Monday, 4 May 2015

A to Z Emotional Reflections 2015


So, the A to Z Blogging Challenge is over - congratulations to those who got through the entire month, it was fun, but exhausting, wasn't it :).

For those wondering what I'm blathering on about, the A to Z Challenge is a blogging challenge whereby anyone mad enough signs up to blog every day for the month of April (except Sundays), and each blog post is inspired by a letter of the alphabet.

This is my 3rd year doing the A to Z, and it is always great fun. It's hard work preparing the posts, and a lot of effort goes in to visiting other folks' blogs, making friends and joining in the main part of the challenge in April.

There are two things, I think, that helped me this year: preparation and a theme. I had three blogs in the challenge, this one, which is my personal blog, Fantasy Boys XXX, and Wittegen Press, both of which I run with my sister, Tasha, and each of them had their own theme. I and Tash actually started discussing the A to Z in February (yes, that is how much prep goes into the marathon that is April A to Z). We decided on our themes, and we started making lists of words and ideas that went with those themes. On the sites that we shared, we them divvied up the posts so we had half each to work on.

Once the themes and post titles were in place, then we started designing banners and formats for each theme which would draw each post together and give them a common identity, and created the skeleton posts. These skeleton posts gave us permalinks we could put into the Theme Reveal posts in March. I also designed the emoticons that I used in my posts, since I wanted them to be unique and fit with the colour scheme.

Only then did I start writing my posts and I spent the end of Feb and all of March dipping in and out of them, because I have a day job and only so much time to work on the posts. That meant, that when April came around, I only had to concentrate on visiting other blogs and answering comments on my own, which took me about two hours a day.

Lesson Learned: with three blogs each (four between us in total), I think Tash and I could have done a better job of making sure the daily load for each of us was more even. Some days, I'd have all three blogs to respond to as my posts all came up on the same day, and other days, only my personal blog, because Tash had the other two common blog posts. If we'd been more organised we could have made sure that we had opposite days on Wittegen Press and Fantasy Boys XXX.

Blogs I visited and enjoyed (in no particular order). I'm sure there are some people I've missed out, because even though I kept a list, I wasn't perfect, especially towards the end - just know that if I left you a message on one or more of your posts, I liked your blog, thank you for making my April unusual and entertaining :). There was such a wealth of different subjects this year. I learnt about Cornwall, I read lots of wonderful flash fiction, I learnt about beads and what an obsession they can be, and those are just a few of the subjects, along with disasters and photo-thoughts and music and many more.


Well done to everyone who took part. 
Thank you to all the teams of supporters and organisers. 
See you again next year!

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11 comments:

  1. Anonymous5 May 2015 at 02:10

    I applaud you and your sister for have 4 blogs between you. I did my blog and Story Dam with two others, so I guess you could say I did 1 1/3 blogs. LOL You had a great theme this year and I think it was smart the questions you asked at the end. It encouraged people to comment and respond.

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    1. Sophie Duncan8 May 2015 at 11:27

      Thanks. The questions are something I've started to try to do in all my posts now, for, as you say, encouraging engagement :) Of course, I forgot to ask one on this one! ;P

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    2. Sophie Duncan8 May 2015 at 11:28

      I also want to say I enjoyed your word-inspired fics, you managed a good variety of atmospheres.

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  2. Sara C. Snider7 May 2015 at 00:37

    I didn't know you designed the emoticons. That's really cool! I'm amazed by both yours and Tasha's organization. Participating with so many blogs is an amazing feat, so well done. Thank you for the shout out! Now go get some rest. ;)

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    1. Sophie Duncan8 May 2015 at 11:29

      Thank you. :D I'm not much of an artist, but I can manage emoticons ;P. Your fics were amazing this year, loved them!

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  3. Mary B12 May 2015 at 14:41

    Thank you again for the visits! I'm impressed that you had 3 blogs in the challenge. I don't know what I'd do if I had that many to keep up with! I'm tired just thinking about it. LOL. I'm terribly slow at making the rounds to the other blogs participating, (I'm visiting from the reflections linky) but making up for lost time. Looking forward to seeing you around and in the next challenge!

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    1. Sophie Duncan25 May 2015 at 12:01

      It was a great A to Z this year - I seem to find new blogs that interest me every year, and it's great to see the way other people do it. I hope I see you around as well :)

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  4. Hilary Melton-Butcher14 May 2015 at 18:26

    Hi Sophie - I'm glad I read many of your emotion posts ... and I hadn't realised you designed emoticons ... honestly sometimes I give up with my own lack of picking things up ...

    Thanks for the mention of Cornwall and for adding in my blog ... I struggled as I had signed up for another major project and just just coped! Once I've caught up with all the A-Z things I need to do .. I'll go and catch up with the outstanding project ...

    You and Tasha are so organised and efficient .. congratulations .. cheers Hilary

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    1. Sophie Duncan25 May 2015 at 12:02

      I really enjoyed your posts - I learnt quite a lot about one of my favourite counties :)

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  5. B~Natrelle21 May 2015 at 01:31

    Hello there.
    Congratulations on completing the challenge! Three blogs? Don't know how you managed...I just have one tiny blog and even though I prepared all my posts way in advance, I found it a struggle by week two. Visiting and commenting consumed/consumes a lot of time - especially when the signup list is at 1500+ blogs! Some days, I'd be at the computer for 5+ hours just visiting and commenting...hubby was none too pleased. I know a few emoticons, but some of them are lost on me...sometimes, I even have to Google them to find out what they are! (lol) Just meandering through today from the Road Trip.

    Entrepreneurial Goddess

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    1. Sophie Duncan25 May 2015 at 12:04

      Wow - 5 hours! I was spending 2 hours some days, but I drew a line at about 2.5hrs a day ;P Oh, I know what you mean, I know a few of the text based ones, but sometimes google is also my friend :D

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