Monday, May 4, 2015

Reflections from A to Z as Spring Awaits

My faithful readers are used to me joining blogging chllenges  But never has a challenge asked me to reflect on my experience - until now.

Spring is awaiting me - tapping its foot impatiently - so I will keep this short.

I had heard of the A to Z Challenge three years ago - and, for the first two years, I had all kinds of excuses not to join in the fun.  Vacation.  Planting a garden. But this year, I did it.

I survived it and I learned from it.  I picked up several new followers, and I hope those who enjoyed my posts on the theme "America the Beautiful" enjoy my regular content, too.

These, as an experienced daily blogger, are my takeaways.

1.  This is a big challenge, and there is something for everyone.  If you don't find several new blogs you like, you haven't read too many.
2.  At the same time, I am going to miss some of the themes.  I'm not the only blogger who modified her normal blog posts, and I am going to miss some of the other themes.  A sometimes (well, many times) off-color sendup of Martha Stewart.   The Roaring TwentiesVintage cookbooksMemories of a Texas childhood.  Travel photos that have inspired me to, perhaps, get back on a plane one day. 

There were a couple of more blogs I enjoyed - I will need to hunt down their links.

I will miss their themes, but I am also eager to see what they do the rest of the year. I hope to be able to blog daily (which I have done since late April, 2011) for months to come, and I hope you will come back to my blog time and again.

3.  There are some excellent bloggers out there! 

There were disappointments in the challenge, yes.  The links I clicked on, only to find no recent posts. (I appreciated the one woman, whose blog I had started to enjoy, who told her readers that she had to drop out.)  The posts that were way too long. (There's a place for that, but a blogging challenge is not it,.)  Captchas.   I  have moderation on because, without it, I would be flooded in spam, but having a capcha is an extra step for commenting that will drive away traffic. Trust me on that. 

There were several days I could not devote much time for the Challenge due to a family situation. I will try to pre write more posts next year.  Some letters were truly hard (and I suspect we all know which ones those were.)  Some of my posts were poorly edited because I didn't have the time.

And one surprise - the post that got the most traffic?  One on earthquake bolts in Charleston, South Carolina.  Maybe I should blog more about Charleston.  I'll give it some serious thought.
And now, I have to get back to my enjoyment of Spring.  But first, I will leave you with some jokes you will love if you love puns.

To all my new readers - thank you!

10 comments:

  1. Themes do make it easier to find something to post about, but then what is the blog like the rest of the year? Glad you joined in this year.

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  2. Color me honored, Alana. Smiles. You know, I'll miss that twisted Stewart too. But she'll be back. *Insert horror music.* Thanks for befriending me during the Challenge. I'm very glad for it. It was fun reading your posts too. Like Martha, I'll be back.

    Have a great week.

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  3. I too found your blog very late, but hey! There's lots of time to catch up before next challenge!

    This was my first AtoZ Challenge too. I heard about it the first time last year, when it was just over and I raved over it. I immediately thought it was such a cool idea. You'd say having one year to plan, I'd be more organised, yes? Uhm... but I learned ;-)

    I'll see you around!

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  4. Nice to know that I am not the only person who thought some posts were way too long.

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  5. I love reading what people do with the A - Z Challenge. I am currently participating in one about emotions one a week every Friday.

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  6. Thanks, Alana, for the shout out...Memories of a Texas Childhood...who else could that be but a CollectInTexas Gal. Seriously, I enjoyed your comments so much, and I hope you saw my reply to your comment about the quote. It was You, sorry for the mixup. So glad you were on my Minion List...you are an inspiration with your commitment to a 'Daily Blog'. Thanks again, I'll be keeping up with you on my sidebar blog list.
    Sue at CollectInTexas Gal

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  7. Congrats on completing the A to Z Challenge! Looking forward to next year! See you on the Road Trip!

    Mary www.JingleJangleJungle.net

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  8. Thrilled you stepped up to the plate this year and hit a home run! Sounds like you had a great theme.
    You've been visited from S.E. Texas in the A to Z Challenge Road Trip!
    Life & Faith in Caneyhead.

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  9. Loving your theme :) I'm in the UK but I love American culture!
    Popping by on the A to Z Road Trip
    Debbie

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  10. Hello there.
    Congratulations on completing the challenge! Nice photo too. Yellow is such a lovely spring colour. I love colours, but I'm really a "pink" girl. Just meandering through today from the Road Trip.

    Entrepreneurial Goddess

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