Reflections: A to Z Challenge 2015

by Freya on May 1st, 2015

Yoohoo!!! It’s May 1st, and that means the A to Z challenge is complete. That’s 26 days of blogging by the alphabet. And I even managed to fill in the Sundays, so that’s 30 days of continuous blogging!

In 10 years of blogging, I don’t think I’ve ever done a complete month of non-stop blogging. This is an achievement to celebrate. 🙂

I’d done the A to Z Challenge last year but not as a part of the challenge. This time it was great fun and I’m looking forward to next year. Big thanks to Arlee Bird who started the AtoZ Challenge in 2010 and the entire team who makes the A to Z Challenge possible every year. Thanks and Big Hugs all you guys! 🙂

Achievements
I managed to write 26 posts and complete the challenge. On time too! 😀 I tend to put off writing a lot of times so this one is something to write about. The commitment to write for the month was a learning experience. I almost lived every moment in the blog, spending my day thinking about the topic, words, ideas, layout, and all that stuff even before I sat down to write.

Days when I couldn’t think, or didn’t write, I felt guilty, and the guilt drove me. Being accountable, even if it was to a challenge and not a person helped. It made me stick it out. It made me realise I could write no matter what, I just needed to sit down and type.

Challenges Yet
I did do 26 days of posts but I cheated a bit too. 😀 I missed a couple of days in between and landed up posting for two days on one day. I really need to learn how to manage a editorial calendar and schedule a head of time. It might help me find more time for reading other blogs too.

The challenge wasn’t just about writing, it was also about reading atleast 5 new blogs everyday. I managed to do this religiously for about a week and a half, then life threw a spanner like it does often and I slipped up. By week three I even stopped trying to read blogs.

This is a guilt thats eating me up. I need to correct this. I need to learn to manage time better and find time to read. In the two weeks I did read other blogs, I found some wonderful blogs that I’m following and looking forward to reading in future.

Last year the AtoZ guys had the A to Z Post Challenge Road Trip 2014 that you could sign-up to and use as way to chart through all the blogs that participated in the challenge. I’m hoping there’ll be one this year too for I’d like to do this and complete the bit I didn’t finish in the challenge.

And that brings a close to the A to Z Challenge 2015. Looking forward to April next year, hoping that by then I’ll be more organised and my blog will have got better direction. I need to learn so much more about blogging.

So, now what next… Sarah’s Arrow’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge. I’d opted out of it when Che announced our March end holiday. Now it’s time to complete it. I hope I learn all that Sarah promises to teach in time for the Ultimate Blog Challenge in July.