Just say "yes!"
DAY 24 - Y
This blog challenge has really been just that...a challenge! Some days I have no idea what I am going to write about and some days I know exactly. At least with this challenge, you have a starting point to get you going and that's the letter of the day.
Like I described in my first post on day letter 'A', this challenge runs the month of April and the entire alphabet. A new letter each day.
I have learned a lot from this challenge and I will also continue to say "yes" to new challenges because what I have learned, I like!
1. Discipline
To write every single day, even if it only needs to be a minimum of 100 words, it's really tough and I think I've pulled out a few hairs doing it. Yet, once I complete my writing for the day, I feel really good. Though they may be late, they still get done!
2. Write earlier in the day before everyone wakes up!
My flaw during this challange has been that I wait until the end of the day to write thinking that I will lead my day with the letter of the day...hmmm, not so much. It's 10pm when most of my posts go up and that means they don't get much attention and I am beat! So, here I am now, writing before 8am! Perfect!
3. My voice
I have struggled with starting a blog and finding my voice. I think everyone has various voices, whether you're writing professional, adverts, or casual blogs, like me, but I was always unsure of how I sound to other people when reading. I mean, while I type it sounds good in my head, but does my writing come off as a fun, laidback, grammatically and structurally correct? So far, I have heard good things and thank you! Some of my readers are very talented language professors, education gurus, or creative writers and I can get nervous writing know they're reading.
4. My style
Like I said above in #2, I have struggled with finding my voice, but that also means my writing style. I tend to write how I think, which can sometimes be to my disadvantage - I'll disappear on a tangent somewhere and take you with me, I throw mid-sentence thoughts out, freely use dashes and ask silly questions, but for the most part, I think you're following along just fine, right? Perhaps the occasional run-on, too!
I think, overall, coming from such a structured, academic background, this casual blog-writing has me in a strange dichotomy (nice word!) of how writing should be. Like I have learned in linguistics, prescriptive and descriptive language grammar can have its time and place.
Here is a good description of the two: (source)
Prescriptive grammar describes when people focus on talking about how a language should or ought to be used. One way to remember this association is to think of going to a doctor’s office. When a doctor gives you a prescription for medication, it often includes directions about how you should take your medication as well as what you should not do when taking your medication. In a similar way, a prescriptive grammar tells you how you should speak, and what type of language to avoid. This is commonly found in English classes as well as other language classes, where the aim is to teach people how to use language in a very particular (typically described as ‘proper’ or ‘correct’) way.
Descriptive grammar focuses on describing the language as it is used, not saying how it should be used. For example, think about a prescriptive rule like don’t split infinitives. A descriptive grammarian would see a sentence like “To boldly go where no man has gone before” and would try to describe how the mental grammar can cause that ordering of words, rather than saying that the surface form is faulty due to prescriptive rules (which would require the sentence “To go boldly where no man has gone before”). Linguistics takes this approach to language.
So, in a matter of 'just say 'yes'', I will take on new challenges, I will try new things this year, I will go out of my comfort zone and give whatever it is a good go.
Thank you A to Z Challange and to all of the readers and supporters! And, to my MIL, Donna for inspiring me to do this challenge and to step up my blogging game! (oooh! I started a sentence with 'and'!) Check her awesome blog out at Retirement Reflections. See you all on Monday for our very last letter!
What have you guys learned from this challenge? And would you do it again?
This shot of Jordyn was taken yesterday in Fan Tan Alley in Victoria and this is my all time favourite door!
She is also my inspo to just say YES!