Let us reflect upon the 2012 A-to-Z Challenge

First off...

Yesssssss I am! I made it this year. But it was quite different to last year's challenge. For one thing, I had many of my posts scheduled (the first half of April was basically taken care of before the month began). The reason for this was that I was travelling for the first half of April, dropping into Paris and being driven around the British Isles. I also chose a theme that was fairly easy to follow - an A to Z of books from my GoodReads TBR list. But scheduling is not my cup of tea, really. I am a pantser, after all.

Due to my constraints due to travels, this year didn't really have the same magic as last year's challenge. Last year, I had hardly anything planned, and each day was not only a surprise for me but for those visiting my blog as well. Last year's posts were unplanned and unpredictable. And that's how I tend to be with all my own creative pursuits as well. When witing songs, I will sit down and bash something out, hardly knowing what I'm playing. I've been known to write songs I actually can't play. I also don't plan much with my creative writing. Sure, it causes me problems in the long run (ridiculously overbloated rough drafts that need severe slash 'n burn attention), but it's how I like to work. It's how I feel aliiiiive.

Another downside of this year's challenge was that I...well, wasn't here for half of it. I attempted to participate from a distance, checking the odd blog while travelling...but as anyone who's participated in one of these challenges knows, you really have to be on the ball to keep up with it all (actually, I'm of the opinion that keeping entirely on the ball is impossible, more so each year as the number of participants grows exponentially). The A to Z challenge runs us off our feet, and oftentimes we're lucky to keep our heads above water for the month. It's not just about posting your own posts, it's about checking out 1400 other bloggers' posts as well. C.R.A.Z.Y.. Still, last year I did all right.

Don't get me wrong - I did get some new visitors this year. And I did manage to visit new people myself. But like I've said, it really wasn't the ideal way to be doing the challenge. And if I found myself in a similar position next year, I probably would bow out of the challenge. In closing, I did have great fun sharing some of my TBR list, and finding out what cool themes other bloggers had chosen.