Monday, May 5, 2014

A to Z 2014 Challenge Reflections


Is April really over already?  It was busy, and by the end I was exhausted, but in the end, I think it was worth it.

I successfully completed the A to Z Challenge on two blogs, and I was also one of Alex J. Cavanaugh's minions.  I'm glad I decided to be a minion, because not only did it gave me the motivation I needed to visit new blogs, but it also left me with that extra sense of accomplishment at the end.

I was impressed by the number of people who participated in the challenge this year, and I was also impressed by the number of people who finished.  It can be difficult to post each day, and I understand that life continues to happen outside the blogosphere.  Overall, I'd say that this was a successful A to Z.

My original goal was to finish writing all my A to Z posts before April began so I could spend the majority of my time visiting other blogs.  I completed all of my drabbles for this blog before April began, so that helped me tremendously.  (I didn't achieve this goal on my other blog, but I had a good enough head start that I still completed the challenge there as well.) My other A to Z goal was to visit and comment on as many blogs as I could.  Fortunately, we had a lot of participants this year.  Unfortunately, that also means I have only visited a fraction of them in the past month.  Still, I can endeavor to continue visiting new bloggers throughout the coming year.

I made plenty of new friends, and I gained several new followers along the way. Some of the blogs I discovered ended up being added to my list of blogs that I read every day.  It's good to have quality blog posts to read on a daily basis, and there was no shortage of quality this year.

All in all, I'd say taking part in the challenge has been worthwhile, and I imagine I'll take part again next year.

20 comments:

  1. I only had about half my posts written before the A to Z for my personal blog, although I did have them all planned out, since I wanted to be able to list them in the theme reveal in March. I had finished my drabbles for Fantasy Boys XXX, though :)

    Well done for being a minion, that was commitment :)

    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles - A to Z Ghosts
    Fantasy Boys XXX - A to Z Drabblerotic

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  2. Two blogs and a minion? You had an amazing AtoZ managing all that. Well done!
    I had half pre-drafted this year which helped a lot, and yes it's over already, not sure how that happened..

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  3. Congrats on finishing AND on being a minion.

    Stopping by after the #atozchallenge to check out your reflection post!
    @JLenniDorner

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  4. You really were busy with the challenge. Kudos to you! I enjoyed both your blogs and look forward to continue my visits.

    LittleCely's Blog

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  5. I also found the challenge exhausting and wonderful. I too enjoyed being one of Alex's minions.

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  6. And thank you for being such an awesome Minion!
    Smart to have all your posts written in advance. Glad you had a good time.

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  7. Way to go on running two blogs throughout the challenge! I definitely wished I had commented more this month. My new goal for the next challenge, for sure :)

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  8. My favourite thing about A-Z is stumbling across cool new blogs and I found a few this year!

    If I do the challenge again, I'm going to try to write the posts in advance - it's a great idea!

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  9. You have good stamina to write for 2 blogs, be a minion and blop hop. It wasn't easy, but your efforts paid off. Thank you for helping to make the challenge a success. Michelle @ http://www.writer-way.blogspot.com

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  10. Congrats on finishing the challenge! And many thanks for all the behind the scenes work I'm sure you did as a helper.
    ~Katie
    TheCyborgMom
    Visual Proof

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  11. Wow you completed on two blogs?!!! I am amazed.

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  12. Writing ahead of time does free up time for visiting blogs, doesn't it? Congratulations for making it--and wow, you were busy in April!

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  13. Hi LG .. I don't come by often - but congratulations on finishing and two blogs - one is plenty! It's great meeting new friends and see new ideas etc ... cheers Hilary

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  14. Hey, congrats you are a champion of A to Z and glad to be here to read your reflection..dunno whether I visited first time but I am happy I did.
    Keep it up:)
    Cheerz
    Vishal

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  15. With so many blogs to visit, it was hard to keep up with everybody. It's great that you've found some quality blogs to add to your list. We all need an open mind and interesting stuff to fill it.

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  16. I'm impressed that you completed the challenge on two blogs, well done you!

    I definitely think having your posts scheduled before it starts helps a lot.

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  17. Congrats on finishing the challenge! There were lots of fun themes this year.

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  18. Congrats on finishing the challenge on not just 1, but 2 blogs! I didn't get as many posts pre-written as I had hoped so I struggled finishing, but I made it. Of course, I'm far behind on visiting blogs, but I'm glad for the road trip this summer so I can find some new ones.

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  19. Your preparation before April is what I intend to do next year! I want to have fun during April, instead of working so hard preparing my own posts :P

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  20. Oops, just realised this was last year's. ;) I was looking at the wrong list.

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