Exploring Events -Part 2

a previous entry to the Pocket Watch prompt in Creativity Carnival #2 (scones and a paper cup, or ‘afternoon tea’… would you believe, I was finishing that same pack of scones yesterday, ten days beyond use by date!)

Events I’ve tried so far, previously and ongoing:

I joined in the weekly Creativity Carnival and that’s a current favourite, in part for being motivated by host Shafali’s blog tagline which is ‘Draw to smile’ and in part for an open method of creative response including all possibilities … I’ve not tackled this week’s prompt yet (on my urgent priority to-do list) and a new prompt will be announced on Friday. I do hope to continue taking part in that each week and to hopefully revisit the previous prompts occasionally with ideas left behind and unfinished or unstarted.

Monthly Look Ahead. You can share personal life/social activities you’re looking forward to. I just don’t really have any of those at the current time. It seems a very good idea for a way of remembering to have a monthly plan outline (so mine related to online/blogging activity). The challenge says to share on the last day of the month what you are looking forward to for the next month (That can include blogging!)

A scheduled post would be one way of taking part if other commitments prevent taking part at the prescribed time, and similarly with some other challenges.

Some events are very time-limited and time-specific like MicroBookends* which opens with a prompt at 5am UK time on Thursdays and closes 24 hours later. This great flash-fiction event is different to others I’ve seen and these following points are crucial for correct entry. Your entry is made only in the comments section on the prompt page, there’s no pingback linking to your own blog. It has to be posted to the site within the 24hrs specified. The writing you enter must not be published anywhere else except on the challenge website comment section – that includes not publishing your entry on your own blog. (Basically, the host requires first publishing rights, as do most publishers).

The judge is the previous week’s winner and usually selects three honourable mentions and third, second and first place entries. There’s no prize as such but I’m led to believe there are arrangements for collections of entries being published periodically (on a small scale perhaps but none the less). microBookends has been highly recommended to me by a personal friend who entered a few times and it  is apparently an event of high repute among flash fictioneers. I haven’t entered yet but I’m told it’s reliable and well-run with a welcoming and supportive community. Once the event is over, the host has had use of their first publishing rights, I think, so you can then re-post your own writing to your blog if you wish. I haven’t checked that but it sounds about right.

#DrawingAugust is a Twitter event to share a drawing made each day this month and I’ve so far kept up with that by taking at least a few minutes to sketch or doodle to get back into the habit of drawing. I’m a very new Twitter user and it’s my first real ‘join a conversation’ /event. I’m not worrying about making nice drawings taking at least a few minutes a day or up to an hour on an unusual day (as in the pic above). My subject is mundane everyday things at home mostly. I’ll get around to sharing more of my drawings in my blog at some point.

There are two challenges I’d previously thought I might try and participate in, Stellar Lunar and Literary Lion and I’ve not done so yet. They are quite high up on my priority list, but my thinking cogs are a bit clogged just now.

Event participation is a great way of challenging your blogging self, practising skills, generating ideas, creating new content and best of all building new blogging connections and supportive networks to give and receive feedback. Hosts put in a lot of effort keeping up with the work involved and deserve admiration and respect for their commitment and dedication to providing inspiring environments.

I could argue I’m challenged enough already, but I won’t. For today’s Blogging101 activity fulfilment, next, I’m off to The Sandbox Writing Challenge and enjoy some play catching up with the fun over there from the warm-up excercise to date (only missed the first two weekly writing excercises and it’s a great idea) – it’s not an event in the listings page and I do hope I’m not gate-crashing a private party on a public blog. It appears to be written as an open invitation. This challenge is hosted by a co-learner in Blogging101 (I think!) and as a way of sharing writing-related creative learning activity. Maybe after doing these excercises my brain will function better for trying something else, or, just be happy getting a really good, long sleep.

Is there something you’d love to do, if only there were such an event? (Mine was ‘I wish I could get my skates on while I blog’… these types of posts taking me a whole day or more to complete…) What events do you take part in, recommend, or hope to join?

*MicroBookEnds is no longer running; some others may have since expired too. I’ll try and make a point of updating this post in the New Year [2017]!