A to Z Reflections Post!
For my Reflections post, I'm going to answer some questions that were put up on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge page.
How did your journey through the alphabet go? Did you meet new bloggers with similar interests? Are there any you would like to feature and share with others?
My journey through the alphabet went very well, actually better than I thought it would. I followed my schedule and posted every day, which has prompted me to start a permanent schedule for my blog, in order to keep my posts regular. I read a lot of interesting blogs throughout this challenge, and found new blogs to follow. I also gained a lot of followers myself. I will definitely be participating next year!
What were the highlights for you? (lowlights too...we want to hear it all)
The highlights of the challenge were writing my posts, and researching fairy tales, which was a lot of fun! I also loved reading other people's posts, some of which I looked forward to reading every day.
Lowlights for me were when I got a bit overwhelmed and panicked about not getting my posts written, or falling behind reading other people's posts, but I always got there in the end :)
Did you enjoy posting daily? What was your biggest hurdle? What was your easiest task?
I definitely enjoyed posting daily, and am impressed with myself that I actually managed to! I enjoyed having a schedule to work towards, although sometimes my posts were a little rushed!
Was time management an issue? (I know, silly question, when isn’t time management an issue - but, it is worth reflecting on)
Time management was definitely an issue, as a lot of my posts were very rushed because I ran out of time to write them, or was just panicking about getting them done! I was also rubbish with keeping up with other people's posts sometimes, and with visiting people from the linky list!
And what about your content - did you have a theme or did you wing it? Was it easy to come up with ideas for each letter, or were some harder?
I had a theme, which was Fairy Tales, so that was very fun to do! I think having a theme made it easier for me, as it meant that I had a set thing to refer to when choosing words and writing posts, and also helped to narrow down the words that I could use (because I had a lot of ideas!) However, having a theme also made it more difficult because for some letters I just could not think of anything to do with fairy tales for them! For example, X is for Kisses!
How about commenting - did you stumble upon lots of sites still using word verification? Did this prevent you from leaving a comment? What worked for your blog?
I stumbled across a couple of sites still using word verification, but I still left a comment although it was a little annoying.
What will you do different next year? (Yes, you are doing this next year, you know you are, even if your brain is telling you to run for the hills - it appreciates the exercise)
Next year I'm going to plan my posts a little better - this year I had a timetable of what word I would use on what day, but next year I'll also plan what I'm going to say for each word. This should help with my time management, so I can visit more blogs!
What pearls of wisdom do you want to share with the Co-Hosts of this event? (We would love to hear from you and know what you think would make this awesome event even better)
I like the suggestion going around about sorting the linky list into categories according to what type of blog you have, so that people could easily find the blogs that they would be interested in.
Ok, there's my Reflections post! I've enjoyed the challenge a lot, and especially all of the new followers I've gained and all of the awesome blogs I've found to follow. Thanks to everyone who commented on my posts!
How did your journey through the alphabet go? Did you meet new bloggers with similar interests? Are there any you would like to feature and share with others?
My journey through the alphabet went very well, actually better than I thought it would. I followed my schedule and posted every day, which has prompted me to start a permanent schedule for my blog, in order to keep my posts regular. I read a lot of interesting blogs throughout this challenge, and found new blogs to follow. I also gained a lot of followers myself. I will definitely be participating next year!
What were the highlights for you? (lowlights too...we want to hear it all)
The highlights of the challenge were writing my posts, and researching fairy tales, which was a lot of fun! I also loved reading other people's posts, some of which I looked forward to reading every day.
Lowlights for me were when I got a bit overwhelmed and panicked about not getting my posts written, or falling behind reading other people's posts, but I always got there in the end :)
Did you enjoy posting daily? What was your biggest hurdle? What was your easiest task?
I definitely enjoyed posting daily, and am impressed with myself that I actually managed to! I enjoyed having a schedule to work towards, although sometimes my posts were a little rushed!
Was time management an issue? (I know, silly question, when isn’t time management an issue - but, it is worth reflecting on)
Time management was definitely an issue, as a lot of my posts were very rushed because I ran out of time to write them, or was just panicking about getting them done! I was also rubbish with keeping up with other people's posts sometimes, and with visiting people from the linky list!
And what about your content - did you have a theme or did you wing it? Was it easy to come up with ideas for each letter, or were some harder?
I had a theme, which was Fairy Tales, so that was very fun to do! I think having a theme made it easier for me, as it meant that I had a set thing to refer to when choosing words and writing posts, and also helped to narrow down the words that I could use (because I had a lot of ideas!) However, having a theme also made it more difficult because for some letters I just could not think of anything to do with fairy tales for them! For example, X is for Kisses!
