Well, there it is. Another A to Z Challenge completed. And another month evaporated from under me. And, sadly, that's how I feel about it. I had fun, of course. I like blogging daily, and it's been great to make a few contacts. But I've been so harried (for reasons most of which have nothing to do with A to Z) that I haven't been able to visit many other bloggers, and the effort to keep the blog up (and visit even a few) has become a barrier to getting my other writing done (and/or an excuse for avoidance).
That's the negative. For the positive:
1. As always, the people and the new blogs I discovered! Maybe I didn't find as many as I'd hoped, but I found a few, and I'm going to enjoy their contributions (and yet. . . even that makes me sweat a bit. What about the time it takes to keep up with all my new people?! Eek!).
2. More ideas about my blog. I really enjoyed the photo specials, and it seems like my readers did, too (hey--hardly any words! Pretty pictures! What's not to like?). I plan to make photo days a frequent, though maybe irregular, part of my blog.
3. I need to get my house cleaned up and my life organized. I'm pretty sure this is unlikely to happen, but the outcome would be positive. There's little doubt that chaos is infecting everything, and that's not good for my writing, my family, or my spirit.
4. Which leads to thought #4: I need to think hard about what I'm doing with the blog and why. Don't get me wrong. I love blogging. But this is supposed to be in support of my writing, not something that sometimes displaces my writing! I guess my writing life needs to be de-cluttered just like my kitchen counter and the top of my dresser.
So there you have it. Blogging every day wasn't too hard, especially when a couple days were mostly pictures (though those posts took just as long to put together, they were a different kind of work and a pleasant change). But I didn't feel like I had the time to do this right, or maybe the will. I will have to think long and hard next year about whether A to Z is the right choice for me.
Meanwhile:
ICE CREAM!
Your 1-4 could have been written by me! We survived! I made strawberry ripple yoghurt ice at the weekend. That's my contribution to homemaking for the week. :)
ReplyDeleteHa! I stopped at the store on our way home from a hike and bought mint chip ice cream! But I scrambled our eggs myself :p
DeleteRebecca,
ReplyDeleteYour sentiments echo probably a lot of your cohorts here on the Challenge. The nice thing is that I will be touching base with several after this - once in a while. Now, we should get back to some serious writing.
Yes, I will keep browsing the list. Sometimes it's better to see the blogs after A to Z--I know a few I've thought were totally my thing turned out to be different after the challenge theme ended!
DeleteI consider myself fortunate in that I am retired and really have nothing to interfere with blogging. Yet, I have debated the idea of keeping my blog to one topic. I just can't choose just one!
ReplyDeleteNo real reason to keep the blog to one theme. And I don't work all that much. Except, I have that usual problem of the mom who doesn't have a full-time job--you're the one available for everything. So I work part time, and write as much as I can, and serve on the school board, and help run the PTO, and oh, yeah, try to at least feed the family, if not actually do any housework!
DeleteI've had the same struggle with my blog. Is it worth it? Why am I doing it? I've written almost 500 posts--that's a lot of writing time that could have gone towards another book. It's a difficult question to answer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the people--that was definitely the best part of the A to Z Challenge! But I don't think I'd do it again. It was an awful lot of work, and not all of it was fun.
As for your house, I've found cleaning or tidying for just 30 minutes a day, Monday-Friday, makes a HUGE difference without a big time commitment. It takes time to see a difference, but you do see big results if you keep it up.
Glad to have met you!
Holly, I figure that what I do on my blog is probably mostly good for me as a writer (reviews and short fiction, mostly), so normally I don't worry too much about the time. But A to Z. . . lots of blogging, and even more time reading other blogs.
DeleteI'm pretty sure you're right about the house. But it seems like 30 minutes never gets past the kitchen and the laundry!
Ahhh, de-cluttering is always good in all areas of life. As I said to Jemima, I'm so impressed that you ladies participate in the AtoZ challenge. Felicia always says it would be nice but the I reminder her we can barely keep up with the posts we have. All about choices and yes, blogging is a lot of work - even those picture ones. You would think they are easier but they are not. Congratulations on making it through AtoZ! We are hoping to not blog much this summer - probably won't happen but one can dream. :)
ReplyDeleteThe posts you do seem pretty labor-intensive to me! It's great that Felicia's getting to do some cool stuff these days, though.
DeleteI'll have some issues this summer, as we'll be out of the country for about 5 weeks.
5 weeks! That is WONDERFUL. Where are you headed?
ReplyDeletePeru. Back-to-back treks in the Cordillera Blanca, then a train ride to Machu Picchu. I'm not completely convinced it's real :)
DeleteFantastic! I can't wait to read your posts after that trip!!! :)
DeleteCongratulations on completing the challenge.
ReplyDeleteThis year was my second taking part in the challenge and like you I've found both years useful for giving me new ideas about what I want to do on my blog. Last year I discovered that I really enjoyed blogging every day and since then I've set out to do it as much as possible. This year I'm trying to spend more time visiting other blogs.
Blogging every day is kind of fun, but definitely for me was also an excuse not to do my real writing. Visiting other blogs is also fun, and just makes good sense, so I think I'll work on that and stick with blogging 3X/week!
DeleteThanks for coming by!
Hello there.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on completing the Challenge! Thanks for sharing. I'm just stopping by briefly before the next A-Z Challenge begins. Visiting from the 2014 A-Z Road Trip!
Entrepreneurial Goddess