In just two short days, many of us will start the madness that is known as the A to Z Blogging Challenge. For those of you who don't know, the A to Z Blogging Challenge is a month long blogfest/blogtoruture/blogchallenge to post nearly everyday of the month through April visiting each letter of the alphabet. You do get Sundays off but for many of us that day is spent figuring out what the heck we're going to blog about in the coming week. The challenge was started by Arlee Bird of tossingitout.blogspot.com back in 2010 to celebrate reaching 200 followers. Today, Arlee has over 1200 loyal followers. (to read how it all started visit Arlee Here)
Last year was my first go at the challenge. I'm happy to say I made each day of the challenge and even started the dorky Sunday Sayings post on Sundays. It was great for many reasons. First, it was a good exercise in discipline for a blogger. I knew someone would be checking up on me. Not that they would scold me but it was kind of like knowing you're having company and cleaning up before they get there. Second, it was great to visit (and be visited by) all the other blogging participants. In some ways, blogging can be very lonely. In other ways, we all get it. We all understand for whatever our personal reason are for blogging we get the who, what, when and where of existing in the blogsphere. It's our little world and we all bring to it our own unique twists. Last year, I learned what worked and didn't work for me. I learned that even when you think you're prepared, you never truly are. I also learned that there are many, many talented bloggers out there. Some blog trying to achieve a goal and others blog because they just want to. There's movie reviews, book reviews, daily and weekly memes, and there's just some good old fashion blogging because they want to. I love them all.
I had high hopes for the past year as far as my little blog was concerned -especially after an awesome April. Life, unfortunately, had other plans. A year of illness and finishing a degree somewhat took over my life. This year, I head in to the challenge with just this thought: Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy! I'll enjoy coming up with whatever comes out creatively. I'll enjoy visiting the other blogs. I'll enjoy keeping the pace of daily writing. That's never a bad thing for an aspiring/novice writer wannabe. I'll also enjoy another year of what I hope to become an annual event for my little corner of the blogsphere.
For my fellow bloggers who are participating in this year's challenge, good luck, have fun, and happy blogging. For the rest of you, why not join in? It's fun! It's exciting! It's a challenge! Join in the fun at A to Z Blogging Challenge. Either way, follow along as we blog through April and hopefully keep our sanity.
Happy Blogging!
