A to Z The Writercize Way: Helpful Tips from Alana Garrigues

A to Z The Writercize Way

Hello all you A to Z Challengers in the blogosphere.  April 1st and the 2012 challenge will be here in the blink of an eye, so I wanted to help you out with a couple of tips, tricks and observations I noticed from my participation last year.  My name is Alana, freelance writer, mom to twin preschoolers, daydreamer and author of the Writercize blog.

First off, thank you to Lee for allowing me to guest on this page. And second, let me just say that I had an incredible time participating in the 2011 Challenge, and had the opportunity to "meet" some of my favorite writers and virtual friends during the challenge last April. It is not an easy challenge, but with a little preparation, it could be the most worthwhile blog network you will do this year. If it's not already on your list of things to do in the New Year, add A to Z Challenge to your New Year's List of Resolutions!

On to the meat of the message:

• Stay true to your voice and your blog throughout all your posts. The challenge is a great way to expose your voice to many potential new contacts and followers. Be honest and true to yourself and your readers, and you will gain much from the challenge. If your blog is about cooking, don't blog A through Z about movies or music (unless they are related to cooking) and expect to connect or click with the "right" kind of reader. If you don't already have an "about this blog" page set up, do it now, before the challenge starts, and make sure it jives with the content you put out there.
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• If your voice and blog are loosey-goosey random, it may help challenge readers for you to pick a theme for the challenge and stick with it.  Last year, two writer bloggers arranged a list of 26 emotions that were used as the basis for daily short stories and poems.  Readers could jump between the two blogs and leave a guess as to the emotion in the comment form.  It allowed them to take a break from writing about writing and exercise their writing muscles, and showed their voice through their quick writing samples.  Plus, they could blog about other things during the month outside of the theme, and readers immediately recognized it as an "extra" post.
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• Comment thoughtfully.  It is ok to visit fellow challenger blogs and write something along the lines of "fellow A to Z Challenger" with your name and URL in the comment, but be sure to let the blogger know you actually read something in their post in that comment too.  There is nothing more annoying than spam when you are churning your heart and soul out daily.  Maybe you like their voice, or a photo or a word in the post.  If you don't like anything about it, you might be better off just moving on to the next blog rather than leaving a spam trail in your wake.
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• Forgive yourself.  It is highly unlikely that you will be able to visit all of the blogs in the challenge.  I know of 2 or 3 participants last year who did, and I honestly have no idea how they did it.  Aim high, but be realistic.  Visit as many as you can; use the "next blog" button that will surely be created in time for the challenge or refer to the list and work through it, but don't be too hard on yourself if you aren't able to visit 50+ blogs a day.  It's a challenge, and I commend you if you are one of those speed readers with magical time management skills, but I also forgive you if you're just an average Jane like me.
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• Make a plan.  Write down the letters A through Z in a notebook.  (Or computer program if you like to be modern.)  Fill in an idea for a word or image for each letter.  Give yourself flexibility for inspiration to strike on the day of the post, but be confident in knowing that you have something to fall back on just in case.  If thinking of words for the letters A to Z makes you freeze up, think up a theme that you can work into your blog.  Last year I saw photos, recipes, ideas for party themes, posts inspired by names A to Z (biblical, historical, fictional), movie reviews, book reviews, flash fiction from words submitted by readers, and more. The sky truly is the limit. If you're a geography buff, tackle cities or countries A to Z. If you love comic strips, share your thoughts or best lines from characters A to Z. If you're an illustrator, find a different way to draw the letters.
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• Post ahead.  Right around mid-alphabet, you may lose some steam and be happy if you have scheduled your post in advance.  It will probably happen again around those pesky letters like Q, X and Z.  Don't let yourself stress about it.  Schedule those posts and take a break from blogging on those days as they come along, or spend the time you would be posting visiting extra challenge blogs.
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• Tell your friends about the challenge. They'll thank you for it at least 75% of the time.  And the rest, you can be miserable together as you compare finger blisters and dilated irises from late nights typing away!

