I love A to Z, but some self honesty has led me to admit that while I BLOGGED A to Z the last few years, it really has been a few since I adequately participated enough to ask anyone to visit me, which was missing the spirit of the thing, so I opted out this month. This means this is probably my only post for April, since I know most people will be way too swamped with A to Z for any other distractions. But in the spirit of support, I have attempted to write y'all an ode...
but barbarous boasting brings banality.
Clacking cacophony causes chaos and
Desired doses of description delight deities.
Exclude exaggeration except when excited.
Frank facts flounder in fiction, while
genres generally give grins.
Hyperbole hastens heart hammering and
Iambic idiom is intriguing.
Just jotting jargon jinxes the job but
Kindergarten keynotes keep kangaroos and koalas kosher (but don't eat them)
Lilting lyrics lure languorous llamas, but
Many metaphors make mockery of manuscripts.
Nobody needs non-specific nouns.
Onomatopoeia outrages ostriches and orangutans while
people perfecting pace and lot pursue paradise.
Quaint queries question quality but
Rabid reading reinforces radiance and
Singing sentence structure satisfies.
Tragedy and thrilling tales turn pages.
Unless unlikable urchins undermine everything.
Vigorous verbs are vibrant and vary
Whenever writing wins wonder we
X-ude x-actly x-cellent x-amples.
You yearn for yonder yarn
Zen.
And for the question of the month... have I taken advantage of A to Z? I have. And my first few years when I worked really hard to get around, it was absolutely effective in meeting new people who I continued to interact with. But as I mentioned, the real benefit (and the karma of it) comes not from the daily blogging, but from the commitment to get to lots of people. Which I somehow seem to not have time for anymore. (My day job has gotten less flexible and my nights have filled with other obligations—I am not even writing as much as I'd like).
But I hope all of YOU are having a wonderful time with it. Now go meet some other A to Zers or Insecure writers!
12 comments:
Hey Tartlette - I too opted out this year. I'm finally flying out today to St. Anthony, Newfoundland to have my hip operation. With that and everything else I said no. Feels most bizarre though. Your poem rocks!
I loved A-Z the years I did it. You're right about the commitment and time to visiting and commenting etc - it was a lot of work but so much fun! :)
I agree and back you 100%. It's all about the interaction. My problem is how many of those people disappear for the rest of the year after the A to Z, and then I'm left wondering about their lives, if they're holing up okay, what new projects they've taken on... *sigh*
Hi Hart - I like the contacts I made and realised on my second A-Z probably 2011 that I needed to make 'friends' with bloggers that I could probably relate to - that's stood me in good stead.
Love your poem - it's brilliant ... well done ... cheers to you and take care ... family life is important ... Hilary
http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/d-is-for-ducks-dabbling-diving-domestic.html
You are so right, Hart. It's the socializing. That is what's important about the Challenge.
The poem is great. You are so good at those creative ones.
A to Z (or for that matter IWSG) is a big investment of time and effort. I can't even manage like I did the first few years that I did either of these social blogging events. Sometimes the choice comes down to heavy duty blogging, watching something that I want to see on TV, or cleaning the kitchen. Life has many components and they must be balanced.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
I'm on the A to Z sidelines this year. I just couldn't get it together, but I am visiting, so I'm not missing out on the whole experience.
No way I could keep up with the A to Z anymore.
No surprise that you included llamas in your poem.
Holy rhyming riddle, what was all of that???? LOLOL
Brilliant! Loved it, though I'm still as clueless about the A - Z as I was when I first heard it.
Maybe I'll figure it out...I AM I.B. Nosey, ya know!
Thanks for the fun post. Thoroughly enjoyed it. :)
Well done on the A to Z poem! I think I could force myself to write the flash fiction every morning, but it is the visiting that takes time, and only because I'm somehow an idiot when it comes to clicking on the person's name and finding their right blog and clicking on the comments and then the comment I leave doesn't save so I have to rewrite it or I'm not logged in correctly, so I spend three times the amount of time tyring to leave a comment as reading their post and saying something about it! Christy
Love your ode to A-Z Challenge! Lack of time is why I've opted out the last few years of A-Z. Writing up the posts isn't that hard, but visiting all those blogs is. I feel guilty if I post yet don't visit, so I opt out.
I don't seem to participate in much anything (slacker moi!), but I always love stopping by to see the latest words of brilliance you've come up with. I really love your A to Z.
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