Friday, November 12, 2010

My ABCs of Inspiration: THE CONTEST

My ABCs of Inspiration have inspired me to have a contest!

You see, I have the whole alphabet planned out already.  All except the letter Z.  I had a "Z", but I'm not entirely thrilled with it.  And I like a challenge.  So, I'm doing a call out for ideas.  This contest is open for ANYONE to enter.  You don't have to be a writer.  You don't have to be in the US.  You just have to challenge me!

How does it work, Megan?  You ask excitedly.

Like this, dear reader...

1.  Leave a comment with your suggestion of where I can find inspiration that starts with the letter "Z".
2.  Don't worry if someone else has already left your suggestion.  Copy cats are allowed.  Just pick what you really would like to hear about (or think may stump me).
3.  On Sunday, November 28th I'll put all the comments in a bowl and then throw them on the living room floor.  Whichever piece of paper my cat, Audi, steps on first is the winner.
4.  Tune in on November 30th for my last entry in my ABCs of Inspiration and see who won the prize pack.

Did you just say prize pack?

Yes, yes, I did.

Super Awesome Prize Pack Of Total Coolness: 

Softcover edition of "Alphabet City" by Stephen T. Johnson
  (to find more inspiration in the alphabet)
An Indianapolis Motor Speedway CD holder
  (to hold your inspirational music)
Two mini-journals
  (to record your awesome and not-so-awesome ideas)
A "Read" magnet made of Scrabble tiles
  (to inspire you to...well...stick things to your fridge)
A mini gift book called "Believe in Yourself"
  (to make you believe in yourself, of course!)

And while you don't have to be a follower, or tweet about the contest, or mention it in your blog, or put it on your Facebook page, or shout it from the rooftops, or tattoo it to your forehead to enter...I always appreciate all of these.  : )

18 comments:

  1. I would go with the Zoo - all sorts of funny animals and interesting animals, beautiful animals and silly animals, animals sitting, animals playing, ones who fight or groom, swim or hang, run or fly.

    What's not to be inspiring about wandering around the zoo for an hour or looking at pictures of animals to look for characters or character traits!!

    Often when I am looking for an idea I will google image search animals and look at different and unusual animals I can write about.. lots of fun (and you can learn all sorts of cool stuff!)

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  2. Z is for the Zingy, Zaney, Zippy words we could all come up with.

    Or it could be all the ideas we could ever NOT have: zero, zip, zilch.

    Or we could start with the Zodiac or even talk about Zues.

    Or we could just scratch all that, and just go to the Zoo!

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  3. Z!
    ZAP is the first word that comes to mind
    then
    ZZZZ as in sleep
    which we all will get more of one of these days!
    Thanks for the contest, Megan. I hope I win all those cool prizes. But I'll be okay if i don't.
    :)
    @danaFR

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  4. Hmmm... must consider carefully. I like your method of choosing the winner, though.

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  5. Z is for Zoloft, and other drugs that make us happier. I'll have to think some more, can I enter more than once?

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  6. Oh I like these suggestions so far! One entry only, Mary, but I welcome as many suggestions as you can throw at me. : )

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  7. Zebras of course! Also zither, zillions, zipper, zinnia, zinger, Zeus

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  8. I love this game!I'm going to make my list so long that the probability of Audi stepping on it will be higher. Muhahahahaha!
    Below are my words with "Z".

    Zest
    Zucchini
    Zero
    Zoo
    Zing
    Zip-Zap-Zoom
    Zenith
    Zimbabwe
    Ziggy(my beloved dog)
    Zachary
    Zachariah(for biblical books)
    Pizazzzzzzzz(worth a shot)
    zoology
    zombie
    zen

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  9. Oh, the ZOO, of course! Rich with variety and inspiration. We went to Dubbo Zoo and I (seriously) took almost 2000 photos over two days. A little bit excessive (:P) but I don't regret it. Wellll... Maybe just a little bit, because my camera failed the next day, and I guess I do have to wonder if maybe it was overworked... but I still love those photos! Often trawl through them for inspiration and creativity.

    Visit the Zoo!

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  10. My first thought was ZUCCHINI, then it went to ZITHER, ZING, ZIPPER, ZAMBONI, ZONK, ZILCH, ZOWIE and ZIT.

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  11. Great contest; how fun! My vote is for:
    zebra
    zilch
    zinger
    Zion
    zinnia
    zoom lens
    Zuni
    zwieback
    zygote
    zither
    zydeco
    And now the letter "z" doesn't even look, sound, or feel like a "z." You know, when you say a word over and over and over until it loses all meaning? Can't wait until Z-Day!

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  12. Give a writer a contest to do with words and aren't they greedy! Sucked every Z out of the blogosphere! Now what can I come up with?

    Ha ha!

    ZILCH!

    Cheers!

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  13. Hi Megan,
    I have a recommendation for you - it doesn't exactly start with a Z but it has Z in the title: The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner - it's a middle grade reader, but I contend that reading any kids book will give you inspiration - and Kate Messner is an outstanding author. Gianna Z has already been making a splash, winning awards, so take a look... who knows what inspiration it may give you. :)

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  14. I was so sure I did this before!
    Okay then I'll pick my inspiration novel for my MG story (kangaroobee): Zorgamazoo

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  15. Staggering back just in time...

    Zinger!

    The 'saying something clever' kind of zinger, that is, not the Hostess cake, because that could get you into trademark troubles. I have visions of you writing a book about children thinking up zingers to improve their intelligence (but not to put others down, of course). Darn, now I want to write it! :)

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  16. Wait, now I want to change my answer. The other day at school, someone asked, "Is 'zither' a real word?"

    So, in the hopes that you can make this musical instrument new again for the next generation, my suggestion is: Z is for Zither.

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