I write an educational blog called Writercize, and I post writing exercises several times a week on a wide variety of topics and formats from fiction to nonfiction to poetry to real world applications. I started the blog last year about a month before the challenge and decided to dive right in when a writing friend told me about it.

In the spirit of writercize and the A to Z challenge, I would like to challenge you to the following writercize from the tips listed above. It will get the writing juices flowing and help you prepare for April all at the same time! I'd love you to share some of your results as a comment. Here you are:

writercize:  Write down the letters A through Z in a notebook.  Fill in an idea for a word or image for each letter.

Now, discuss. And best of luck in the challenge. I'll be reading!

Alana Garrigues
Freelance Writer

web:  www.alanagarrigues.com
blog:  writercize.blogspot.com
twitter:  @alanagarrigues

Pre-challenge challenge...

Thanks for stopping by! Our goal here at the main A-Z blog is to keep the momentum building for the April event, and to entice as many bloggers to join us as possible! That's where YOU come in. We need your help to spread the word. The most successful blogging events (and viral videos, and memes of all sorts) start, and build, with word of mouth. Nothing like a good, ole' fashioned, “Did you HEAR about...?” To go a step further, we're inviting our followers to also be contributors.

Sound interesting?

Ok, so the nitty-gritty. If you'd like to contribute a post to this blog, just write it! Email me your file, along with the date you'd like it to be posted.  I'll send it to the team for approval, then schedule it in. If anyone is already set up for the day you're wanting, we'll see what can be worked out.

We're looking forward to seeing what you'd like to contribute! You can email me directly:

tndowney at gmail dot com with any questions or concerns.

It's going to be a great year!

Tina


P.S FYI, I respond to all comments via email.  If you don't have that feature enabled in your profile, consider doing so.  While many of us co-hosts respond in the comments, there are also a large number of bloggers out there who use email.  Another option for you if you don't want to reveal your email every-time you comment, you could list it on your blog profile, in disguise like I did above.

Some Saturday Updates

       Have you heard about the A to Z video challenge yet?  If not be sure to check the posts earlier this week here and here.

        To eliminate any confusion, you don't have to make a video to participate in the A to Z Challenge.  The Video Challenge is just an addition for those who have an interest in making video.  It's also something to entertain the rest of us between now and April.   Hopefully by the middle of April we'll have some pretty slick videos to use as  A to Z promotion.

        If you like to dabble in video, I encourage you to join us.  More information about the A to Z Video Challenge will be given this coming Wednesday on this site.   In the mean time, start putting together your videos and let's have some fun!

       On Friday January 13th we had a nice post from Melissa's Imaginarium.  We appreciate these fine posts that help get the word out.  The best promotion comes from word of mouth and it's nice when people who know about the Challenge endorse it.

       Also on Friday, Our Life in a Caravan gave a mention to the A to Z Challenge.  Who says Friday the 13th is an unlucky day?

        Have you started preparing any posts for April?   Has anyone started putting together anything for the video Challenge?

Ada Z's A to Z Video

               What can you come up with?   Enlighten us.  Entertain us.  I think I see some cool ideas coming.

Thanks to Ada Z as in Zdanowicz.  That was excellent.  And if you didn't see Ron Easton's videos you can find them here or here.  Now we're looking for your video.

We're going to be having an A to Z Video Challenge.   For more info, please read Wednesday's post.





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Blogging A to Z?: A Word from the Other Side

         On January 6, 2012 Timothy Brannan from the blog The Other Side put forth a challenge to OSR/RPG bloggers (that's " Old-school Renascence /Role playing gamers) to consider doing the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.   He presents valid reasons for doing the Challenge that would apply to all other bloggers as well.  This post is reprinted with Tim's permission.


Blogging A to Z?


Last year I proudly participated in the Blogging A to Z challenge in April.

