Z is for Zounds!

 

 

Zounds – I did it! If you’re one of the rare species of human who’s read my entire alphabet of writing topics, you know my twenty-six posts took more than three years to write. Beginning in August 2013, one article a week on Thursdays, I should have completed the series by about February 2014. Give me up to March if you want to be generous. Enthusiasm I’ve got aplenty but I’m not great at sticking to schedules.

It’s been a challenge to write these twenty-six posts because it’s all been written before. With millions of blogs on the web, millions of writers posting every day, millions of courses, books, conferences, magazine articles, student sessions, critique groups, published texts, questions posed and answered, and impromptu chat sessions in situ at the local java joint and on the web, what’s left to talk about? Not much, except I wrote each of my posts in my own voice, with my own peculiar take.

Yes, I’m peculiar. As are you. It’s this peculiar individuality that tickles stories to get written, to be read. My take on topics like critique groups, journaling, character development, plot arcs, heroes and villains, maintaining passion, and finding one’s own voice informs my posts. B is for Blog Newbie displayed my technical limitations in an era when pre-schoolers can navigate digital devices more comfortably than I can. H is for Hats Off for Helping Hands reminds writers to acknowledge the readers and supporters who have helped us along our publishing journey. O is for Outside the Box is a Story described books that broadcast magnetic personalities and unusual circumstances. It made reference to some of the recently published quixotic books that have captured our imagination.

Along the way, I’ve read articles across the spectrum, from writers who are as new to blogging as I am to those who nearly invented the genre. I follow dozens, maybe hundreds, of blogs and interact with many of them, reading posts, reading replies, making my own comments.

And, boy oh boy, have I learned some things. Other bloggers have showcased new ideas, refreshed old lessons, inspired deep thinking, helped me find my muse, and sometimes humbled me. Those are the anticipated bonuses of reading and writing blogs, the result of interacting with an engaged community.

Sometime around D is for Dares with Dreams, I discovered an unexpected gift: friendship. Genuine even if we never sit in the same room. I have friends here in blog country, you are likely to be one of them – people who care about me when I’m frustrated or confused, who cheer when I celebrate, and who contact me personally when I’m harrowed.

I’ll be launching a new alphabet line next Thursday, August 25, 2016. Looking forward to seeing you here at Ink Flare when I’ll unveil the new meme.

Zounds, this was fun – exhausting but fun.

 

 

 

Fireworks image courtesy public-domain-image.com