Wednesday, May 11, 2011

What Comes After Z?

Like over a thousand others, about two weeks ago, I finished up the A to Z blogging challenge.  And it was a challenge.  I've learned many things from my first attempt at participating in such an event.

It's a lot of work to blog six days a week and I have an even greater admiration for those who blog every day than I did before.  I know many of them hold full time day jobs like me yet still they manage to create new posts day in and day out.  Wow.

It takes a lot of time to visit blogs and comment each day.  Before the challenge I visited between ten and twenty blogs every day.  During the challenge I stayed with that number during the week and tried to visit triple that number on weekends.  By the third week I was falling behind during the week and on weekends.  I never made my goal of visiting over half of the blogs involved in the challenge.  My loss.

I learned there are a lot of wonderful, informative and clever bloggers out there.  I met only a fraction of those participating in A to Z and found dozens of blogs I wish I could visit every day.  I read many of them and wondered how some of these interesting people weren't already famous published authors.  Talent by the bucketfuls.

Another lesson I learned is how I can be overwhelmed by what I feel are my responsibilities to my writing career.  I have a new book released during the last week of the challenge.  Suddenly I had too many things to do each night.  To top it off, thanks to PA's wettest April ever, water came into our basement.  My husband was working nights and I had to deal with most of the problems by myself.  And promote my book. Guess what got lost in the chaos?  Visiting blogs.  I felt guilty about it every day.  But I'm back in the grove now and I owe lots of visits. 

My book, Tiger's Mate, is now over a week into its published life and doing well I hope.  It's difficult to tell with those young ones.  This week I'll continue with some promotion, kick a little activity into my blog and get back on track with my WIP which is a third book in the Tiger's series.  A great thanks to all my new followers. Can't wait to get to know you all better. 

Did you participate in A to Z?  What did you learn?  Would you do it again?

9 comments:

Bossy Betty said...

No guilt, baby! I do the best I can to visit my blogging buddies but there are days when I just can't swing it. We all have busy lives and do the best we can. I did not participate in the challenge but admire all who did!

The Happy Whisk said...

Since getting a new puppy, I haven't been on the computer as much. But even before that, I was working on the manuscript and shutting the PC down for the day.

I agree with Betty, no guilt. Also, blogging for me, has to be fun, not another chore. Not interested in more work.

Linda Leszczuk said...

I didn't sign up for the A-Z because I was pretty sure I'd end up spending the entire month trying to keep up and get nothing else done, but I share your admiration for those who can post everyday.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Life happens, Susan! The Challenge was fun. I visit close to a hundred blogs a day, so adding more became difficult, but I got through half the list of participants.

Jules said...

Yes I participated in the challenge and like you, found it to be just that. But no worries, we do what we can, when we can and hope to connect with a few.

So hang in there be kind to yourself and smile! :)
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

Jemi Fraser said...

I didn't participate in the challenge. It's a great idea, but not right for me. I like to cheerlead from the sidelines. :)

Anonymous said...

I'll definately be a participant next year. I met a lot of terrific people and learned many new things I otherwise would not.

D. U. Okonkwo said...

Like you, I have great admiration fo rthose who blog every day. I choose three times a week so I can get to read other blogs instead of always hanging around my own.

I didn't take part in the A to Z challenge, but I read many blogs that did, and really enjoyed it. I orignially thought that it would make finding blog posts easier, but most bloggers seem to agree that it actually made it more difficult.
Well done for keeping on with it.

Golden Eagle said...

I'd definitely participate in the A-Z Blogging Challenge again. Writing 6 posts a day was pretty hard (especially toward the end) but I loved the challenge and met a lot of new people.