I felt it was not only a good way to stretch my creative abilities but work on my writing and do a bit a cross blog-genre promotion.  My hits went up, and stayed up, drastically during and after April and I got my greatest surge of followers.

Well they are doing it again this year.

Artwork by Ada Zdanowicz

Though I am not sure I am going to do it this year yet or not.

Last year it worked out on many levels for me.  I recall thinking about the posts I had queued up and how they would fit the challenge.  When "Z" fell on a Saturday it clinched it for me.

Part of the purpose of the blogfest is to post every day.  I do that now anyway.

Keep in mind I am NOT saying participation is a bad idea, far from it in fact.

I actually suggest that we get MORE OSR/RPG bloggers participating to get our message out there.

The one thing we all talk about is getting more people involved in our hobby, we can't do that if the only people we talk to are already in our hobby.

Plus if you are selling a product you should participate just to attract more attention to you and your book or product.

If I do it this year then I need to do a theme or something, make it more challenging than last year.

Are you going to participate?  Why or why not?

Who's ready to accept Timothy Brannan's challenge?

Related articles

• Awesome Stuff and the Big Announcement! (alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com)
• Blogging from A to Z April Challenge-- 2012 Edition (tossingitout.blogspot.com)
• Blogging A to Z? from The Other Side blog (timbrannan.blogspot.com)
• Jeffrey Beesler Tells You What You Oughta Know About the A-Z Challenge (a-to-zchallenge.com)

video Challenge

         Once again we have a video contribution from Ron Easton who used to be Inside Out but now he's Dads UnLimited.   But what's this?   An advertisement promotion for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  How cool!

       After the first video, Ron and I started corresponding about this and started thinking about how we should put together some kind of video contest to see what you all could come up with video-wise.  Starting next Wednesday you can enter your 2 minute or less video We'll feature each one as they come in.  Come back next Wednesday for more details.

        Give us a visual surprise.  The video can be funny, dramatic, or instructive.  It can be a music video or something arty.   You could go for animation or special effects.  Your imagination's the limit.

        Contest will end in the middle of March.  More next Wednesday.

       So what do you think?  I've seen some pretty cool videos on some of your sites.  Any bloggers out there enjoy film making or visual arts?

 I asked our A to Z artist Ada Z to put together another sample promotional video.   Come back on Friday to see what Ada came up with.



 

Related articles

• A Unique Reflections Post from Ron Easton (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Meet the A to Z Team for 2012 (a-to-zchallenge.com)

A Word from the Bird

          Whew!  Thought we'd take a breather today.   Have we been having great guests on the Challenge Blog or what?   We're going to try to keep daily posts on this site through the end of April.  If you'd like to submit something about the Challenge or writing or whatever else you think might be interesting, let me know.  There are still a lot of vacant days ahead and I don't want to write everything.

            I've got some great guest posts coming in the next couple of months.   Things are always being tossed about here so be sure to check this site for any new Challenge updates.

            Like another big debut on Friday if things go as planned.  But first we've got a big debut tomorrow.  If you saw the post this past Saturday on Inside Out which has just changed its blog name to Dads UnLimited, you might start to guess what's coming up.   We've got another A to Z video.  And we've got another announcement.   It's coming and you don't want to miss this.

             See you tomorrow.

Challenge update!!!  (see here's one already)

Our A to Z Team has been joined by Karen Jones Gowan of Coming Down the Mountain.  Karen was one of our co-hosts last year and has decided to join us for the 2012 event.  Be sure to stop by to visit Karen and join her blog if you are not already a follower.   We welcome Karen!

alexandra heep

        Alexandra Heep may be new to the A to Z Challenge in 2012, but she's got the right idea.  Here are some of her thoughts on Blogging from A to Z.




My experience has shown me that many people were bloggers first before becoming writers. With me, it was the opposite. Even then, I was only a sporadic blogger, until I participated in my first blogging challenge last October.

