The A-Z blog challenge was SUPER-INTENSIVE. A blog post EVERY day of the week,with a blessed break on Sunday. As is wont my personality, I took it up on a lark. After all what would life be without whims! It changed me a bit. It changed my daily schedule quite a bit. But what it changed most of all, is my outlook towards writing.
Before I 'reflect' on the challenge, a shout-out to lovely Corinne Rodrigues. She was the leader of our FB group created for the A-Z challenge. She is a good example of a great leader - mostly cajoling, definitely monitoring, sometimes scolding, but clearly loving. I enjoyed not just reading her blog, but also the way she managed the group. Almost every person in the group is in love with her and her sunny personality. May your tribe grow Corinne!
So here are a few things I learnt during this challenge:
1. Being Organized: I thought I led a fairly organized life, but this challenge woke me up to reality! No, I am not as organized as I used to be. 'Being organized' is a term I use in 2 ways - being organized in terms of time (some people were fantastic about posting at midnight - Afshan, Suzy, Priya Sreeram to name a few), other super-organized in terms of their content - Notably Cynthia, Bhavya NK, Laxmi. Either a story, or a mommy special, or travel special. I started with planning a travel series, but since I didn't plan, I got stuck at several instances and moved to a miscellaneous month instead.
2. Blog Revamp: My blog was started in 2006. I have written over 150 posts. But as far as the look & feel of the blog is concerned, except for occasional photo changes or layout changes, nothing has significantly changed about my blog. I intend remedying it. In fact, one of the key annual goals for myself is to revamp my blog. Learn (currently geeky sounding words like) feeds, traffic, burner, bloglovin and other such!
3. Size of the posts: Given that this challenge involves posting EVERY single day, I wish I had set out some guidelines about the size of the posts. I sometimes had long posts, sometimes short ones. Some posts were hastily written, with disregard for (gulp!) grammar, spelling mistakes or style. This needs to change.
4. Reading / Comments: Ideally I wanted to comment more. Visit at least 3 non-Indian blogs EVERY DAY. I managed on an average 1 every 4 days. But with sick parents, an infant AND a naughty young boy at home, I think I did good on this count. I did comment on most blogs on the FB closed group almost every day.
So will I do this next year?
Too soon to predict. The format has a certain 'suspense' element to it. A feeling of driving to a thrilling finish line that appealed to my adrenaline glands more than my rational brain! Next year, if I plan, I shall execute. Half the battle is the planner. Like I always say, never say never!
Special Mention
My top 5 reads (in no order of priority) are - Roshni (for being witty and self-deprecating about her parenting adventures), Corinne (for writing clearly & precisely, for having wonderful co-writers in Jose and Pablo, and finally for having a blog that is so easy to navigate, clearly a work of love), Monika (well, for being Monika! For clicking pictures that are SO FULL of life, just like her), Vinita (at Blogwatig, for being 1 part irreverent, one part serious, one part fun and one part witty, a great package!) and Kajal (for being a lovely writer, covering myriad topics).
Before I 'reflect' on the challenge, a shout-out to lovely Corinne Rodrigues. She was the leader of our FB group created for the A-Z challenge. She is a good example of a great leader - mostly cajoling, definitely monitoring, sometimes scolding, but clearly loving. I enjoyed not just reading her blog, but also the way she managed the group. Almost every person in the group is in love with her and her sunny personality. May your tribe grow Corinne!
So here are a few things I learnt during this challenge:
1. Being Organized: I thought I led a fairly organized life, but this challenge woke me up to reality! No, I am not as organized as I used to be. 'Being organized' is a term I use in 2 ways - being organized in terms of time (some people were fantastic about posting at midnight - Afshan, Suzy, Priya Sreeram to name a few), other super-organized in terms of their content - Notably Cynthia, Bhavya NK, Laxmi. Either a story, or a mommy special, or travel special. I started with planning a travel series, but since I didn't plan, I got stuck at several instances and moved to a miscellaneous month instead.
2. Blog Revamp: My blog was started in 2006. I have written over 150 posts. But as far as the look & feel of the blog is concerned, except for occasional photo changes or layout changes, nothing has significantly changed about my blog. I intend remedying it. In fact, one of the key annual goals for myself is to revamp my blog. Learn (currently geeky sounding words like) feeds, traffic, burner, bloglovin and other such!
3. Size of the posts: Given that this challenge involves posting EVERY single day, I wish I had set out some guidelines about the size of the posts. I sometimes had long posts, sometimes short ones. Some posts were hastily written, with disregard for (gulp!) grammar, spelling mistakes or style. This needs to change.
4. Reading / Comments: Ideally I wanted to comment more. Visit at least 3 non-Indian blogs EVERY DAY. I managed on an average 1 every 4 days. But with sick parents, an infant AND a naughty young boy at home, I think I did good on this count. I did comment on most blogs on the FB closed group almost every day.
So will I do this next year?
Too soon to predict. The format has a certain 'suspense' element to it. A feeling of driving to a thrilling finish line that appealed to my adrenaline glands more than my rational brain! Next year, if I plan, I shall execute. Half the battle is the planner. Like I always say, never say never!
Special Mention
My top 5 reads (in no order of priority) are - Roshni (for being witty and self-deprecating about her parenting adventures), Corinne (for writing clearly & precisely, for having wonderful co-writers in Jose and Pablo, and finally for having a blog that is so easy to navigate, clearly a work of love), Monika (well, for being Monika! For clicking pictures that are SO FULL of life, just like her), Vinita (at Blogwatig, for being 1 part irreverent, one part serious, one part fun and one part witty, a great package!) and Kajal (for being a lovely writer, covering myriad topics).
U were wonderful in this challenge :) wish to see U again in small/ big challenges this year and also next year
ReplyDeleteBtw I rarely posted midnight ;) I was always a morning person but Ya I used to write during midnight so in a way it is true !
Good day
It was nice to know U
Hey Meera, thanks for the mention in your post. This challenge has been amazing and I could not thank everybody who helped me sail through.
ReplyDeleteGlad we crossed paths...Thanks :)
Thank you Meera, for linking with my blog and also for all the kind words you showered :)
ReplyDeleteHere's wishing you the best life has to offer.
Keep blogging :)
Thank you so much for the mention and the compliments!! It was a great experience to be sure!!
ReplyDeleteAgree with some of the things that you say, in being organised, commenting on non indian posts, and ofcourse to keep to the size of the post, well said, thanks for sharing !
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your posts too and agree that the next time the length of the post will be a factor I will consider. Thanks so much for dropping by my posts and commenting.
ReplyDeleteGood to have met you through this challenge, Meera! Beautiful header and wonderful post! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat to have met you through this challenge, Meera! Fabulous header :-) and wonderful post!
ReplyDelete