Well, another A-Z Challenge has come and gone. Isn't it amazing how fast April goes when you have an alphabet-crazed tiger chasing your ass for a whole month and only rests for 4 days?? Wow!
Reflecting back on the 2012 Challenge actually goes back to the end of the 2011 Challenge for me.
2011 was my first challenge. I had only been blogging for 14 months prior to that. My ramblings prior to the challenge (by the way, Alex, I owe it all to you for getting me interested in this) were followed by a few souls who took pity on a noobie and said enough kind things to make me feel good. I gathered 42 new followers during that Challenge that put me at 99 on the end of the 30th of April. I gained 22 new followers the first day as Alex featured my blog (since it started with A) and 186 page visits. I learned that when Alex mentions you at the beginning of the challenge people flock (hey, they're not worn out yet!) so he was instrumental in making my first challenge a success.
2012 Challenge was all up to me. Although Alex did give me a shout out midway through the challenge. Then my damn blog hit counter blew out and I am so pissed because I am sure I crossed the 10,000 hit mark and have nothing to show for it. Those bastards at website-hit-counter.com! So I have no idea where I am on page views.
Okay, back on track. So last year I was in a frenzy all month. I didn't know about scheduling posts, pre-posting or any of that. I would spend each day frantically thinking at work what to post for that day's letter...then I would rush home like a junkie needing a fix and cobble together the most coherent post I could. It was as random and spontaneous as it gets.
Soooo...I decided in all my blogging wisdom that I was going to have all my posts done ahead of time and then sit back and read comments and spend time visiting other bloggers. Ha! What a joke. I procrastinated until the LAST WEEK OF MARCH, then I whipped up the first 6 or 7 posts and felt so proud. I would suddenly start a new post as a subject popped into my mind for a given letter. Once the Challenge started I had 4 or 5 half-done posts scattered all over the alphabet and did bits and pieces on each one off and on. Always trying to stay at least 3 or 4 days ahead. The A-Z tsunami almost took me out at W and Y...but last minute inspiration saved the day(s). Damn, I'm worn out again just writing about it!
I had no chance to keep up a "five new blogs a day" reading habit. The very first day I went to the blog below mine, no post. The next one down...haven't posted in 2 months. A couple over from mine...variation on the same theme. That was wasted time. Then I started looking for blogs that sounded interesting, got some more of the above and posts I was not interested in. Time for a new plan. First day all I read were the blogs I had been following for a while, Challenge participant or not.
Day twos plan was brilliant in my own mind. I started paying back those who commented on my posts! I was assured they were currently in the Challenge and they at least took the time to leave some encouraging words. So that was my new plan: visit those sites that visited me and left a comment. Then I got even more brilliant (is this really possible??) and I started visiting sites I found on those sites of people who visited me! This worked for me. Was I going to get to visit all 1.2 million sites signed up for the A-Z? No. Was I going to be sane after the Challenge? Jury is still out. Was I going to be productive and establish some lasting bonds? I hoped so.
I learned when it came down to it, I could push myself to do something I had committed to versus having to
decide to post. As you can tell by the last week, I took a break in posting. But during the Challenge, I would let my dogs go hours without peeing to get a post finished. Crazy, right?
I learned that there are some fantastic (a word I overused in commenting lately but I always meant it) writers out there and some who aspire to be even better. The draft writing, and the detail that you put into your efforts is to be commended. But you are driven. Some of you post your word count or percentage of progress of your latest work. I even picked up a couple free books (and not so free) from Amazon from authors in the Challenge. And bought a Kindle Fire to load them on so when I go to Belize next month...I will be reading them.
I learned that the creativity of the blogosphere is boundless.
Clay Baboons??? Weird name, hilarious site. Stephanie's clay figures and the stories just made my day. I will be a continued follower.
Clarissa and her 26 days of death...wha-what?? After the first one I could not wait for the next day. Well, that intrigued me enough to read further works of hers. And I think you should continue the death thing as like a weekly installment (just not Sundays or no one will read my graphs post).
Sarah Allen, self described "uberdork". Her stuff was great in April.
Shannon, those wild wild west posts could not be put down, even though they were some of the longest reads in the Challenge, I had to finish each one.
Melissa, my attorney (just kidding) but she totally would be if I stole a gator in Kenner. She took me to task for my post on Jury Duty. And I have loved her site ever since! Now I have a place to learn the law...even if most of it only applies in Louisiana.
Jess, thanks again for the new music you pointed me to just by having a gadget on your sidebar I could click on and listen to. Your flash fiction was pretty impressive...you have knowledge beyond your years.
Sue H...what a spellbinding story you told 100 words at a time. Then I read the whole thing at the end and want to see a bigger version.
Hilary and her castles. I think I could spend a year in her world just visiting all those places. Majestic and royal, current or ruins, they were all impressive.
Chiz was too wacky and so imaginative that I swear he was posting while on LSD. Am I wrong?
Stephen the science man covered subjects that I enjoyed with rapt attention when I was in school.
Nancy and her love of Alice in Chains...seriously, I had envisioned that post getting like one comment...from Alex! You go Nancy, I love your writing posts a lot. They were informative and thought provoking.
And
Alex, I like Kate too...just so you know ;)
I could go on but even then I would leave someone out. Suffice it to say it was an education, a thrill ride, a fantasy, and a musical romp all rolled into one.
I don't know if this even does justice (as a reflection) to the A-Z experience. I feel part of a club or a community (like Eureka) or some other "bonding by a common cause" type thing. I know the vast majority of people I interact with, follow, or am followed by are established or budding writers. That is not what I do as a daily hobby, sport, or job. I enjoy putting things out there that are in my head, unstructured and random as they may be. I may one day write something beyond this blog that someone may find interesting. But it would be on my terms...I would never change Skylar's name...
Congratulations to all my fellow bloggers who finished this Challenge...on to #3! I think I'll start now...
