Boomerang: A Mirrored Beginning and Ending - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.2

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Challenge yourself to a little creative flash fiction or poetry. Throw out the traditional concept of beginning, middle and end and merge beginning with end. How? 

Begin and end a sentence, paragraph, short story or poem with the same word. 

Hence, the boomerang - send out a single word and bring it back to round out the story or poem.

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share it with the world. 

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response - a poem beginning and ending with moon.

Author Bio - #AtoZChallenge 3.1

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Every writer or author needs a bio. An author may have multiple bios ranging in levels of personalization and professionalism for book covers, author websites, blogger profiles and query letters. Spend some time crafting your Author Bio today.

Need some great tips on what to include and what to edit? Read this how-to guide by Rachelle Gardner.

Personally, I would recommend something light-hearted for a blog, but drop the hobbies and the humor for anything else.

Click "read more" to see my (third person) author bio from my freelance website.

#AtoZChallenge Kicks Off TODAY! AND Happy Birthday .@ArleeBird !!

It's April, and that means ... A to Z Challenge month in the blogosphere! Don't know what the A to Z Challenge is? It is an opportunity to network with fellow bloggers and populate your blog with amazing content during a marathon (26 posts) through the alphabet during the month of April. Check it out here. If you read this before 10 p.m. EST on April 1, 2013, you can even sign up to join me! If you miss 2013,keep tabs on the sign-up sheet for next year!

And ... even if you don't sign up, there is one way for you to participate on my blog. I am recruiting for a G guest post. Topic can be on anything writing prompt related - you don't even need to focus it on G. The post will go live on April 8, so if you are interested, get in touch with me ASAP at alanagwrites(at)gmail(dot)com.

This is the 4th (or was it 5th by now??) year of the challenge, and my 3rd year participating. (Hence 3.1) The first year I slid through the finish line blogging, exhausted but very excited about the connections I made. However, I probably only visited about 150 blogs on the list. The second year I was smarter about posts - I prescheduled several - but I was waylaid midway with my own posts thanks to a few ill-timed vacations. But, I made it through closer to 700 blogs for a visit! This year, I'm hoping to meet that magical place where I make it through the month and do a great job at supporting the other blogs, while still performing well at my "day jobs" of parenting and journalism. 

I am honored to be a part of Arlee Bird's A to Z Challenge Ambassadors, so about 150-200 of you (depending on the final number of sign-ups) can consider me your personal cheerleader, as I visit and comment and cheer you on at least a couple of times this month. The rest of you may receive sporadic visits from me during the month (more if you comment on my posts!!) but I will try to make it through the entire list for at least one hello before 2013 is behind us.

Arlee Bird is the founder of A to Z Challenge, and a blog marketing guru. He handles 4 blogs of his own, and still makes it a point to visit several blogs a day and assemble a massive team of co-hosts and ambassadors for A to Z. He is particularly wonderful when it comes to encouraging new bloggers, so if you're new to the world of blogging, I highly recommend you pay Lee a visit at Tossing It Out. Comment on his page and let him know you are new, and I can almost guarantee he will reciprocate with a thoughtful visit within a couple of days!

Rumor has it, today is Lee's birthday! 

So, before we get on with today's writercize, would you join me in singing Happy Birthday to Lee, loud and clear?

Ahem .....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ARLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Thank you for offering support and inspiration 

to so many bloggers around the world!!

Now, you can check out my A post on the Author Bio separately.

Blogging with the Bird - #AtoZChallenge Host @ArleeBird #CBWLA

As promised, today I want to give you a heads up for a very special opportunity to meet the man behind the A to Z Challenge, Mr. Arlee Bird! 

Lee has been blogging for several years, and he's racked up quite a following on social media. He has nearly 3,000 followers on Twitter, which he started using just last year. He also has nearly 1,500 followers on his Tossing it Out blog, along with another 200+ Networked Blog readers. He has brought people together from all around the globe, and cheered new bloggers on as they learn the basics of social networking, particularly in the blogging world.

