Wait – what?
*whispers*
WHAT?
*More whispers* *divers alarums and excursions* *sound of door being slammed*
Errm…well…So apparently someone forgot that we agreed to do the blogging challenge that is #AprilA2Z and –
*sound of door crashing open* *muttering*
Sssh! Sorry about that folks! Where was I? Oh yes, #AprilA2Z: the challenge is to write a blog post a day for the month of April, using the letters of the alphabet as one theme. Some people go even further and give themselves a single, unifying theme to write to, rather than just perambulating through the alphabet. Debs had a go at this in 2015 without a theme and another go in 2016 on book genres. This was also the year she inveigled David into giving it go, which lead to 26 posts on “How to write a thesis”. Having survived the experience (just) he came back again in 2017 with “The Materials Science in Fiction and Mythology“, whilst Debs had a third go with Jazz (and some fiction it inspired her to write).
All of which is the long way round of saying that whilst some people do very well out of the alphabet, Debs and David both like having an extra layer of theme to work with. As if that wasn’t enough, they’ve decided to collaborate on this year’s challenge and do something here, rather than on their other blogs.
Last year, there were some great stories that were written across the month, with a particular shout out to Iain Kelly, who imaginatively used a children’s alphabet mat (where each letter is linked to a picture) to inspire a Scandinavian Noir detective story.
We hope you’ll be entertained by the story that is going to unfold across April: we’ll say no more than that the theme is the Nato Phonetic Alphabet – make of that what you will…
*whispers*
Pardon?
*Whispers*
Oh yes – my esteemed colleague has reminded me that the normal schedule will be suspended for the duration.
Hi David and Debs – looking forward to seeing you both … the Nato phonetic alphabet – sounds interesting … I will wait and see – cheers Hilary
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Hi Hilary, there were a few things that we discussed (but which we might save for another time if this works well!), the phonetic alphabet gave us an interesting extra layer to work with. I think everyone finds that there are a few letters which end up being a bit tenuous, so it will be interesting to see how this affects things for is.
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I make letters work somehow … I’ve given up – if it’s easy to allocate a letter fine … but if not then they get ‘made up’ … like Z is for Zee Castles’ Summary … as I wrote on British castles … but I’ll be fascinated to see you there – cheers Hilary
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Hi Hilary, look forward to seeing you once April kicks off. Think I also spotted you over on Sarah Zama, which may mean we have the same tastes in the blogsphere. Are you also doing the challenge, or are you a valued supporter?
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Yes – should of said … I’m in – doing Canada as I’m here for a short time … facts, but with some fun attached … cheers H
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I’m intrigued, and because I’m not doing the challenge this year, I’ll have more time to read what you write… about whatever it is that you’ll be writing about here.
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I *think* you’ll like it. We’re not as far ahead as we wanted to be at this stage, but we are still enjoying the project and it has been an interesting extra challange to negotiate about how things develop… Looking forward to having you along for the ride! See you back here on the 1st April.
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Well, if not on April 1, at least soon thereafter. I shall return.
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Ally, we both look forward to seeing you next month(ish). As a regular reader, it’ll be interesting to see you picking up on who did what! This joint project malarkey has been fun if adding an extra layer to the challenge. If we get through this year, no idea what we could think of next year to top it, but I’m probably going to be ticked off for jinxing … 😉
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deb, I look forward to watching your challenge within a challenge approach to the A To Z Challenge. I’m sure you’ll do fine. In fact, you may start a trend. Had you thought of that?
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That is a very ambitious theme/plan, but an excellent incentive to write. Does your “how to write a thesis” work for “how to write/finish a dissertation?” My older daughter needs a push to get done with hers!
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Hi Margaret, Thanks for stopping by. One of the interesting facets of collaborating is that we need to negotiate more than we would writing on our own. I’d originally floated the idea of going with a very different phonetic alphabet, but we compromised on this one :0)
Regarding my previous go at this, yes, “How to write a thesis” should work well for writing a dissertation. I tried to make it as “agnostic” as possible when it came to discipline, and a dissertation is just a shorter thesis in some ways. There are likely to be more local rules around a disseration so your milage may vary etc… Hopefully we’ll see you around during April.
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Hi Margaret [waves] it has certainly proven to be an excellent incentive in previous years. Hope to see you again during April.
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Hilary, great news! Look forward to reading your blog. Do leave us a link next time you visit!
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