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| © copyright 2016 Mark Kelly. |
Apologies to anyone who was reading through the story in installments, but due to copyright protection reasons I have deleted all my A-Z Challenge story sections. I have however, saved them all to my hard drive for further development.
I feel that I want to explore the characters further and see what develops between them. I need to flesh out the story in greater detail. As I said, when I wrote those sections they were unplanned and done 'on the spur of the moment' after getting in from work and sitting down in front of the pc. This usually meant no time for anything else, just eat, type, bath, bed and sleep, then up at 0530 am the following day for work - then repeat the whole process over again.
What didn't help was the last three days my internet decided it didn't want to co-operate and dropped for no discernible reason whatsoever other than 'it could'. The joys of switching over to a new internet supplier.
Oddly enough, when I began writing the story, I assumed it would be all about Abigail and Burt. The stranger on the bridge wasn't Connor to begin with until the moment he called out "Eve! EVE! You're in danger!", then the whole concept took on a new direction.
I wasn't sure who Connor was, what he looked like, his personality or his connection to Abigail/Eve? But as I said, this was totally unplanned and only fleshed out on the day/night of writing. And so it continued. A thoroughly enjoyable (and rewarding) process.
The way I perceived this challenge was to make it a challenge, which it was on several levels:
First of all was the story itself and having to dream it up on the spot.
Secondly was the size of each section - it couldn't be overly big due to time constraints (midnight was always the deadline), plus I didn't want readers to lose heart when faced with a wall of text.
Thirdly, the A-Z letters themselves. I had created a set just before April started, but felt they had to look different, so I played around with them again during the A-Z in Photoshop until satisfied I had something I could use for each posting.
Last of all was selecting music that fitted in with the theme/feel/vibe of the section of story. Sometimes this was almost impossible to do, otherwise I would have had music attached to each entry. So that chewed into my posting time as well. But by and large I think it worked reasonably well.
I will say this to new folks starting the A-Z Challenge this year for the first time: it gets easier. It does depend on your mindset and willpower. I didn't participate in 2013, and 2014 saw me crash out due to a brain funk and external forces at work. Shit happens. If this does to you, don't beat yourself up over it. Just mark it off as experience gained and look forward to the next A-Z to follow.
Finally, a big 'WELL DONE' to everyone who took part, even those of you who might not have completed it - at least you tried and, hopefully, learned something from it.
I look forward to reading you all next year :)
5 comments:
Hello again! I enjoyed discovering your blog during the 2016 A to Z Challenge. Therefore, I've nominated you for a Liebster Award. Here's the link to my post with all the info you'll need to accept and pass it on: http://www.lissajohnston.com/2016/05/the-liebster-award.html
Thank you so very much for the honour, but alas I shall politely decline the invitation, as I view these awards best given to new bloggers to help encourage them and spur them on to further develop and continue blogging - so many give up after a few months of effort and no reward.
I do hope you understand, but thank you once again :)
Apologies if the nomination somehow implies you are a beginner blogger. That was not my intent. This is my first year doing the challenge and I have never heard of this Liebster thing until a few days ago. Totally understand - it's sort of like a chain letter, isn't it? 😏 Just wanted to spread the word about your amazing design skills. If I had any artistic skills, I could totally see myself getting sucked into font design.
No, please do not apologise - I didn't mean I was above an award, but to pass them to new bloggers who deserve encouragement from their peers, and rightly so. Please don't think you did anything wrong, it was a lovely compliment very much appreciated, but I know when I started out I was so thrilled and excited to be mentioned by a fellow blogger, which is the whole sentiment behind my thinking. 😉
BTW do you do design for hire? I'm looking for an L logo to use as part of my brand. Was going to reach out to Fiver but I really like your font work here.
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