Last year, I interviewed Lee for an article on Technorati and asked him how he was able to execute a month-long blogging challenge and garner enough interest that a couple thousand strangers would sign up. Click here to link to the interview.

I have very special news for bloggers in the Los Angeles metro area. Lee agreed to be the guest speaker at the Children's Book Writers of Los Angeles (CBW-LA) March meeting, just before the A to Z Challenge kicks off! On March 30 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m., he will speak to a group of writers and bloggers at the El Segundo Library about the merits of blogging and social networking as it pertains to the author's platform. 

CBW-LA is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring writers on the road to publication. It is the brainchild of another local mastermind, the fabulous Nutschell Windsor of The Writing Nut, and she dedicates countless hours and passion to sharing her knowledge of the publishing industry with writers, aspiring and published alike. 

The beauty of it all? Anyone in the L.A. area can RSVP and meet both Nutschell and Arlee at one time! There are space limitations, so advance payment and reservations are requested here. Hope to see you there!

Full event description from CBW-LA website:

The Author's Platform: Blogging with the Bird

Arlee Bird, creator and host of the A to Z Challenge, will speak to CBW-LA about the benefits of blogging and the blogging community. The A to Z Challenge is the brainchild of the influential blogger. When he began blogging four years ago, Lee was looking for a way to tie the community together, build sustaining relationships between writers and bloggers and populate his blog with useful posts. He decided to dedicate an entire month to challenge himself to blog through the alphabet, and invited others to join him. A to Z was born, and with the help of several co-hosts, Lee will kick off the fourth annual A to Z Challenge this April. Nearly 2,000 people signed up for the challenge last year, and for those who use it wisely, readership and fans soar.

Why is blogging important? Shouldn't an aspiring author focus on writing and revising their manuscript rather than focus on blogging and other social media?

The answer is yes and no. If an aspiring author spends all their time on a blog, Facebook and Twitter, a manuscript will not write itself.

However, in today's world where a writer is expected to engage in marketing and sales in addition to stellar writing, the author who finds the right balance between blogging, social media and writing will vastly improve their chances of getting an agent or a book deal. Ultimately, agents and publishers want something that will sell, and blogging enthusiasts and followers will buy a quality blogger's book.

The other upside is - the more you write, the better you become. It doesn't matter what you write about - the simple act of putting words on paper or on a computer screen will improve your ability to communicate and tell a compelling story.

Lee will talk about his blogging journey, and the networking opportunities afforded him through the A to Z Challenge. He will also talk about how to get started blogging, how to create a sense of online community, and how to use Facebook and Twitter to maximize the writer's platform.

There will be time for questions and answers, but any attendee may submit a question prior to the event by sending it to any CBW-LA board member or alana@cbw-la.org. Lee would be happy to incorporate advance questions in his talk.

Countdown to #AtoZChallenge

Less than two weeks until the blogging world's answer to a blogger's marathon - the annual A to Z Challenge, hosted by Arlee Bird and his grand team of assistants! There are several co-hosts, and each co-host as assembled a team of cheerleaders and helpers to manage a list of 1,143 blogs and counting. Last year, nearly 2,000 blogs stepped up to the plate, and I expect a flurry of sign-ups as April 1 approaches. I am very honored to be among Arlee's cheerleaders, so at least 100 A to Z Challenge participants will become very familiar with my comments as I check in and cheer you on!

The A to Z Challenge, for anyone unfamiliar with the challenge, is a month-long journey into blogging. The challenge involved 26 posts during the month, each beginning with - you guessed - the letters of the alphabet, in order, from A through Z. The possibilities for topics are limitless. There are no word count minimums or maximums - I've seen daily photos posted with no words, and I've seen intricate character studies and flash fiction entries approaching feature article length. I've seen blogs stick with a theme, and others blog on the fly, hopping around from one topic to another. The beauty of the challenge is - whatever works for you works for the challenge. It is all about community and networking, and it is an opportunity to really populate your blog.

