Reflections on A-Z Writing Challenge for 2012

It's over... phew! April came so FAST, this year; don't you think?



  I do want to thank all of the Co-Hosts of this year's Challenge and hope those of you who are reading this will also take the time to pop over and give them some comment love, too!

• Arlee Bird of Tossing It Out http://tossingitout.blogspot.com
• Alex J. Cavanaugh  http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com
• Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs  http://breakthroughblogs.blogspot.com
• Jenny Pearson at Pearson Report  http://pearsonreport.blogspot.com
• Matthew McNish at The QQQE  http://theqqqe.blogspot.com
• Tina Downey at Life is Good  http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com
• Jeremy Hawkins at Retro-Zombie  http://izombielover.blogspot.com
• DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude  http://dlcruisingaltitude.blogspot.com
• Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse  http://thewarriormuse.blogspot.com
• 
  Elizabeth Mueller  http://elizabethmueller.blogspot.com
• Damyanti Biswas at Amlokiblogs  http://amloki.blogs;pot.com
• Karen Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain http://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com
• Konstanz Silverbow at No Thought 2 Small  http://nothought2small.blogspot.com

Because I didn't do what I originally planned to do, my trek through the alphabet was eclectic, to say the least. I tried to think ahead but usually found myself working on just two or three at a time. Next year, I plan to do better! (Yup. That's what I'm going to do. Sure.)  I did meet some bloggers who shared my interests, but many immediately following my ranking were too extreme for me. But, I am composing my Guest Blogger requests and features for upcoming posts, and that should fill up the next few months.

My highlights were actually getting the postings completed on time, except, for that one instance when I hit the wrong timing button and I had to manually publish it. (Bad me...)  There's so much going on in my life, right now, that daily posting was harder than last year but still well worth the attempt. I love how it forces the mind to focus and stretch, at the same time.

I didn't have a theme and I'm not sure I want one -- although, that may well change by next year. I hate to be confined to one topic and so will just have to think about this over the next few months. Coming up with ideas for each letter wasn't difficult until the xyz's.  But, that's the fun of the Challenge.

Some sites made commenting too hard with their word verification still on and WordPress sites made some commenting too involved. I would give them two tries and that was it. I love that Blogger has now allowed me to reply to each commentor but, for this Challenge, I saved the commentors to a separate folder to make sure I got everyone for my responses and visits.

NEXT year, I will plan my posts in advance and get them all lined up. Next year, I will plan my posts in advance and get them all lined up. Next year, I will plan... -- But, there will be a next year.

I don't know how you can change the way you're doing things to be more effective. If it's broken up, then it's a different Challenge, altogether; isn't it? I love visiting the other blogs but I'm not going to follow all of them, if their subject matter is something I wouldn't normally follow, and I would expect the same from them. As an example, as enjoyable as visiting gaming bloggers, I'm not going to follow them. There has to be something of a shared interest and, with all the new bloggers on board, there's still plenty for everyone.

Again, I want to thank everyone and hope to see you, next year!