A to Z Blog Challenge 2021 – A Reflection

A to Z 2021 – A Reflection

    Another year has come to an end. This is my 6th year doing the A to Z Challenge and it never gets dull. This year was somewhat different in that I didn’t get as many ideas from others, like the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders I used to substitute teach for. COVID risks left me out of the working in school loop. I did ask for some remote assistance through Google Classroom with one 4th grade class and actually used one of their suggestions (see E – Elephant as a Pet) and used a suggestion from my son (U – Utopia).  I also asked for suggestions from my Writing groups, but did not get much response from them. 

    So this year for the most part I was on my own. I chose the Theme: Wishes, Lies, and Dreams because as a storyteller I thought it would give me lots of flexibility in the writing I could do whether it was fiction, non-fiction or poetry. As I wrote each piece I left it up to the audience whether they could figure out which one(s) of those themes each story was connected to.

    Like last year I tried to write well ahead of time to get the pieces written and just schedule them to post. Also for one story, I broke it up into multiple letters that weren’t consecutive, so the readers had to wait for the continuation of the story (see “What’s in the bag? (unabridged)) Thanks to two of my writing group friends, Jeff and Rhonda, who gave me some ideas and input as I wrote that piece.

    I also completely changed the topic of what my S story was about, after conversations with my wife and daughter-in-law. The story I was going to base it on, ‘Sir Gawaine and Lady Ragnell’, came off as not very politically appropriate, especially without the context of the original folktale. Instead, I found a story I had started writing in one of my writing groups in October of 2016 but never returned to finish. It was perfect for what I wanted to say for S.

    My writing style worked its magic as it usually does. I basically start writing a first sentence with no thought of where the story is going to go and my muse does the rest. When I’m done I revise and edit and look for pictures or cartoons on the web that would enhance what I wrote. With the ‘What’s in the bag story?’ I wrote the B part and then threw it out to Jeff and Rhonda as to where they thought it should go. Rhonda gave me the end result of who the money would go to, the rest evolved as I wrote it with ongoing edits from Jeff. 

    As well ahead of the due dates I hoped to be, both Y and Z were written the day before posting. Once I had the idea for Fountain of Youth and finished it, the idea for Z came. I figured with everyone suffering from Zoom Fatigue, writing about a Zoom meeting would just bore everyone. Then I decided to tie it into my Fountain of Youth piece by using a rather different approach to the Zoom meeting. Making a screenshot for that meeting was almost as much fun as writing about the Zoom meeting itself. It certainly took more time. 

    What follows is a hyperlinked list to all of the pieces that I wrote. You are welcome to go to my Blog (www.hdhstory.net/storyblog) and read any of my other pieces of writing that I do throughout the year or that I have written since I retired from teaching in 2006.

Alone, What’s in the bag?, Computerized Mind, Decisions to be made, Elephant as a Pet, Falling – What do you see?, Gone!, Hearing, what did you say?, Island Wish, Jeff comes up with a plan, Kitten – the afterlife for me, Lego Man, Where’s the money?, Nanites: the Next Generation, The Overachiever…If you only really knew him, A Pen in Hand, Questoria, Really?, the Storyteller, Teaching – What a Nightmare!, Utopia, My Vacuum Sucks!, Work Boots – A place to hide, X-Spring and More, Fountain of Youth, My Zoom Meeting

What’s in the bag? (unabridged – B, D, G, J, M)

    As to next year, I plan on continuing to do the A to Z Challenge. I need another t – shirt (I wish they had made one in 2017) to keep my collection going. I usually wear one of those shirts every time I am in a writing group. I’m tossing around an idea for next year that another A to Z Bloger (https://crackerberries.wordpress.com/)  used this year. She wrote a letter to herself for each letter. That again would give me lots of flexibility to play.

    Till then…Keep on writing. 

Harvey Heilbrun