I am taking today’s post to introduce a challenge I will be beginning tomorrow.  Yup.  You guessed it.  The April A-Z Challenge.  I found out about this challenge last year on, oh, about April 30th.  I was bummed!  I would have participated!  I would have challenged myself!  I would have been a part of a supportive community!  Awww man!  So, obviously, I have been looking forward to this for a year now.

(You would think I’d be more prepared.  You think if I didn’t at least have a post already written, that I’d at least have a brainstorm list of more then, ummm three things.)

Ok.  I’m going to take this out of parenthesis.  If I am posting every day this year anyway, why would the A-Z challenge be a challenge at all?  Technically, I don’t have to post on Sundays for the A-Z Challenge, but I will still be doing so.  The Sunday Shares will all be other April A-Zers.

A part of the challenge is, of course, finding a topic for each letter of the alphabet.  However, that is the lesser of the challenges for me.  This blog already has a structure: month summary, excerpts, sometimes sharing with Babu, Writing Wednesdays and Sunday Shares.  And it has been about covering ground.  Four years were covered in the past year that I have been doing this project and lord I am not rushing it.  I’m savoring it all I can, but, as I have shared with you before, the clock is ticking.  The time that I’ll be able to share this with her, rather than just writing about her, is limited.  I don’t know how limited, but from 1938 until now, I have a lot of years and memories to cover with that beautiful lady.  Therefore, changing the structure of my blog is the most concerning to me.

I don’t know how I’ll keep going at this clip with doing the A-Z.  That could be a good thing.  I’m fully prepared to slow down and tell some tales I’ve rushed over or left out.  I’m prepared to process a bit.  I may also find a myriad of ways to continue going forward (in chronological order) while doing the A-Z.  Something new always comes out of trying things a different way and it’s good to shatter a mold every now and then.

Aaaaannnnndddd as I was writing this post I was reminded by another blogger that Camp Nanowrimo is next month as well.  So I’m jumping on board for that one, too.  In case you don’t know what camp nanowrimo is, like like National Novel Writing Month, which happens in November, but you can set whatever goals that you wish to set.  So do you think I’m going to set a more reasonable goal than 50,000 words in a month?  No.

Aaaannnnddd I believe that April 22nd is the 24 hour short story contest for Spring.  I’ll be signing up for that one, too.  At least that one is over in a day and if you didn’t get it done you move on.

So April will be a big, busy month.  I’ll be stretching my blogging skills by doing things a new way and writing quite a bit of new fiction material.  That last part is the scariest.

So, there are three resources in this post for you.  Challenges and contests.  Thinking about joining one!  Or three!  Or something else!

April A-Z

Camp Nanowrimo

Writer’s Weekly 24 Hour Short Story Contest

If you know a great blog challenge, even if it goes on another part of the year, or writing competition, or classes, or exercises, share them in the comments!