Monday 7 May 2012

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.

33 comments:

  1. I am super impressed you managed to comment at all while you were away! It is exceptionally hard to keep up with even when you're at the computer all day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had the same problem with the challenge this year. I went to almost 100 blogs the first day, then only visited those who stopped by mine. I just wasn't home enough to participate the way I wanted to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I probably visited 50 new blogs all up...shocking!

      Delete
  3. I'm so impressed with everyone who did this! Sorry it didn't hold the magic of last year for you, but I'm guessing all the traveling you did brought its own magic :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pantsing with stories is sure fun. I didn't really plan last year's NaNo at all, and it ended up in some surprising places. :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That hardly surprises me, given it was about Catrina :P

      Delete
  5. I joined in my first A-Z at the last minute. Every day was a surprise for me. I gained a lot of new followers, and found lots of new blogs. I am not sure I will do it again, as it took up a lot of my writing time. However, come April I might have changed my mind. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. You visited Britain!? Should let me know next time--we should hang out! :)

    Well done for completing the Challenge despite being out and about. Here's to next year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I passed through a lot of places where fellow bloggy writer folks lived, and didn't manage to meet up with any of them!! It was my fault for being disorganised. ;)

      Delete
  7. Doing it while traveling would be hard. I was on the road a couple days with speaking engagements and hate to say it, but I didn't visit anyone on those days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, for the most part I didn't do much visiting while travelling...mostly 'cause we didn't have internet access in many places. ;)

      Delete
  8. Thank you for sharing - I had a blast reading your posts! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I can see how pantsing the challenge would be fun.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You are amazing. I don't think I could do the challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  11. But still, how cool to do all that traveling! And you still got your posts in. I'm impressed.

    ~Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey - the traveling takes precedence! And you can go back and find new people too. :)

    Congrats on finishing the A-Z!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly - I'm glad the list will be up all year!

      Delete
  13. "I had hardly anything planned, and each day was not only a surprise for me but for those visiting my blog as well."

    That was close to what I did. On same days it was very exciting; but then there were also the days where it felt like a burden, and it was hard to find the energy to start yet another post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, last year I recall that towards the end I didn't have just one theme, but I would just find random words that started with that day's letter and talk about them. haha

      Delete
  14. I really wanted to visit more people than I did. I am hoping that the linky will stay up because I want to get around to as many as I can.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your theme was one of my favourites! Congrats on making it through :)

    Allison (Geek Banter)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Traveling and participating in the Challenge at the same time was quite a feat, though!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Well, I enjoyed your short posts. I picked up quite a few of your suggestions.

    ReplyDelete
  18. It's a tough one, that's for sure. Still, good for you for making it through despite the obstacles.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks everyone for your comments :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Congrats on seeing it through! I have to say that, as a reader, it was tough to keep up reading with only the people I follow who participated. (did that make sense?) In fact, I didn't, and so the last half of April I've felt guilty for not responding to everyone's blogs. So... I think you did great!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm busy enough in April with others A-Z Challenges and my poetry writing without participating myself. Can you imagine? 0-0 Well, I guess you can. XD

    ReplyDelete
  22. I didn't do it this year, but I did last year. All my posts were super short, and all were pre-planned. I didn't respond to people, just visited blogs, and it was fun. This year I was on boggy break for a week of it. I'mamazed at people who do it every year

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ah yes I hear you, that's why I decided to give A-Z a miss this year. It's great fun but full on and I knew I couldn't do it justice for a month, so I took a blog break instead, which was great.

    ReplyDelete
  24. At the rate I am going, catching up is going to be just as much of a challenge. Congrats on making it across the finish line :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Yes Trish, well it was hard to do it from afar. As you know you have to comment like mad to get a reasonable showing. It takes up far too much time and I think I'll not do it again - but I say that every year then crumble. I did enjoy my childhood blogger posts but didn't get around to enough new people. When I chose someone random they were writing nonsense or not participating. But I did find some nice new people for all that...

    Denise

    ReplyDelete
  26. You survived! AtoZ can be a real time-suck, but I managed to "meet" many cool bloggers last year when I participated. The numbers this year were kind of overwhelming, though.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Congratulation on surviving and finishing the challenge. I didn't visit all blogs during the challenge but, cross my heart, I'm visiting every single one with reflection post! I am so glad my journey brought me here.

    Evalina, This and that...

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!