At first, I was hesitant because many people seemed like blogging pros with hundreds of followers, and they were authors, whereas I am a copywriter with a blog that is somewhere lost in space. I was not sure if I would fit in, but I was soon hooked. It was through that experience that I found out about the A - Z Blogging Challenge coming up in April 2012.

What appeals to me about a blogging challenge with a theme, like A - Z, is that it provides a framework for a mind that spills over with ideas. Since I have to write content for a living with sometimes ridiculous guidelines, I like that it provides just enough structure for self discipline, but otherwise encourages creativity.

Yes, I have my theme already picked out. It took me only a few minutes because the idea had already been in my head, but I had no idea how to make it work. The A - Z concept however makes perfect sense. What will the theme be? Oh, I won't kiss and tell - just yet.

Something else I have learned about blogging in general: I used to be afraid of becoming too personal and turning off readers. But, I achieved a lot of good feedback and some new followers. Also, the fun part about writing is that you get to read a lot of stuff too. I am amazed at the inner lives people lead and I feel less like an abnormality when I find my thought processes and daily struggles reflected in other people's words.

Alexandra Heep
from
www.aheepofeverything.blogspot.com

      Thanks Alexandra for this guest post.  You should have no problem with the Challenge and if people take your advice they should do fine as well.

Related articles

• Meet the A to Z Team for 2012 (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Blogging from A to Z April Challenge-- 2012 Edition (tossingitout.blogspot.com)
• Awesome Stuff and the Big Announcement! (alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com)
• The Fantastic A to Z Ride: Observations by Shannon the Warrior Muse (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• We Interrupt This Program For A Very Special Announcement! (breakthroughblogs.blogspot.com)

Some More Big News!! Coming this Wednesday!!

Arty


                                Bold


Creative


                    Daring


Entertaining


                               Fun


         We've got some exciting news about an A to Z innovation that we hope you'll enjoy.   Be here on Wednesday for a special video from Ron Easton and a big announcement from the Blogging from A to Z Team.   


          In the meantime, if you missed yesterday's post go back and take a look at it here.   And be sure to visit Ron Easton at Inside Out, introduce yourself, and follow his blog.


         Some good fun is on it's way.

         Also, take note that the official A to Z Badge in the sidebar has a copy and paste code that you can use to add the badge to your blog.   We encourage you to take the time to add the badge to show your support for the A to Z Challenge.   Likewise, there is a flashy matching banner at the top of the page and a flashing animated button half-way down the sidebar.   These were created by Jeremy at Retro-Zombie.  You can find the code for these on Jeremy's site.  Feel free to take all of these codes and add them to your page so you can show the world that you will be Blogging from A to Z in April.
       

Related articles

• A Unique Reflections Post from Ron Easton (a-to-zchallenge.com)

A Unique Reflections Post from Ron Easton

          Ron Easton from Inside Out has come up with a unique approach to the Blogging from A to Z Reflections post.  His video looks back on the topics that he covered in April of 2011.  It's very short so take a moment to watch and enjoy.  Then meet up with me at the bottom of this post.





          It doesn't end here, but you'll have to come back on Wednesday to see what Ron's video has inspired.   We've come up with an idea that I think you will all enjoy and could be the start of an exciting wave of creativity.   And Ron has created another video that will appear on that day.

         In the meantime, please visit Ron's blog at Inside Out and show him your support.  Give him a big hello. Don't forget to click the Friend Connect button before you leave.  Ron's got some changes coming on his blog and I think he'll be a surprising force in the 2012 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.



       

Related articles

• Meet the A to Z Team for 2012 (a-to-zchallenge.com)

Meet the A to Z Team for 2012

          Anyone who follows this blog is probably aware that the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is just a few months away.   If you don't know about what the Challenge is all about, please click on the "What is Blogging from A to Z?" tab above for an explanation.

          Today we want to provide you with the list of A to Z Team members for 2012.  Please stop by to visit these wonderful bloggers and say hello to them.  If you are not following them already then we encourage you to click the "Friend Connect" to join their sites.  Then be sure to visit each of them often to keep up with news about the upcoming Challenge.   

