Reflection Post - 2012 A-Z Challenge

Last year, the A-Z sounded like a fun and interesting challenge. I wanted to see whether I could post thirty days in a row, and I did. At the end I felt like I’d been pushing myself hard, but 2011 was a better A-Z challenge year for me in many ways.

I was smart enough to write a few days in advance and only covered a writing related subject, as well as a Jamaican food  item. This year, I got more inventive and did people, places and things Jamaican.  This seemed to work well, as the people who came by found the information interesting.

The only down side was that I was so busy with life,  writing projects and editing deadlines that I didn’t make a serious attempt to write up the posts before April 1. Big mistake, which meant that in addition to writing on the same day, I had to make visits and cram in everything else that forms part of a normal day.

I made a lot more connections last year than this year, but again, that might be because of time constraints and I did notice that I didn’t get return visits from a fair number of those I visited. Or maybe they did come by, but didn’t comment.  That said, I’ve met some really lovely people, who  I’m sure will remain blogging buddies.

I think it would be useful—if the organizers can swing it next year—to have some way of keeping the blogs with the same subject areas listed together so that it will be easy for bloggers to focus on the areas they interesting, such as music, writing, writers, books, etc. I'm not suggesting this as a way to limit visits, but it would make it easier to find the blogs that spark particular interest. (I'm harum-scarum, so I most of the time, I don't even use Google Reader). I certainly didn’t make it to all the blogs, but did make as many visits as I could.

Many thanks to the organizers of the challenge.  It’s a wonderful idea that has not only inspired people to write over a sustained period, but other people have come up with their own variation on the A-Z theme. 

I don’t know how the hosts managed to write their own posts, visit others and also deal with the hundred other issues that I’m sure cropped up during the month. They are blogging heroes, with Arlee Bird being the ringleader. 

May the connections we’ve made lead to long and lasting friendships!  And do visit the other bloggers who are posting their thoughts on this year's A-Z Challenge.