{"id":981,"date":"2017-05-05T18:10:32","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T22:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=981"},"modified":"2017-05-05T18:30:08","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T22:30:08","slug":"a-to-z-blog-challenge-reflection-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=981","title":{"rendered":"A to Z Blog Challenge Reflection 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

A to Z Blog Challenge – Reflection (What if\u2026?)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

This is my second year doing the A to Z Blog Challenge. I will admit that this year was harder than last year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s theme I chose was Life\u2019s Choices\/Life\u2019s Changes. Though coming up an idea for each letter was hard, the writing, once the idea was thought up, was easy. Every piece of writing was from my head and experience. I discovered mid-way through the alphabet, after reading blog entries from other writers, that adding pictures and cartoons to my writing, enhanced the pieces. <\/span><\/p>\n

This year, however, it took a while to come up with the theme, What if\u2026? It certainly allowed me more freedom in finding things to write about, however, it also required more research to be done for each piece. Once I came up with the theme, I hoped to get a jump on some of that research so I wouldn\u2019t be pressured when it came time to writing and deadlines. That didn\u2019t work out. I do much better when I research as I\u2019m writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now I needed ideas for each letter. I brainstormed with my family, friends and a lot with the elementary classes that I substitute teach in. When it was time to start writing, here was my list of ideas:<\/span><\/p>\n

What if…A<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>animals<\/span><\/i> could talk? everyone died at the same <\/span><\/i>age<\/span><\/i>? <\/span><\/i>animals<\/span><\/i> ruled people?, <\/span><\/i>B<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>bees<\/span><\/i> couldn\u2019t help the flowers grow?, <\/span><\/i>C<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>computers<\/span><\/i> were internal devices? all of the <\/span><\/i>computers<\/span><\/i> shut down at once? when you cried your hair changed colors?, <\/span><\/i>D<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>doomsday <\/span><\/i>was tomorrow? <\/span><\/i>dreams<\/span><\/i> really foretold the future? d<\/span><\/i>reams<\/span><\/i> could be controlled? you could relive a <\/span><\/i>day <\/span><\/i>over and over until you perfect it? <\/span><\/i>dragons<\/span><\/i> existed?, \u00a0<\/span><\/i>E<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>education<\/span><\/i> limited Professional Development to alternate years? e<\/span><\/i>motions<\/span><\/i> changed what color you appear. \u00a0<\/span><\/i>everyone<\/span><\/i> was the same?,\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>F<\/i><\/b>: if you could have any number of <\/span><\/i>fingers<\/span><\/i> you wanted? if I was <\/span><\/i>famous<\/span><\/i>, what would I be <\/span><\/i>famous<\/span><\/i> for? \u00a0people could <\/span><\/i>fly<\/span><\/i>?, <\/span><\/i>G<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>games<\/span><\/i> impacted real life decisions?, <\/span><\/i>H<\/i><\/b>: if <\/span><\/i>hate<\/span><\/i> were eliminated?, \u00a0<\/span><\/i>I<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>icebergs<\/span><\/i> all melted? you could see your <\/span><\/i>imagination<\/span><\/i>?, <\/span><\/i>J<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>Jeffrey<\/span><\/i> (the ghost) visited me?, <\/span><\/i>K<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>kids<\/span><\/i> could get their driver\u2019s licenses when they were under 10 years old?, <\/span><\/i>L<\/i><\/b>: l<\/span><\/i>ying<\/span><\/i> caused some physical changes to you?, <\/span><\/i>M<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>mammoths<\/span><\/i> were still alive? people could <\/span><\/i>morph<\/span><\/i> into something else? <\/span><\/i>mythical<\/span><\/i> animals were real?, <\/span><\/i>N<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>nobody<\/span><\/i> spoke the same language?, <\/span><\/i>O<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>old age<\/span><\/i> didn\u2019t prevent you from doing things? healthy, <\/span><\/i>organic<\/span><\/i> food was the norm, cheap and available for all?, <\/span><\/i>P<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>politicians<\/span><\/i> could only talk about themselves? Preventive medicine was the norm and covered by Medicare? <\/span><\/i>protection<\/span><\/i> of the environment was respected and profitable?, <\/span><\/i>Q<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>questions<\/span><\/i> were not allowed to be asked of others?, <\/span><\/i>R<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>reading<\/span><\/i> books is moving from words to graphics; what will <\/span><\/i>reading<\/span><\/i> evolve to? you could <\/span><\/i>read <\/span><\/i>someone\u2019s mind?, <\/span><\/i>S<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>silence<\/span><\/i> ruled the world? <\/span><\/i>sleep<\/span><\/i> was not necessary or was limited to only a short period of time? s<\/span><\/i>tories<\/span><\/i> that you tell, come to life? you couldn\u2019t control what you <\/span><\/i>say<\/span><\/i>?, \u00a0<\/span><\/i>T<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>traveling<\/span><\/i> through time was a reality, where would you go? what if you could stop <\/span><\/i>time<\/span><\/i>?, <\/span><\/i>U<\/i><\/b>: all of the earth was <\/span><\/i>underwater<\/span><\/i>? <\/span><\/i>umbilical cords<\/span><\/i> attached to random parts of a baby\u2019s body?, <\/span><\/i>V<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>virtue<\/span><\/i> was its own reward? the world went <\/span><\/i>vegetarian?, <\/span><\/i>W<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>wishes<\/span><\/i> were granted with a 24-hour expiration? your <\/span><\/i>wrongs<\/span><\/i> were being recorded?, <\/span><\/i>X<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>x-rays<\/span><\/i> could also show emotions and thoughts? <\/span><\/i>x-rays<\/span><\/i> could also spot diseases?, <\/span><\/i>Y<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>yesterday<\/span><\/i> was do overable but it meant you missed tomorrow?, <\/span><\/i>Z<\/i><\/b>: <\/span><\/i>zoos<\/span><\/i> contained more than just animals in their natural habitat? <\/span><\/i>zebras<\/span><\/i> could change the colors of their stripes?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As I got closer to the writing, I discovered I didn\u2019t like a lot of the ideas at all. For those letters B, F, H, J, K, \u00a0N, Q, V, Y, Z, I went to the dictionary to look for words that inspired me. For other letters, \u00a0just having discussions with others or things that happened to me initiated a prompt – R for Reckless drivers was one of those. The rant came from incidents on the road. It also included a discussion my wife and I had about problems with Star Trek\u2019s transporter beams. I knew I wanted to write about transporters, but wanted to keep the original ideas I had had for S and T, so I needed another letter where it would fit transporters in…enter R for reckless and rants.<\/span><\/p>\n