           Some cool things are coming up and we don't want you to miss a thing!

Here is the A to Z Team for 2012:

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller)

Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)


           Please get to know each of us.  If there are questions or comments about the Challenge, let any of us know and we'll give you the answers you need or address your comments.   Since a big part of the A to Z Challenge has to do with networking you should start your networking with all of us now.


          If you haven't joined this A to Z Challenge blog we encourage you to do that as well.  The Blogging from A to Z Challenge Blog is the official Challenge site.  We don't want you to miss any Challenge updates.


           Sign ups for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge will begin on January 30, 2012.

Related articles

• In Which Arlee Bird Explains Why Blogfests Are a Big Deal (damyantiwrites.wordpress.com)
• A Favorite Blogger Speaks: Reflections from Alex J. Cavanaugh (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• The Challenge Pays Off: Damyanti Biswas Got a Book Out of It (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• A Challenge Report from Jenny Pearson (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Stephen Tremp Celebrates the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge (a-to-zchallenge.com)

Stirrings in A to Z Land

         Keeping it short today.

         Just got in from my two week tour of the United States as I visited family scattered across the country.  I had a great time but computer time was very limited so now I've got to catch up.

          Tomorrow (Friday 1/6)  there will be a special announcement that you won't want to miss.  I fact if you are looking at blogs on that day you may see a similar announcement on several other blogs.  Be watching!

          We still have a few reflections posts and other guest posts coming in the next few days.  If you have something that you'd like to write about as a guest on this blog, then please let me know.

         See you tomorrow!

Betty Alark Is As Happy As a Lark About A to Z

      Today's message comes courtesy of Betty Alark who will be facing her first Blogging from A to Z April Challenge this year.  But she's ready to go as you can see here.  Her blogs are listed at the bottom of the page.

Are you gearing up for                 the

2012 A-to-Z Challenge?

Greetings everyone and happy New Year!!!

It’s 2012 and I’m starting the New Year off right –gearing up for the challenge with inspirational sight, ingenuity and creativity!

Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr

There’s excitement in the air, ideas are flowing everywhere!

I’m new to the A-to-Z Challenge this year and I’m looking forward to being at the starting point of its commencement!

I really appreciate a challenge – especially one that’s fun, and propels me to exercise my brain simultaneously!

I expect during the commencement of the A-to-Z challenge, I will have the opportunity to blog my creativity side-by-side with numerous experts and newcomers alike.

         Image by Jeff_Werner via Flickr

I envision that scene as walking through a gallery of artwork and being in awe of the beauty and variation! At the end of the procession- the final outcome of the challenge, we will all be rewarded by our individual efforts! Our galleries will be a reflection and reminder of our own achievements!  In that sense we will all be winners!

I’m a poet so my approach to the challenge this year is to grace my fellow bloggers with a theme centered around, the art of poetry; to captivate my blog audience with 26 poems that will stir their hearts and minds to think and promote change!

So how are you starting the New Year off; what’s your approach - have you gotten your gear out: excitement, momentum, ingenuity, creativity; all the talent that you will need to get the A-to-Z Challenge on the way- I hope so!

I’m looking forward to visiting your gallery so don’t let me down- I’m in it to win so give me a run for my money! See you there!

Happy New Year!!

Betty Alark

My Blogs
Rapture
Stories
Rapture Me -New Arrivals
My Journal
My Book: What Type of Character Are You Hanging Out With?
My Poems

        Thank you Betty for this invigorating message.   I hope you  Challenge veterans will encourage the newbies to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Related articles

• Welcome to the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Blog (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Show Your Support! (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• Preparing Ahead for April (a-to-zchallenge.com)

A Tuesday Two Fer: Kristine Asselin and Loralie Hall

         Today we have two short posts from 2011 participants in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.

  Kristine Carlson Asselin

          First a short endorsement from KRISTINE ASSELIN who writes contemporary young adult and middle grade fiction and middle grade nonfiction as well as the occasional picture book.  And she still made some time to blog from A to Z in April of 2011.

