A to Z 2017 [FLASH FICTION]: REFLECTIONS

Once again, Flash Fiction proved the most difficult of the four themes chosen in this year's A to Z Challenge on The Cryton Chronicles! And while that may be true, I still think I handled it much better than 2016. I only found myself needing to use my "Coming Soon" placeholder two or three times without delaying the post for more than a few hours as I completed the piece, unlike my long stifled "Z" post from last year.

Speaking of last year, Dreams in the Shade of Ink's A to Z 2017 ended up being a continuation of the storyline(s) developed then. This included using some of the same characters as well as introducing a handful of new ones. I tried to make each entry (both in 2016 and 2017) more-or-less standalone, so anyone could read any piece and hopefully walk away with a fulfilling experience. But if readers happened to continue throughout its entirety, they would be treated to a subtle interconnectedness among the posts. An even extra bonus had they followed along last year too!

One aspect missing from this year's entries is poetry. I'll admit that some of the reasoning behind the poetry from last year was convenience. I don't believe I'm a good poet, but thought what I wrote was decent, and it was a lot easier to produce within the daily deadline than a story, even if Flash Fiction. Especially with participating on all four blogs for the first time! Back to the point, I found that I was brimming with stories to tell revolving around these characters and world to the point where I didn't really have enough room to throw in poetry. I guess I view that as a good thing.

So even though I still found myself becoming stressed and panicked as each deadline approached, I am happy I decided to continue with trying to produce more fiction. Will I do it again next year? It's very possible... I find myself continually creating more and more content for this particular series, so perhaps readers will get a Volume 3!

Thanks to everyone who followed along, commented, liked/shared, and/or offered words of encouragement during the challenge! See you next year!

Did you participate in the A to Z Challenge 2017 event? If so, how was your experience? What aspects did you really like? Which do you think failed? Will you participate again? Did you follow along with all of this year's pieces? If so, did you have a favorite piece and/or character? Did you happen to read last year's entries? If so, do you feel that you understood where/how these newer pieces related to the storyline(s) or was it confusing?