How about commenting - did you stumble upon lots of sites still using word verification? Did this prevent you from leaving a comment? What worked for your blog?
I stumbled across a couple of sites still using word verification, but I still left a comment although it was a little annoying.
What will you do different next year? (Yes, you are doing this next year, you know you are, even if your brain is telling you to run for the hills - it appreciates the exercise)
Next year I'm going to plan my posts a little better - this year I had a timetable of what word I would use on what day, but next year I'll also plan what I'm going to say for each word. This should help with my time management, so I can visit more blogs!
What pearls of wisdom do you want to share with the Co-Hosts of this event? (We would love to hear from you and know what you think would make this awesome event even better)
I like the suggestion going around about sorting the linky list into categories according to what type of blog you have, so that people could easily find the blogs that they would be interested in.
Ok, there's my Reflections post! I've enjoyed the challenge a lot, and especially all of the new followers I've gained and all of the awesome blogs I've found to follow. Thanks to everyone who commented on my posts!
I also found many word verification blogs that were kind of annoying, but still posted comments.
ReplyDeleteI think I will do it again, but I think I may try a theme for next time around.
I thought it was easier with a theme, but then I've never tried it without! :)
DeleteThis was great :) That idea about grouping the blogs on the list is really good!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah that's what I thought when I read it on someone else's blog, I made sure to remember it for my suggestion! It would be good if they did that for next year :)
DeleteWay to goooooo!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
DeleteYour posts never seemed rushed to me Laura. I thought that they were very well written.
ReplyDeleteThe theme definitely stood out, which was excellent, I mean who doesn't like fairy tales?
Thank you! That's what I thought when I picked fairy tales, and I knew I'd enjoy writing about them :)
DeleteI like the idea of grouping blogs into categories.
ReplyDeleteMe too, I really hope they do it next year!
DeleteI kind of like the idea of grouping blogs into categories and I kind of don't like it. I ran into so many interesting blogs with because of the randomness of the Challenge.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your theme. I don't think your posts felt rushed, but then again you're the one who wrote them and you would know.
I'm with you on the whole finding time to visit and comment thing. I'm a terrible commenter.
I'm thinking if they do it, I'll look into the categories I'm not particularly interested in in my spare time, and do my 5 a day in categories I am interested in :)
DeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who struggled visiting and commenting!
Hi Laura, have a little peek at my blog, I gave you the Kreativ Blogger Award!
ReplyDeletehttp://pouffia.blogspot.com/2012/05/kreativ-blogger-award.html
Happy blogging!
Ooh thank you! :)
DeleteOoh, I found your blog a little too late. I'll have to go back and read your fairy tale posts!
ReplyDeleteI agree about planning posts... I will try to do that better if I do the challenge again next year!
I say I'm going to plan them better now, but when the time comes I probably won't! :)
DeleteI thought your "X for Kisses" post quite clever!
ReplyDeleteSome Dark Romantic
Thank you, I was pretty proud of myself when I came up with it! :)
DeleteAww I really hope they group the blogs into categories next year - would make it so much easier!
ReplyDeleteI might do a theme next year - you've inspired me lol!
I did enjoy doing my theme, I'm going to have to come up with a whole new one for next year! I hope they sort it into categories, it definitely would make it easier! :)
DeleteYour theme was such a cool one. I love fairy tales, and pretty much anything related to them, so I was really glad to see someone (YOU!) covered them!! And I'm glad you participated in the challenge so I could find your blog :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I really enjoyed writing all my posts, I definitely picked the right theme :)
DeleteYou did an AMAZING job especially considering you had a very difficult theme to come up with thirty posts about! Give yourself a pat on the back :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! There were a couple of letters that I had to be quite imaginative about! :)
DeleteOoh! Love the suggestion about grouping blogs into categories.
ReplyDeleteI thought your A to Z posts were fun and informative!
Thanks! I tried to write about the lesser known side of fairy tales, to keep things new and interesting :)
DeleteHi, you have been regularly commenting and I am now catching up. Glad you enjoyed the challenge, I think my own ways made the challenge harder than it really was but I am still happy I completed it. Happy we both got more followers, and the idea of grouping next year is a good one. Specially considering there could be as many as 2000 to choose from next year
ReplyDeleteGood point, I hope they do group it up, it certainly would make it easier! Thanks for commenting, I'm glad you're happy about finishing the challenge :)
DeleteThanks! Thanks for stopping by and following, I'm off to go look at your blog right now! :)
ReplyDelete