A to Z Reflections and Express Yourself

The question for this week's Express Yourself meme ties in with the A to Z, so I thought it would be a good idea to include it in my Reflections post.


Express Yourself is a meme hosted each week by Jackie and Dani. This week's question is:

What was the best part of the AtoZ Challenge? If you didn't participate, then what was the best part of April?

The best part of the challenge for me was visiting everyone else's blogs; there were some really interesting themes during the challenge, and a great number of blogs that I looked forward to visiting each day. I learnt a lot during the challenge from other blogs, so that's great. 


And now for my reflections:

I really enjoyed the challenge this year, and I found it much easier than last year simply because I scheduled my posts beforehand. It was much less stressful without the mad dash to write a post on the day I needed it. 

Other people have mentioned that they seemed to have less traffic to their blog than in last year's challenge, and I experienced this too; I got a lot of traffic during the first week, but after that visits slowed to a crawl. This is partially my fault, as I didn't get to visit as many people as I had hoped, and I was (and still am) very behind on replying to all of the comments I received. 

As I've said above, the only part of the challenge I struggled with was visiting other blogs. I managed to visit the blogs that I follow every day, even if I didn't always leave a comment, but I didn't visit as many new blogs as I had wanted to. I blame this mostly on the assignments I had due in on the 24th April; I was entirely focused on these for most of the month, so blogging was pushed aside a little. 

However, I'm really glad I took part in the challenge, and I can't wait for next year. I already have a theme lined up! I'm happy with the theme I chose this year; I learnt a lot about Greek Mythology that I didn't know before, and I had a lot of lovely comments from people who enjoyed my posts. I probably should have focused a couple of posts on happier Greek Myths, but I have a thing about tragedy!

Thanks to all of the co-hosts of the A to Z challenge, and their minions; once again I've enjoyed myself immensely. Thank you very much to everyone who visited my blog during the challenge, and thanks to those who left comments; I appreciate every single comment I receive. 

Comments

  1. Dani7 May 2013 at 15:04

    That's cool how you tied them together like this!
    I thought it was much easier this year as well. I also prescheduled my posts.
    Loved your theme!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tonja Drecker7 May 2013 at 15:16

    Yep, I noticed the slow down after the first week too. But I'll admit, I found it harder and harder to get to visiting other blogs. For me, I had problems with Spring finally kicking in, which suddenly meant more yard work. But congrats on finishing!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rob Z Tobor7 May 2013 at 17:56

    I didn't get a lot of visits this year on the A to Z, you were one of the regular ones so many thanks. I thought you did a really good job of the A to Z so well done. . . . . . . If I do it next year I plan to do exactly the same theme as this year.

    Hope all is well and you are getting loads of sun

    ReplyDelete
  4. Outcast7 May 2013 at 18:55

    Great post on the challenge, honestly I loved your contribution so much Laura, all your posts were amazing. I love that the challenge requires having to post at least 26 times in one month, it means that I get to see my favourites post far more often!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Deanie Humphrys-Dunne8 May 2013 at 21:28

    So glad that I met you Laura. Maybe if you hadn't joined the A-Z Challenge, that wouldn't have happened. I'm sure you're dissertation is progressing well. Best wishes,

    ReplyDelete
  6. SK Anthony9 May 2013 at 15:54

    I surely enjoyed learning more about Greek Mythology so thanks for taking the time on writing those posts. I wasn't part of the challenge and didn't comment everyday but I did read the posts, hopefully I get a chance to join in on the fun (and stress) next year ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous9 May 2013 at 17:50

    Wish I'd had a chance to stop by. I love Greek Mythology.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Billy Blue Eyes9 May 2013 at 23:27

    Well it was my first Blogging from A to Z and I enjoyed it and could cope with another one but I was one of the few photographers. Best bit was finding new blogs and better still if they followed one of mine.
    http://spudsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
  9. Shannon Lawrence10 May 2013 at 07:22

    Well, believe it or not, I'm just catching up on the comments on my blog now. It was a rough month, but worth it! I'm glad you had fun with the challenge. I love a good tragedy, too, and Greek mythology was a great theme.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jeff Hargett11 May 2013 at 21:16

    Your theme this year was great and you executed it well. I look forward to seeing what you're planning for next year.

    ReplyDelete

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