Reflecting on A-Z

I'm so glad I participated in this challenge! I'm happy to say I successfully completed--even being on vacation away from my computer for a week. And to think I signed up only a couple of days before it started. And didn't realize at first that the posts had to actually be in A-Z order (true, my first few scheduled posts had to be retitled to reflect the appropriate letter. duh.)

I'll admit that I didn't comment as heartily on others blogs as the month progressed, but I did "meet" some great bloggers through this event.

Welcome to all my new followers!

Thanks to Elizabeth Mueller for creating this award.

          Up next we hear from Loralie Hall who assessed the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge on her blog Apathy's Hero.  Loralie is a writer who has several things going these days.

A to Z Challenge Reflections

For anyone who is mourning the passing of the A-Z blogging challenge, or wondered what kind of inanities I'd come up with now that I don't have letters to motivate me, fear not. The wonderful folks who started the whole thing are hosting a reflections blog hop.

It's been an interesting month. Like with a lot of things, when I signed up I didn't pour too much thought into how I would get the task done. I blog five days a week anyway, and even though Saturday is the one day I never blog, I figured it wouldn't be a big deal for four weeks.

And the kind folks I used to work for laid me off a week before the challenge started. So that meant even more free time to blog. As long as I could slog my way through the more negative repercussions of unemployment.

And then I found out that thinking up words that start with each letter is easy. Relating them to writing...took a bit of a stretch of the imagination on my part. I'm pretty sure on most days I didn't quite follow my own themes. 

It was all worth it though. The challenge was nice, but for me the best part was all the new people I met. I have more followers now *waves*. But even better, I discovered some amazing new bloggers and talent out there. I didn't comment on every site, but I visited each and every one and I was amazed with what I discovered. The diversity in theme, blogging style, thought process, all of it, was wonderful. 

In the end, I'm super happy I signed up, and thrilled I got to meet you all. I'd do it again without hesitation, and I can't thank the organizers and participants enough.





          Writers like the A to Z Challenge because it adds another dimension to the writing experience and it allows them do stretch a bit while having a good time writing.  It's also a great way to network.  If you're blogging anyway, you might as well blog from A to Z with us in April.

Related articles

• Show Your Support! (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• The Fun Factor of the A to Z Challenge (a-to-zchallenge.com)

Duncan in Kuantan

       All the way from Kuantan Pahang, Malaysia Duncan Horne kept up with the Blogging from A to Z Challenge on his blog Our Home Called Kuantan.    In his Reflections post he talks about some of the bloggers he met in the Challenge and offers some statistics concerning his blog's performance in April 2011.





A-Z April blogging challenge overview



The A-Z April blogging challenge was an ambitious project which I thoroughly enjoyed. Though blogging each day was tough at times, I enjoyed the challenge of posting through the alphabet. I struggled the most with an 'x' post, which I had been worrying over from the start. But it turns out that I came across a great 'x' word just in the knick of time with "xenodocheionology" meaning 'love of hotels.'

I lost count of how many times I hit the 'Next blog' button or the 'Surprise me' button but I'm sure I got through a lot of blogs! It was sad to see that some of the blogs I visited had either not started the challenge or quit mid-way through. But I can totally understand the difficulty of keeping up from day to day.

I did however, come across some great blogs, most of them writing blogs, and made a few friends in the process. I have to mention Paul Joseph. I came across his blog and immediately connected with his style of writing. I made numerous re-visits to his blog, often leaving comments, to which he replied. It helped that I met him on Facebook too.

Rosalind Adam is another person I have got to know better through this challenge. I have also become re-acquainted with my hometown of Leicester, England, where Rosalind lives and blogged about.

I found myself returning to Bish Denham's blog each day of the challenge, for her thoughtful posts about a variety of topics. The fact that she introduced a vocabulary word at the start of each post, like me, was another draw.

