X Y Z The end or the beginning?

X, Y, and Z are the last three letters of the alphabet. The last three posts of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I didn’t quite make it to those three letters before the timer ran out on the 2012 challenge, but I did make it further than last year.

On the 2011 challenge I made it to P for Patience. Something I exhibited a great deal during the month of April. I created a challenging theme for myself. The Saga of Ben Mason, his journey from a young fool about to lose everything he had in a card game, as a soldier in the civil war and as an outlaw seeking vengeance for his family’s deaths.

Ben’s story ended around the letter K with Killing Hammond… or so I thought. It felt like an end at the time but lately Ben has been yammerin in my ear. He keeps telling me that we need to go back and fill in the blanks we left between posts and there is more to his story to come. Don’t you love it when characters get bossy?

This April was both difficult and inspiring as I struggled to keep up with posting, having a flu bug twice and going back to school. Once Ben’s story ended (or so I thought) I managed to come close to catching up.

I made it all the way to W for Warned before the gong rang and found some wonderful new blogs to follow. So I am calling A to Z 2012 a success here on Gladiator’s Pen, and like the Ben Mason story, it doesn’t end here.

There are more challenges to come and more stories to tell. I look forward to each and every one.

If you would like to read Ben Mason's story start here with Aces and Eights and enjoy the ride. 

Photography and the Muse

Part of the Blogging from A to Z challenge 2012 for the letter P

“A photograph is worth a thousand words.” That quote is absolutely true. That’s why photos make such wonderful writing prompts. The same image can hold thousands of stories or more. You can use photos as inspiration to find a story or for those ‘blocked’ moments.

When your story starts to slow down or you end up stumped on a scene try this. Google images that have to do with the subject or scene you’re working on. Keep your search to the images only and don't be too specific or too general.

Photo by Elise VanCise. Ferris at Night. Taken at Georgefest.

 Now go through those and pick out at least three that you feel ‘fit’ your story. Here’s the fun part. Pick one photo and open it as big as you can get. Now sit back, relax and let your muse free.

Take in all the details and shapes of each of the photos you picked out. Before you know it, your muse has been jumpstarted and ready to write.

Photo by Elise VanCise. Hello Honey, taken in my front yard .

 Looking through the lens can have the same effect as Googling an image. Objects we see in our everyday lives take on a different look when you gaze at them through your camera. Take a photo of a street lamp. Who do you see leaning against it? A grizzled private eye with his trench collar pulled up or maybe.

Photo by Elise VanCise.  Rain Bell, taken again in my front yard :) 

Take a photo of a group of people waiting at the bus stop or sitting at the tables in an outdoor café. There are all sorts of characters in those shots waiting to come to life.

The key is to let your imagination run wild and your muse will be inspired. Have you used photos as prompts or inspiration before? I would love to hear.  

Photo by Elise VanCise. Swamp King, bravely taken at Silver Springs  :)