Category Archives: A-Z Writing Challenges

July 7, 2016 · 3:32 AM

Musings A to Z Challenge: G

Challenge: Write a short paragraph (100 words or less) daily on a topic beginning with the sequential letter of the alphabet.

Greatness

Those who achieve greatness are those who’ve overcome impossible odds, obstacles and limitations to fulfil their vision or reach their goals. In my experience, success usually comes dressed in work clothes with its sleeves rolled up, ready to sweat. In order to reach success, or greatness, the prerequisite it that you must know what your goal is, what your vision is; only then can you work toward obtaining it. Sometimes people are multi-gifted; the challenge then is to choose which goal you want to reach, and prune the vine of your activities so that the grapes of success are sweetest.

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July 6, 2016 · 8:41 AM

Musings A to Z Challenge: F

Challenge: Write a short entry (100 words or less) on a topic beginning with the sequential letter of the alphabet.

Feelings

Feelings are a dangerous foundation for any decision or conclusion; they are fickle, unreliable, fallible, and influenced by hormones, chemical imbalances, misunderstandings, and psychological baggage that we all carry around with us. The quote below is so true: Regardless of what is said or done, how it affects someone else makes all the difference between those actions and words being memorable as an encouragement, or as a discouragement; as edifying, or destructive. Proverbs 18:21 says that there is life and death in the power of the tongue; it behoves us to use it wisely.

Feelings

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July 5, 2016 · 3:11 AM

Musings A to Z Challenge: E

Challenge: Write a short entry (100 words or less) on a topic beginning with the sequential letter of the alphabet.

Eye

There is a Jewish saying: “The eyes are the windows to the soul.” The eyes reflect thought, whether the person is physically blind or not; they can tell you a lot about a person through a myriad of emotions and moods; they reveal humour, and even health to a certain extent. Each eye is unique; that’s what makes iris identification security reliable. For me personally, as a writer and reader, sight would be the hardest sense to lose; I could no longer gaze in wonder at the stars, or observe the world around me… all of which informs my writing.

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July 4, 2016 · 10:20 AM

Musings A to Z Challenge: D

Challenge: Write a short entry (100 words or less) on a topic beginning with the sequential letter of the alphabet.

Divergent

To diverge is to tend toward a different direction, to separate, or to become different. For me, it means to go against the flow of the average, normal, or expected. Whether in life or in writing, being divergent is an important characteristic that allows uniqueness to shine through: To look at things from a different angle, to perceive experiences through eyes that look for the unexpected, the unusual, or the anomalies; this gives the divergent a strength and tenacity that cannot be achieved by taking the path more travelled, or the way smoothed by myriads of feet trodding before them.

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July 3, 2016 · 7:23 AM

Musings A to Z Challenge: C

Challenge: Write a short entry (100 words or less) on a topic beginning with the sequential letter of the alphabet.

Creativity

While it is true that creativity stirs up creativity in a sowing-and-reaping cycle, the same can be said of most habits: If you exercise regularly, the good feeling afterwards becomes addictive; if you laze about and habitually accomplish very little, or stimulate your brain only minimally, the habit will become a rut that’s harder and harder to climb out of – and as they say, a rut is just an endless grave. For me, creativity takes on many forms: Crafts; writing; singing; writing music or songs or poems; cooking, and finding creative solutions for problems that come my way.

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July 2, 2016 · 5:56 AM

Musings A to Z Challenge: B

Challenge: Write a short entry (100 words or less) on a topic beginning with the sequential letter of the alphabet.

Breath

Breath is such a simple thing, in some ways; it’s easy to ignore what a gift it is until it’s the last one. For those with asthma or other illnesses that affect the lungs, it’s never taken for granted. Though it’s merely air that passes through our lungs and in and out of our noses or mouths, it can convey so many messages: Sensuality; warmth; coolth (yes, it’s a word); exasperation; satisfaction, and even attraction. It can be turned into a whistle, and has even inspired the concept for an upcycled air-conditioner in third-world countries. Ain’t breath cool?

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July 1, 2016 · 8:17 AM

Musings A to Z Challenge: A

For those of you who stop by for a visit and a chat regularly, you know that I post once a week (barring illness and holidays). If you read through my “about the author” page, you’ll also learn that I rarely sit around on my laurels… a rolling stone gathers no moss, and all that. I’ve recently finished the manuscript for my 5^th novel – by “finish” I mean I’ve completed the third draft, which has now gone out to Beta readers, but I still have all the bits and bobs associated with the publishing of a book to begin tackling (the cover graphics, back cover copy, blurbs, synopsis, etc.), until the feedback comes in and I begin the next round of polishing and honing.

With all that extra time on my hands (splutter in uncontrollable laughter here), I thought I’d try something a bit more challenging with my writing blog: One post a day for a month. The posts will be an A to Z challenge of 100 words or less on a topic beginning with the sequential letters of the alphabet; each post will include one or more quotes (not in the word count) on the topic at hand. On weekends I may break the pattern to continue on with the other topics of late, such as “Odd Jobs” or “Lost in Translation” posts. The entries will simply be my musings on the topic, thus the title of this post.

Let me know what you think, and if you’d like to take up the challenge on your own blog, just let me know in the comments so that I can come over and cheer you on!

So, without further ado, let the games begin!

Challenge: Write a short entry (100 words or less) on a topic beginning with the sequential letter of the alphabet.

Achievement

When a goal is achieved, I need a new one or my momentum will peter out; I usually choose a new goal before the current project is completed so that I know where to go next. When I’m working on a section of my novel’s manuscript, I jot down what I want to work on next (dialogue, scene, etc.), so that I know where to pick up the next day. For me, achievement isn’t about the big goals or the milestones in my life as much as daily goals – without those daily goals, the life-goals will never come to be.