x365 Challenge

This x365 is a very cool idea and particularly attractive to me as one who likes to write short and cryptic.

I was lost in Schmutzie's blog, written by a woman I met at BlogHer '08 and found numerous posts of 50 (exactly 50) words each that looked like this with a person's name or an initial as the title, a tersely written but poetically beautiful snippet of memories, and a recurring reference to "I am a participant in x365".

What's this all about? I was curious, checked it out, and for whatever reason this challenge really appealed. Writing about 365 people who've been in my life at one time or another in separate micro-essays of 53 words sounds like a fascinating exercise. A challenge? Maybe. But, more like an invitation to remember, reflect, and write something unique about people who've crossed paths with me. Bottom line: I started a new blog site just for this purpose and even though it's not my birthday for another month, I'll do 53 word posts through August 26 and 54 word posts after that until all 365 are done. Think I can do it? I do.

x365 started when a guy named Dan turned 40 years old and created a blog with a commitment to post daily for an entire year. The twist was that he'd write about a different person each day and limit the post to exactly 40 words (his age). Others joined the challenge after he paved the way and the format, although open to wide interpretation in terms of content, seems to hold true to (1) the daily posting, (2) 365 individual people and (3) posts of a very specific word count (one's age). Dan's blog is quite inspirational. There are lots of other bloggers who've followed suit with their own versions of x365. Some incorporate the x365 challenge into their main blog sites (like Schmutzie) and others create a new website just for this purpose.

Will it be hard to identify 365 separate people whose names I know? I don't think so. If I can remember a name, I have my impressions and there in lies the seed for the post. I'm going to wait until I'm way into the process before I tackle the big players in my life. I'll need to get used to this style of posting and find my voice, as they say. What I love is the thought that each of these "shorts" are the legs of something bigger. These 50 something words might become tender renderings of a special relationship, comedic insanities, or outright rants about people who've been less than gentle in my life. String them together in a creative way and there's a book or a memoir. If nothing else, the exercise of selecting those special 365, choosing my words, and capturing the essence is the creative hook that has me quite tweaked right now. Whittling down to the bare bones, crux, and core makes me want to dance. Weeding out the detritus and excess baggage that comes with most writing sounds delicious. I'm an eternal pupil of mentor, Prof. Scott Elledge who taught freshman English decades ago at Cornell. He was a disciple of E. B. White and The Elements of Style (penned by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White). I know that Prof. Elledge will make my list of 365 and can only hope that if he were around to read them, he'd be pleased.

I've rambled enough; If you're interested, take a look at Remembering and follow along if you dare.