My favorites of all the blogs I wrote this month were B (writing backwards) and Q (only using questions). Each of those required me to play with words and figure out, in the case of B how to reverse all of the writing (not an easy task.). M had an interesting twist, I needed to figure out a way to morph myself into an owl. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the final ideas I chose for those of you that haven\u2019t been reading all along and the links that go with each: <\/span><\/p>\n

What if\u2026? <\/b><\/p>\n

A:<\/span> animals could talk?<\/b><\/a> B: <\/span>everyone spoke and\\or wrote sdrawkcab?<\/b><\/a> C: <\/span>all of the computers shut down at once?<\/b> <\/a>\u00a0<\/span> D: <\/span>dreams could be controlled?<\/b><\/a> \u00a0<\/span> E: <\/span>education limited Professional Development to alternate years?<\/b><\/a> \u00a0<\/span> F: <\/span>you had no Fear?<\/b><\/a> G:<\/span> games impacted real life decisions?<\/b><\/a> H: <\/span>there were no fights in ice hockey<\/b>?<\/span><\/a> I: <\/span>\u00a0<\/b>you could see your imagination?<\/b><\/a> J: <\/span>you had another way to use junk?<\/b><\/a> K: <\/span>you never had kids?<\/b><\/a> L: <\/b>lying caused some physical changes to you?<\/b><\/a> \u00a0<\/span> M: <\/span>people could morph into something else?<\/b><\/a> \u00a0<\/span> N: <\/span>I had nothing to write about?<\/b><\/a> O: <\/span>opportunity were to knock again?<\/b><\/a> \u00a0<\/b> P: <\/span>politicians could only talk about themselves?<\/b><\/a> \u00a0<\/span> Q: <\/span>people only spoke using Questions?<\/b><\/a> R: <\/span>there were consequences for reckless drivers?<\/b><\/a> S: <\/span>sleep was not necessary or was limited to only a short period of time?<\/b> <\/a>\u00a0<\/span> T: <\/span>traveling through time was a reality, where would you go?<\/b><\/a> \u00a0<\/span> U: <\/span>you had an Undo command in life similar to a computer\u2019s \u201cUndo\u201d command?<\/b><\/a> \u00a0<\/b> V: <\/span>we are only Version 2.0?<\/b><\/a> W:\u00a0<\/span>our wrongs were all being recorded?<\/b><\/a> X: <\/span>x-rays could also show emotions and thoughts?<\/b><\/a> \u00a0<\/span> Y: <\/span>we could stay young?<\/b><\/a> Z: <\/span>we could Zoom-in to things with just our eyes?<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m definitely going to do this again next year. I\u2019m not sure of a theme yet. I\u2019ve got time…maybe fiction?<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of this year’s A to Z. I liked last year’s Linky List for the reveal because I could quickly see who was participating and the themes that they were pursuing. If I was interested, I bookmarked their blog so I could follow them easily. I would personally prefer that for the reveal. However, that being said, once I had the ones I wanted to follow, this year’s set-up by letter was preferable. I had my own set of people that I wanted to follow but got to check out others that were interesting on a day by day basis, some of which I added to my set of bookmarks. \u00a0My favorite blogs to follow were: The Multicolored Diary (I’m a fellow storyteller, so I like finding more tales), Dorky Mom Doodles, and John Davis Frain’s blog where he killed himself off for every letter, they were fun to read and I’ll probably continue to follow them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A to Z Blog Challenge – Reflection (What if\u2026?) This is my second year doing the A to Z Blog Challenge. I will admit that this year was harder than last year. Last year\u2019s theme I chose was Life\u2019s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,7],"tags":[70],"class_list":["post-981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-to-z-blog-challenge-2017","category-story-writing","tag-a-to-z-blog-challenge"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=981"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":988,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981\/revisions\/988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}