiction) that I did not necessarily relate to.
There were so many participant blogs to visit that I found it overwhelming. I think it would have been nice to have them listed by blog theme or emphasis.
I didn’t feel I received many visitors or comments.
The random blog (“Surprise Me!”) button was not set up for a self-hosted WordPress blog. I know I could have done more research into what it would take to adapt it, but I chose not to.
Since many of the participant blogs were hosted on Blogger, I ran into quite a few cases where leaving comments was a pain. When I have to comment as either a WordPress.com or Blogger user, or use some other system I’m not hooked into, I hesitated (or outright refused) to leave a comment. While I have blogs set up on both WordPress.com and Blogger, they are inactive and I didn’t want my comments pointing back to them.

Overall I was very glad I participated in this challenge. It was actually fun to play the game. It was also more time-consuming than I expected. Between coming up with a take on each letter, writing the post, finding graphics and maintaining the discipline to post nearly every day, I found myself putting more energy into this blog than ever before.

Then there was the time it took to visit other participants and add comments. That was a great way to discover and explore other blogs, and it was fun to see the variety of takes on the challenge. Many people had chosen a theme they followed for the whole challenge. I could see how that would be a good way to make the collection of posts more coherent, but I was glad I had no theme because it meant each day was an adventure in seeing where I would go with the letter of the day.

G is for Games and Guilty pleasures

Blogging from A to Z No Responses »

Apr 072012

In which I reveal how deeply shallow I am. Wait. What?

Awhile back I wrote about guilty pleasures and mentioned how much I enjoyed the TV series, Buffy and the Vampire Slayer.

This game screams class. And sophistication.

Shocking though it may seem, I have other guilty pleasures. Playing video games, for example. Now in this day and age, playing video games is not exactly unusual, even for someone, uh, my age. (I’m somewhere between middle-aged and ancient.) Yet not long ago I bought a game and had the store clerk look at me and say, “Is this a gift for someone?” When I replied that no, the game was for me, I could see a hint of surprise, which I interpreted to mean, “Really? Dude! Aren’t you a little old for Saints Row the Third?”

I don’t actually mind being my age and playing these games. A few years back when I was playing World of Warcraft, I ran into players who were in their 30s, 40s, 50s and even older.

Flying a "hover bike" is a blast. And classy.

The “guilty” part, I guess, is how much time I can spend playing the damn things. If I get sucked in I can play for hours. And hours.

Do you have any guilty pleasures you’re bold enough to share?

What are some of your favorite games?

—–

P.S. Please don’t judge me. At least not too much.

Writing games may turn me into an April fool

Writing 6 Responses »

Mar 252012

You may have noticed the new “badge” in the left sidebar. Because I’m a sucker for games, I’ve decided to try my hand at the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. I figure if nothing else it will get me posting more often. Plus it sounds fun to have to come up with a letter-inspired post for 26 of April’s days.

The challenge starts April 1 and continues through the month, skipping Sundays (other than the 1st itself). If you have a blog of your own and are going to try it, let me know. I’d love to see what you come up with!

And, because I apparently have a bit of masochism in me, I’m also considering another April challenge, Script Frenzy. If you’ve ever had an interest in writing a script, this might be a great structure for you. Similar to National Novel Writing Month, Script Frenzy is a game to create a written work in 30 days.

Even if that doesn’t sound like your thing, go check out the Script Frenzy website. In the upper left is their Plot Machine which generates random, hilarious scenarios. Who knows? Maybe it’ll inspire you.

So, I’m going the Blogging from A to Z Challenge for sure. Look for my take on the letter A next Sunday, April 1. No fooling.

I’ll keep you posted about Script Frenzy. You know, as if you care.

Are you planning on doing either Script Frenzy or the Blogging from A to Z Challenge?

BlogFestivus: Writing short for 12 Days

Writing 2 Responses »

Nov 302011

As you may have gathered by now, writing short is not one of my fortes. But thanks to the ~~sadistic~~ noble efforts of Blogdramedy, I have signed up to participate in her short story challenge, BlogFestivus.

So, starting tomorrow, I’ll be writing 144-word stories every day for the 12 days of Christmas, along with these intrepid souls:

Blogdramedy (writing challenge instigator)
Fix it or Deal
Shouts from the Abyss
Stevil
All My Answers
Tori Nelson
A Few Clowns Short
Grouchy Mom
Rewind Revise
The Original Bean
My life: a constant work in progress
Becoming Bitter
PamBamBam
Clan of the Cave Hair
Words that Rhyme with Purple
Mad Hatters
A Daft Scots Lass
Random Says
Susan Forte PR

Note (12/17/2011): For links to all my entries, see my BlogFestivus 2011 page.

Again! Improv and letting go

Improv No Responses »

Oct 252011

One of the improv games I’ve played is called Again! Three improvisers line up facing the rest of the class. One begins a story by saying a single word. The next person adds the next word and so on, rotating one word at a time.

The rules are simple. Go as fast as you can. If at any time, any of the players is not having fun with the story, they stop it by jubilantly throwing up their hands and shouting “Again!” The other two join the first in an “Again!” Then one of them begins a new story.