This will be my third go at the challenge, and I look forward to a month knee deep in the blogosphere as I check on comments left on my own page, discover new blogs and revisit and reminisce with old blogging friends. 

My first round was when I was brand new to blogging, and it was just the boost I needed to gain confidence and readership. 

My second round, I had quite a bit of traveling and external deadlines during the month, so while I started off with a bang, I peetered out and lost steam when I dropped a bit behind. 

This time around, all the posts are pre-scheduled and SHORT, so that visitors can quickly visit, read the writercize, and try it out. It will not follow my standard format of intro, writercize and sample. In the interest of everyone's time, I will jump straight to the writercize, provide a sample for those interested in reading it, and hope to provide some inspiration and make some new connections along the way!

I would like to formally invite YOU to sign up for the challenge now, and leave a comment here to let me know that you'll join me! That way I can be sure to visit you and check in as we meander through the alphabet together.

Then, in true writercize style, I give you a task. Figure out your J, Q, U, X and Z post titles today - and give yourself a break by pre-scheduling at least five of your A to Z Challenge posts. (If you don't know how to schedule a post, read this helpful instructional. It works for blogger, though the screen print is an old version, the instructions are the same. Now the post settings are along the right hand side of the page rather than at the bottom.) Trust me, you'll thank me later!

Sneak Peak: Tomorrow I have a very special announcement for all of you about an opportunity to meet the Grand Host and Mastermind behind the entire challenge. Stay tuned! Especially all you bloggers in the Southland - an event is coming up very soon that you will not want to miss!

Guest Writercize: "Write By Song" by Paul Taylor

Please join me in welcoming Paul Taylor to writercize! I love this guest post, which brings music and writing together for a cohesive writing prompt.

We all get inspired by music. It is fun, lively, mellow, thoughtful or powerful. It can make us want to weep or laugh, run or sleep. Have you ever heard a song that inspired a story in your mind or made you picture a scene that you wish you could have written down? Well, here is your opportunity.

writercize: Create or find a playlist of at least three songs or log on to an online radio station like Spotify or Pandora. As you listen to the songs write a story or series of stories to go along with them. 

You can choose to include the song title or lyrics if you wish or you can just be inspired by the music. Every time the song changes create a new story or paragraph. Bonus points if you can make your story flow or get out full thoughts in the paragraphs you create. 

Author Bio:

Paul Taylor started www.babysittingjobs.com which offers an aggregated look at those sites to help families find sitters and to help sitters find families easier than ever. He loves writing, with the help of his wife. He has contributed quality articles for different blogs & websites.

Click "read more" to see Paul's sample response!!

Seussercize 1: Create a Creature - writercize #194

As promised, post one of a three part Seussercize series in honor of Theodore Geisel's birthday!

Frequent readers of Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, his preferred pseudonym, know that his imagination ran wider than the English language. He often created creatures out of nonsense words. Ever meet the Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz? How about the Fiffer-Feffer-Feff? Some of his characters have become so well-known in English that they require no illustration. Think of the Lorax or the Grinch, even the Sneetches. Prior to Seuss, none of these animals existed, but thanks to his creativity and vision, we accept them as a part of our modern-day lexicon.

Today, I invite you to create a creature of your own. You may introduce your creature in literary form with a poem or short story, or you may choose to name your character and illustrate it instead. Please leave me a comment or a link to your own page so that I can see your fabulous imagination at work!

writercize: Create a brand new creature out of a non-sensical word. Think about what you want your character to look like, what it likes and dislikes, how it behaves!

Click "read more" for a character named the Hiccurpeeze that's been living in your writercizer's brain since her early days as a babysitter. This is but a small snippet of who he is. Poor guy has been lying dormant for about 20 years, but one day, the writercizer hopes to get to know him better and give him a story worthy of sales and illustrations.