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Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Keep it Going with the #AtoZChallenge !


Today, Misha Gericke from D's Company shares her experience with you about the A to Z Blogging challenge.
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When you signed up for the A to Z Challenge, I bet you thought it was a good idea.

But now, we’re starting to get to the point where the start-out adrenaline fades away and the month is starting to look long. Especially when you didn’t plan and schedule posts ahead. (I know the feeling. Until this year, I only ever planned the topics for my A to Z posts and wrote the posts on the day they were due.)

Except for last year, I won every time. For two blogs. But last year doesn’t count for me. (It’s my guest post, my rules.)

Here’s the thing, every year, I’d hit a point where I just got tired of the whole blogging thing. And I still won. How?

Simple.

I didn’t give up. Sometimes, I ended up having to write two posts on one day. Or to write on Sundays to make up for a skipped week-day. Whatever it took. Eventually I caught up, and it made the win all the sweeter.

So don’t give up when you lag behind. Keep going. It gets easier when the end is in sight.


What are you doing to keep going this year? Any tips?

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If you’d like to see what Misha’s up to at the moment, you can find her on these social networks:  Tumblr | Twitter | Google Plus | Writing Blog
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Email address is contactatozteam at gmail dot com
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38 comments:

MLQ said...

This is my first time with AtoZ and it's been a very rewarding experience. I know it's because I signed up early (#100 at the end of January), read every post from AtoZ about the Challenge and then started creating and scheduling my posts. I don't think I could've done it without scheduling ahead. Hand in There!

Seena said...

This is my first time too. And I only wrote stuff for until this week end. I have to start work on the next week's posts.. and yes the month is suddenly looking long. I really want to persevere and see myself through.

Cheers
Seena
#AtoZChallenge - K is for Kicks

Pat R said...

https://thoughtsandentanglements.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/kimono/

Hi, here is my entry for today.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Got to carve out a little time each day! We can do it!

Heather

Mildred R Holmes said...

Yeah, keeping up. I scheduled my posts this year. So basically, I only have to read other blogs. Much easier and I've read close to 200 of them. Leaves me plenty of time for my other project this month.

Girl Who Reads said...

When I started blogging daily, I had to really become disciplined in writing my blog posts ahead of time. I usually spend a few hours over the weekend putting together posts. It's much easier now with regular contributors as I'm not having to write all the posts myself. Girl Who Reads

Nananettie1969 said...

Hi, I am a first time A to Z challenger and I just read everyone's advice and my followers advice to schedule my posts ahead. So, I did schedule ahead however fell a little behind my scheduling for my personal goals. Meaning have U thru Z to schedule now. I have all the stuff picked out but need to post it. I have spent most of my time in April on blog hopping. This has caused so much April craziness that now I know what everyone was talking about. The theme reveal all the way to today sent me tons of followers and likes/comments. I return all my comments and make sure I follow all that follow me back. It has been great! I am using feedly as advised and it is awesome but I now find it hard to get back to the A to Z posts that really interested me. Not, knowing it was going to be this massive and I should have made a different folder in feedly to follow the ones that interested me the most more closely while continuing to return all comments from my posts which are more than ever...I am just A to Z crazy and love it. Just wish I had some more type of regular follows and following organization. Feedly has help but I could have utilized it better. I am now opening up a different folder for my blogs of interest or close family from my circle of blogosphere. Next year I will be ready! Happy blogging! A TO Z CHALLENGE ROCKS...KEEP ON KEEPING ON!

Best Wishes,
Annette

My A2Z @ Annette's Place | Follow Me On Twitter

cflathers said...

This is my first year with the A-Z challenge. Thankfully, I had just completed a SOL challenge for Two writing teachers that helped get me in the grove. For this challenge I decided on a topic and then planned out what I would write about each day. I am sure that has helped as I am not trying to spend the day figuring out what that day's post might be.

https://cflathers.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/kicked-to-the-curb/

Truly Happy said...

This is my first time with A to Z challenge. It has been a great experience so far. I signed up for the challenge only two days before the challenge started and hence did not have any time to schedule any posts. hence , taking each day as it comes and moving on..

Best Wishes
Pia
https://thewonderyears123.wordpress.com/


Floridamom said...

Good post. I plan to keep it up. I was excited a few times when I had two posts written and ready to go ahead of time, then I'd hit another block. It's up and down, up and down, but keep going.

For me, the challenge is get back to blogging. My hope is that when the challenge is over, I'll have made a habit of blogging regularly.

http://floridamom-nature.blogspot.com/

Juneta key said...

Not doing the A to Z to visiting here and there.
Happy Writing
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

cleemckenzie said...

