It is that time of the year again when the hectic April is over and May comes in. That means , the A2Z effort is done and it is time to look back and see how it was.

This year’s A2Z was indeed a rollercoaster ride for me. Huge ups and downs. The biggest highlight is that I actually pulled it off successfully without missing any day! That is such an achievement for me personally.

When I first thought of this, it was a few years ago. In its nascent idea state, it was just to write some stories based on mathematical words. But it never took off because I was never able to think of any creative ideas. I simply left it in the idea cupboard at the back to look at it later. Maybe. Later. Sometime. Never.

When February rolled in this year, my A2Z senses woke up, as they do every year, and I started thinking up to find a new theme for a series. I have always based my A2Zs on themes and not on random words. I thought up a few ones, but none of them excited me enough to write.

Then, remembered this old idea of mine. I dusted it out from its dark corner from the cupboard and found to my dismay that nothing substantial was coming into my mind. My daughter suggested that I try to write short stories but in a different genre for each letter.

That excited me for some reason. I thought, I would give this a go by restricting myself to preconditions of

  • short story – less that 1000 words
  • pre-selected genre
  • should demonstrate the math concept and not just explain it like a text book

I scoured the net to find different styles of fiction and made a list and then randomly assigned each of them to each letter of the alphabet. Now began my task of finding a story in my head to fit a mathematical concept that began with that letter.

More or less, I have stuck to my original list of assigned genres for all the letters, barring a couple. When I couldn’t think of any story for that letter, then I changed the genre and tried again. The fact that I tried my hand at different genres itself is a feather in my cap, because I have never attempted most of the genres that I got assigned.

Some letters were easy while others gave me sleepless nights. Even though all of them are equal to me, I do have a couple of favourite ones! 🙂

But, yay!

I pulled it off!

And here are the badges to show for the effort!

My successful 6th year in a row A2Z!!

I must thank a few people on the way to this victory.

  • My daughter for the banner she made specifically for this series.
  • My family for believing that I can complete this task, even when I was sure I wouldn’t be able to.
  • To my reader. You. For the constant encouragement that you gave me. Your appreciation and encouragement went a long way to motivate me.

I hope to be back with another next year!

See you soon!