Friday, May 3, 2013

The 2013 A-Z Blogging Challenge Reflections Post

This was my second year participating in the glorious craziness that is the A-Z Challenge. I think I enjoyed it more this time around, possibly because I knew better what to expect.

I had a theme again, and I prepared a chunk of posts ahead of time, both of which freed me up to visit more blogs. That's one of my favorite parts of the Challenge - being reminded how many talented and creative and passionate people are out there in the world - writers, photographers, craft people, artists, travelers, teachers, soon-to-be retirees, librarians. 

The comments and Followers on my blog increased - thank you all! I visited a ton of blogs and left lots of comments and added a number of new blogger buddies to my blogroll and email list. 


Now, how do we keep the momentum going? Okay, not at that rate - do you know how much coffee I'd have to drink? - but where we keep regularly writing our own posts, and making a point to visit each other and comment so we know for sure our words are not floating out there unheard and unread? How do we do this and keep our own writing and our own lives going strong? 

I don't know about the rest of you, but about halfway through the Challenge, I was feeling a bit burned out - I was missing the oomph I had in the beginning. Any ideas on how to keep more of that initial enthusiasm? Is there something we could put into the Challenge itself - a halfway mark giveaway? - to give everyone a fresh bump around the letter M or so?

A huge thank you to Arlee and all the Co-hosts and Minions for all their hard work keeping us going and on track!

18 comments:

  1. Yes there is - it's called the A to Z Roadtrip and signups open next week!
    We can't keep going at that pace, but we can continue to visit new friends we made along the way and strengthen those friendships.

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  2. You did a FABULOUS job getting around! It is hard to keep up. I've just added you to my blog roll though, which is nice for a reminder to drop in fairly regularly. Glad to have gotten to know you!

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  3. I really enjoyed reading your A-Z posts my friend. I think next year I will give it a whirl!

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  4. Alex - how did I miss last year's Road Trip?! Sheesh! Well, I'll make a note of this one. :)

    Hart - thank you! I usually post about two to three times a week, so no pressure. :)

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  5. OE - thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed them. And I think you should definitely give it a try next year. :)

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  6. That third week it does get challenging for me too. I'm open to ideas on how to keep the mo going after the first 12 days.

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  7. I got overwhelmed and a bit burned out about 3/4 of the way through and dropped off of commenting (a regret for this year!). But I really, really enjoyed reading your posts and visiting here. You did a fantastic job! Thank you for visiting my blog and helping me make it through to the end! :)

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  8. Alex is right about the Roadtrip! I tried doing that last year but it didn't work out, but I'm looking forward to giving it another shot now.

    I really enjoyed your theme, Madeline!

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  9. I really liked your A-Z posts! I enjoyed reading them.

    www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

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  10. Susan - I'm glad it wasn't just me. :)

    Lexie - thank you! And you're welcome - it was my pleasure!

    Julie - thanks! I'm not exactly sure what the Road Trip details are but I'm interested!

    Gina - I'm so glad you enjoyed them!

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  11. I really enjoyed your posts. It did get a bit overwhelming at times. But we did it!!

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  12. Jai - I'm glad you enjoyed them! They were fun to write and a sort of writing-refresher course for myself. :)

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  13. Oh, A to Z Roadtrips, it might suck me back in! I also felt a bit of posting and commenting fatigue this year, but it's probably because I was busier in my work and personal life, and had to carve out specific time for blogging.

    Congrats on finishing!

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  14. Great post. You come across as positive although you flagged.

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  15. Stephsco - congrats to you, too! :)

    Francene - I try! :)

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  16. Way to go on a successful finish, Madeline! I'm still recovering from 2011, so muchos kudos for two years in a row.

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  17. There's no way I could've done A to Z by writing it last minute. It would've overwhelmed me. I'd much rather plan. I had about 75% of my posts written before April and it was enough work just editing and posting them. It takes away time from visiting other blogs. So next year, I'll have almost all of it pre-written and scheduled.

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  18. Milo - maybe give it a try again next year. :)

    Suzi - I don't know how people did it who just winged it. I'm going to try and come up with a theme earlier than I did for next time.

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