As with most improv games, the deceptively simple can illustrate many key improv principles. For example, Again! requires:

Listening to your partners
Accepting your partners’ offers
Being spontaneous

When I first played Again! I was reluctant to stop a story. My mind played a monologue that went something like:

We’re bogged down. Should I stop it? But what if the others aren’t ready to throw in the towel? And isn’t stopping a story without giving it a chance a sort of copout? Plus, if I throw up my hands, I’ll be drawing attention to myself. That’s bad. On the other hand…

But, once I played Again! enough times, I realized that all that internal chatter was pretty much the point of the game. The little monologue above illustrates some of the hobgoblins of improv:

Self-consciousness — What if I mess up? What if people notice (and judge) me?
Driving – I have an idea of where this story should go, even if my partners try to derail it with their own ideas.
Attachment — We’ve already invested in this story, so we should try to make it work somehow.
Taking things too seriously — What if this story ends up being the best story ever! Isn’t quitting wrong?

The beauty of the game lies in seeing the flip side of those:

Be generous with your partners (Make your partner look good.) — If I’m feeling bogged down, they probably are too. Maybe they’re afraid to throw up their hands too, so I’ll step up and put this story out of our misery.
Accept your partners’ offers (Say “Yes!”) — Okay, I’ll bite. Let’s go with that and see what happens.
Let go — This story hasn’t really panned out the way I had hoped. Let’s just start a new one.
Play and have fun — This is only one of a bazillion stories. Why continue if it isn’t fun anymore?

Getting to the point where I actually loved shouting “Again!” was so freeing that the game became one of my favorites — both to play and to watch. I found myself cheering when one of the players on stage stopped the story.

One reason I’m thinking of this game now is because Nanowrimo is rapidly approaching and I feel that an Again! attitude may make the whole endeavor more enjoyable — and more doable. I’ve got 50,000 words to work with, or 50,000 words to play with.

I could look at it like: “I have 50,000 words to write a good story,” or I could look at it like “I have 50,000 words to discover a story.” It may not happen until I’m at word 35,072, but that story may not have come to me without the 35,071 words that came before it.

One thing I know, if I insisted on slogging through a story I hate, the chance of getting to 50,000 words in 30 days is nearly zero.

So, that’s the game I’m playing during Nanowrimo. What games are you going to play?

Today’s Haunting Tidbit

Ghost Story book cover Occasionally I’ll read a book that I find haunting. One of my favorite such books is Ghost Story by Peter Straub. I think one aspect of the story that I like is how it takes place over a span of 70 or 80 years, with the historical pieces being interwoven with the story’s present. I also found the characters interesting.

Do you have any books you’ve found haunting?

Fifty thousand words in thirty days

Writing 2 Responses »

Oct 142011

It’s nearly time again for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short). The rules are simple. Write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. Sounds fun, right?

Or not. It’s either fun, or it’s sick. Since I’ve done it five years now, I must either get something from it, or I must be a masochist. (By the way, I only succeeded in writing 50,000 words one year out of those five.)

If you’re like me, writing a 50,000-word novel in a month may sound daunting at first. But let me list a few facts about NaNoWriMo that may help put it in perspective:

It’s a game. The only thing at stake is a winner’s certificate, a web badge, and maybe your soul.
The goal is 50,000 or more words, not a completed novel.
Nobody is going to check your work or read your story (unless you want them to).
Writing 50,000 words in 30 days is fewer than 1,700 words a day.
Nowhere in any of the rules or discussions is any mention made of the 50,000 words being good. On the contrary.

These facts segue nicely into some tips I’d like to share:

It’s a game. The spirit of this is to get people writing with abandon, to get words on paper (or screen), not to create literature.
Everything about NaNoWriMo is on the honor system. You could write “the” 50,000 times and the only one who would know is you.
The key is consistency. Writing every day makes this far easier.
You may as well accept that the 50,000 words you write will include a high percentage of crap. It may all be crap. But chances are, some of it will be gold.

Regardless of what you produce during that time, if it gets you writing consistently and freely, that has value in itself.

If you’re a writer, you may feel some trepidation at the sight of a blank page. Or, you may have trouble being consistent. Maybe you write when the mood strikes you. Perhaps you worry over stuff you’ve already written and go back to edit it.

Guess what? None of those things will serve you in NaNoWriMo, and that’s the beauty of it.

In other words, attempting NaNoWriMo is an AFGO.

So, I invite you writerly-inclined folks out there to give this a try if you haven’t already. You can sign up at nanowrimo.org (it’s all free) and get ready to start writing at 12:00:01 am November 1st.

As for me, I have never planned out a story ahead of time (though some people do). The only plan I have is to approach the writing in the spirit of improv:

Say “Yes!” to myself and to whatever comes out on the page.
Celebrate the mistakes I make (of which there will be thousands).
Let go of control and follow the story wherever it may go.
Have fun!

So, will you try it this year? Have you done nanowrimo before? Any tips from your own experience?

If you decide to play this game in November, you won’t be alone. Last year more than 200,000 people participated and more than 30,000 made it to 50,000 words. So, come play with us!