Wrapping Up the A-Z Challenge

The A-Z blogging challenge wrapped up over the weekend, and now it's time to reflect on how it went. When I first learned about the challenge, I had to stop and think about whether I could participate. Eventually, I signed up all five of my blogs. From the beginning, my intention was to spread the challenge over all of them, posting on anywhere from one to five for any given letter. I also made three rules for myself.

My Rules, Meant Just for Me

1. Post at Help Michigan Pets for every letter.

2. Write and post them on the day they're due. In other words, no writing ahead or doing a pre-scheduled post.

3. Make-up posts are not allowed. If I miss a letter, I won't be going back and filling it in.

So, how did I do?

I followed my rules. I even kicked off the challenge by posting at every blog. I did let myself brainstorm ahead of time, and I made a master list of potential topics. I also allowed myself to start researching animals a few days ahead of schedule.

I had a bit of serendipity twice on my entertainment blog. The first instance of perfect timing occurred along with the bad news about ABC's cancellation of two soap operas, which gave me an L for Loss. Later, on S night, the next day's topic fell into my lap when I saw a new commercial advertising a web series based in my area. The title of that series begins with a T.

The timing of this challenge was also serendipitous. I had been neglecting my blogs and wanted to start them up again. The neglect began (and lasted) mostly due to circumstances beyond my control, but as time went on, it became increasingly difficult to make myself get back to them. The challenge gave me the push I needed.

The Tally

Since I already said that I followed my rules, you know that my pets blog got a new post for every letter. As for my other blogs, some received more new posts than others.

Help Michigan Pets: 26 new posts
Ellie's Couch: 17 new posts
Diary of a Non-Person: 12 new posts
Ellie's Attic: 6 new posts
Ellie's Writing Desk: 4 new posts

New Connections

I've gained quite a few followers and started following even more blogs than ever. Not all of them were participating in the challenge; I found some of them on other participants' reading lists. Here are just a few of the interesting blogs I've been following, thanks to this challenge:

Content for Foodies
Jeffrey Beesler's World of the Scribe
La fotografía efectista abstracta
Langley Writes
My Literary Jam & Toast
¡Palabras interesantes, raras, hermosas y divertidas!
Pirate Knitting
Tossing It Out

Plans

As a result of the A-Z Challenge, I've determined to come up with a schedule and stick to it. I'm also thinking about the future of this blog. Originally, it was meant to promote some of my articles, and I have another one reserved for blogging about writing in general. Now I'm trying to come up with a better plan for each of them.

Wrapping It Up

I'm glad I had the opportunity to get back to my blogs, especially my pets blog. If it helped even one pet find a forever home, it was well worth my time.

I enjoyed participating in the A-Z Challenge, and I definitely accomplished what I set out to do. I would like to do this again in the future if time permits, but with fewer blogs and with the intention to post all 26 letters on each one.

I'd like to thank the hosts for coming up with this challenge. Special thanks go to Elizabeth Mueller for the cool badge she provided for us, as well as to Deirdra Eden-Coppel for the beautiful awards she gave my blogs.