Reading Melissa Kline's blog each day was a little delight as she covered five new words beginning with each letter of the alphabet and then proceeded to make sentences with those words. Finally, she combined all of her sentences using words from A-Z to make a story!

A. B. Keuser conducted a fascinating blog writing a paragraph of words, the vast majority beginning with the letter of the day. Such a fascinating read and quite a mouthful too!

English Speaking Zone hosted by Barbara was another one I visited every day. The grammar terms were good for me as I'm an English teacher.

Holly Jones documented an A-Z of London, reminding me of England very nicely indeed!

Finally, Denise wrote a very informative A-Z of places in the world with piles of information about each one.

There were so many other blogs which I loved and commented on, but which I can't mention here in this overview. I'm sure there are yet many blogs which I haven't got round to visiting.

I hope you all enjoyed my A-Z from *Our home called Kuantan* because I certainly had a fun time composing it. Whether or not I'll continue to post on 26 out of 30 or 31 days per month is still unknown. I had to be extremely disciplined in preparing posts and also taking some time to visit others.


I'll finish with a few facts and statistics regarding my blog during the month of April, 2011:

During the month of April, 2011, I :

· gained 69 followers

· received 2,244 visits to *Our home called Kuantan*

· had 9,321 page views

· had 284 comments to my posts


So It has been an overwhelmingly successful month for me and my blog. Thank you to all of those who contributed to those statistics, but more importantly, for allowing me to get to know you and your passions, and for me to show you my life in Kuantan.

http://duncaninkuantan.blogspot.com/2011/05/z-april-blogging-challenge-overview.html


           There you have it.  Last April worked for Duncan and he's looking forward to this year's Challenge.  Duncan plans to be back.   How about you?

Related articles

• Malaysia travel guide (ebookers.com)
• Kuantan Trip Sep 2011 (lonelyplanet.tv)

Zee Is Not the End---Happy New Year! a message from KC Kendricks

Image by bupowski via Flickr

Happy New Year!!!   2012 Is Here!

          Today's special New Year's greeting--or shall I say Reflection of 2011 and rallying call to 2012-- comes from KC Kendricks of Between the Keys.

Zee End

April 30, 2011
A to Z Blogging Challenge
Day 26 - Z


We’re finally to ‘Z’ in the A to Z Blogging marathon. I wasn’t sure I could pull it off – don’t go there – but here I am, at Zee. One thing is for sure - Zee is not final. It’s not an end in and of itself. It’s a stepping-stone to another level, one that I feel challenged to attain. Zee is having kept the commitment to complete the challenge and looking forward to next year.

The 2011 A-Z Blogging Challenge brought bloggers from all over the Internet together. I stopped by the blogs of writers, gardeners, movie lovers, chefs, moms, music lovers - you name it, the bloggers were there. How wonderful to have a glimpse into the lives of so many and see how the things I love are shared by others.

Sadly, the A-Z 2011 Blogging Challenge has to end. Zee must be met for this year and I must get back to zee writing. Thanks to everyone who stopped by Between the Keys, especially those who decided to click the follow button. I hope you’ve gotten a smile or two, or at least been entertained in some fashion.

Will I do the A to Z Challenge in 2012? It depends on where I am in my life to some extent, but I plan to regardless of those unexpected things the future may bring. I'm already plotting and planning, on the lookout for interesting topics for all the letters. Perhaps I'll even blog on one central theme. Check back and see.

I need to keep going toward my goal of a better me, to remember that no matter how hard I work or how much I learn, it’s likely my best will always be out there ahead of me, in the undiscovered country. I’ll make it there, someday. Rest assured I travel a path that allows me to enjoy the journey.

KC Kendricks
website at: http://www.kckendricks.com
blog: http://www.kckendricks.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks
mailing list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/betweenthekeys
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1989106.K_C_Kendricks
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Kc-Kendricks/1439574042
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/kckendricks

        I like the way you put that KC.  I hope many will choose to enjoy the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge journey this year.

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