Reflections on Completing the A to Z Challenge, April 2013
This was the first year that I participated in the A to Z Challenge and like most things in life, it involved both pleasure and a little pain. As a retired person I thought I had left stress behind me, but the Challenge changed that. As a follower of rules, I felt pressure to write something for each of the assigned letters. I am pleased with myself for following through and with one exception, getting all the posts done. (I still haven't written anything for K...WTF? Nothing interesting starts with K.)
I'm already thinking about what I will do differently for next year. I will probably start a little earlier and pre-write some posts instead of dredging up drivel at the last possible moment. I will try and write a little less about my adorable granddaughters. I will try to remember that not everyone is enchanted by children...even when they are as cute as my granddaughters! At this point I fully intend to write down good alphabet ideas as I think of them throughout the year. We'll see how long that lasts.
The Challenge forced me out of my usual blog zone. I ventured into neighborhoods that I hadn't previously visited. I even signed up to follow a few of those blogs in foreign territory. My usual blogging buddies are a pretty tight group. We seem to follow a lot of the same blogs and have a lot in common. Out in the other neighborhoods, that isn't so true. I have to admit that I was surprised at some of the blogs. There are a lot of talented, creative writers, but there is also a lot of crap. I think I waded through a lot of drivel before finding a few gems. Not long ago I was looking at a book about blogging and one of the pieces of advice was "Nobody cares what you had for lunch." After reading a few less than notable posts I would add, nor do we care about your gerbils, your shopping with coupons, or the dream you had last night. And, I say this as a blogger who writes way too much about her grandchildren.
I picked up a few followers and actually broke into triple digits, but I notice that on the blogs that I visited there were very few comments. Was all the activity on the better known blogs?
I'll do it again and I hope that the new cyber relationships I've found will continue to grow.
Many thanks to the organizers of this activity for all their work in keeping us going. You are appreciated!
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