I just change my visiting strategy whenever I'm bored or tired. And then when I think I'm just going to quit and get it over with, I find a great blog post and I'm hooked again.

Unknown said...

This is my second time and I am scheduled all the way up to U at this point so that's an improvement!!!

Meet My Imaginary Friends
#AtoZchallenge http://www.kathleenvalentineblog.com/

Anonymous said...

thanks for your advice :) I'm keeping it up <3
https://ladyleemanila.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/k-is-for-kyrielle-sonnet/

Unknown said...

I'm glad this isn't just me, I seem to consistently be blogging one day off the schedule. (just posted my J post.) I'll catch up this weekend! Thank you for a great post.

Debra Renée Byrd said...

I prescheduled my posts once again. This time, it's just a matter of getting to other people's blogs. April has not been an easy month for me so far.

Unknown said...

I didn't schedule my posts. I write daily, which is why I love writing challenges. Writing is fun when it's unplanned.
Archita from
A Journey Called Life - 11 Th Day on AtoZ

Beth in IL said...

I write a weeks worth at a time as life has been so busy. But I do a little planning so that I don't get overwhelmed.

The Joyous Living said...

My topic has been emotionally draining but so rewarding to think I might be bringing awareness to at least one person!

Joy @ The Joyous Living

Debbie D. said...

Thanks! I sorely needed this pep talk. Have yet to complete posts M-Z and am overwhelmed by the number of comments to respond to. That's a good problem to have, but still...

Keith's Ramblings said...

I went for an unusual theme and that alone has given me something exciting to look forward to every day. I am so enjoying A-Z again this year, so much so that I have already decided to enter two blogs in 2017. I don't want April to end!

'Soon my child': a short story with 4 neglected K words!

J Lenni Dorner said...

Yup, that's the way to do it. Just keep going!

Anonymous said...

I've noticed a decline in commenting this week and I am feeling worn out by all the posts. But I'll keep going!

~Ninja Minion Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

XmasDolly said...

I chose old movies as my theme, and it's something I really like to do is watch old movies. So I let the movies do the talking for me. I've been visiting everyone that visits me, but that really isn't that many. So I've been trying to do as many as I can on the list per day and keep my own work going on my blog too with the normal routine.

Unknown said...

K was a tricky letter! I wrote a list of what each post was going to be about based on the theme of procrastination, but when I went to write my K post, I realized I hadn't picked the right word. This was a difficult post to write, but I'm glad it's out there. :)

https://julihoffman.com/2016/04/13/k-is-for-kindness-atozchallenge/

TournesolDansUnJardin said...

Oh my, could not decide and am late, sorry. Here are mine from my two blogs: https://tracesofthesoul.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/k-blogging-from-a-to-z-challenge-free-verse/ and https://cheryllynnroberts.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/k-is-for-kite-haibun/

Malavikka said...

I wrote one Sunday. When I feel the next day will be busy, I draft it in advance and post on that day. The tip here is no matter how good or bad/ small or big your post is, don't mind. But make sure to write at least one sentence a day

Michelle Wallace said...

Due to the nature of my theme this year, I had no option but to make sure all my posts were ready to go at least two weeks before the challenge.
Writer In Transit

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Damyanti - the A-Z .. is to Keep on, Keep on .. it's so rewarding ... thankfully because I pulled out this year - my lot are ready for 2017! I needed to pull out ... sadly .. cheers Hilary

Aderyn Wood said...

I'm a newbie too. I'm enjoying it as my goal was to get a whole bunch of articles up about my books in a short period, so it's great for that. What I'm finding I don't have a lot of time left over for is checking out others blogs. Yeah, I'd like to be able to do that more.

shortybear said...

good post

Misha Gerrick said...

Signing up early could make a huge difference. :-)

Misha Gerrick said...

I hope you managed to get the rest scheduled!

Misha Gerrick said...

Yes, a few minutes every day can add up to a lot. :-)

Misha Gerrick said...

Same here. Scheduling posts makes a huge difference.

Misha Gerrick said...

Same here. It's definitely a discipline thing.

Anonymous said...

Great post!I'll be posting about my personal experience at the start of May!��

LA Nickers said...

Thanks for the encouraging post!
I'm doing the A to Z Challenge with SEVEN of my TEN blogs this year. Not gonna link 'em all here. But they are all on my Google+ page.

* Heart of a Ready Writer
* Kicking MS to the Curb
* Just Workin' It - Job Starts and Smarts
* Nickers and Ink Poetry and Humor
* Fad to the Bone - Dog Products Revue
* Practically at Home
* Working in Words

Happy A-Z all! Rounding the bend to the end! Keep it going.