Scheme #AtoZChallenge

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

Scheme
"A scheme is a structured plan, system, or arrangement for achieving a specific goal, often involving multiple steps or people."

A Design Scheme is about the look of your blog. The best way to know what a good design scheme for a blog is, is to look at lots of other blogs. Participating in this blog hop will expose you to a long list of active blogs, each with bloggers eager to connect. See something you especially like about a blog? Ask the blogger about it! Most bloggers will appreciate the compliment and be happy to share their knowledge. 

Sidebars are common on blogs. Found usually on the left or right side (very few blogs opt for both, as it makes posts feel small and boxy), sidebars often link fellow bloggers and followers, show badges of a blog's favorite, mention blog views, and may show related products. 

The amount of HTML or coding required to create a good design scheme depends on the host. Popular choices, such as Blogger and Wordpress, tend to have simple options for easy creation. Knowing how to resize an image is a useful skill, though several websites can do it for you. (The average width of a blog post is 600 pixels wide, whereas a sidebar is usually 200 pixels wide.)

Play around a bit with your scheme. Make your blog a reflection of your aspirations. 

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R is for Recognition #AtoZChallenge2026

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

We all like to be recognised for our work, for our achievements. Whether it is our writing skills, research skills, art skills, or day to day work, all bloggers like to see the reactions of others to what they post. We love comments, likes, shares, and other kinds of feedback. Some feel more meaningful than others; some fellow content creators' opinions are more important to us than others.

What sort of recognition do you treasure the most? Personal comments? Shares? Blogging awards?

What sort of recognition do you like to share to uplift your fellow bloggers? Comments? Posts dedicated to other bloggers? Follows on social media?

If we all support and uplift each other, blogging can be an amazing community. Take some time to recognise others' work, and share your own!

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

Q is for Quality

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

When I started blogging over a decade ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I simply wrote whatever came to mind and uploaded it to my blog. There was no quality control, merely quantity.

These days, I put a lot more thought and effort into my blog posts. My goal for my blog is to have evergreen content that people can read and enjoy years after the posts have been published. I have a specific control list to make sure that each post is of the quality I strive to serve on my blog.

Because I strive for quality, not quantity, it takes a lot more time to write a blog post. But these posts have parts that can be extracted and repurposed. For example, I use parts of my folklore posts for my podcast. This feeds into my goal to have my blog’s content as accessible as possible.

What are your goals with your blog? What is the level of quality you reach for with your posts?

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

P is for Purpose #AtoZChallenge

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P is for Purpose

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

I read a book a few years back, called Start with Why by Simon Sinek (and no, he's not sponsoring this blog post!). It really digs into the purpose of what we're doing as we lead others. I think it's really valuable for us, as bloggers to identify our purpose. Is it to inform others? Is it to entertain? Is to express ourselves and invite others on the journey? Is it something else entirely?

Understanding our purpose as a blogger can help guide our choices and help us on our path.

What is your blogging purpose?

~Jayden

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Objectives #AtoZchallenge

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

Blogging objectives, a few examples:

• Post quality content that readers will comment on, want to share, and will return for more
• Add value to the "conversation" by being unique and original
• Aim for the "blogging sweet spot" of 300 to 1500 words
• Include at least one image per post
• Connect with other bloggers
• Encourage comments by asking questions at the end of posts
• Have a blogging schedule (weekly, monthly, anything so people know when to expect posts)
• Showcase what makes YOU vital to your blog (why a robot can't replace you 🤖)
• Know your audience
• Blogging requires dedication, patience, and continuous effort!

What blogging objectives would you add to this list?

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Noteworthy Blog Posts

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48 -- How many have you HOPPED to?

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.


Noteworthy blog posts bring readers back time and again. Guests are more likely to "favorite" a site and share content on their social media. Readers seek posts that are initially engaging, so don't bury the good stuff. A post might educate, entertain, or grow a community. Having a blog post that is unique, that readers are unlikely to find similar information on dozens of other sites, is especially useful and memorable. Encourage conversation by asking questions, especially open-ended ones that appeal to emotions. Philosophical inquiries tend to keep a reader's attention longer. Be a trustworthy authority in your blogging area to keep people coming back for more.

What was the last blog post you saw that evoked happiness, sadness, surprise, anger, disgust, fear, or contempt in you? 

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

M for The Middle #atozchallenge

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

That's right, friends, today is the middle of the week, the middle of the month, and the middle of the A to Z Challenge. How's everyone holding up so far? Do you think you'll make it through to the end?

You might not think so, but I'll bet you're wrong. You're halfway through! It won't take that much work to get through to the end! Come on, it's just two more weeks! You can do it!

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

Leadership #AtoZChallenge 2026

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

What does it mean to take a leadership role in blogging? 

We keep hearing over and over again that blogging is outdated. That people are migrating to newer, quicker, more streamlined platforms that allow faster posting, more content, and less time spent on reading.

And yet, here we are. Doing a blogging challenge. Not only blogging, but blogging every day in April, and for years and years in-between.

So what makes someone a leader in blogging?

Here are a few of my thoughts:

- Integrity. Being true to your interests, your voice, and your preferences. No giving in to the "more, more, faster, faster!" pressure of social media. Taking the time to post throughtful things.

- Community. Supporting other bloggers, boosting their posts, commenting, connecting. Not only shouting into the void, but listening to others.

- Craft. Posting well written text, well selected pictures, original thoughts. Not giving into copyright infringement or plagiarism for the sake of faster production. Holding others to the same standard and boosting the ones who are posting quality content.

- Sharing. Not hiding everything behind paywalls, not trying to sell something in every single post. Participating in the gift economy by sharing advice, information, curiosities, resources freely online. Making the internet a more open space along with other bloggers.

It's your turn now! What would make someone a leader in the blogging sphere?

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

K is for Knowledge

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/mu5vjy48

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

Why do you blog?

Personally, I blog to share the knowledge I’ve gained through trial-and-error, researching my favourite topics, and whatever else I think others might be interested in. I keep to writing/publishing advice, folklore, and book reviews.

The knowledge I share is something others find of value (at least, according to my blog’s stats). One of my blogging hopes is that the knowledge I have, however obscure or niche, will find its audience.

Why do you blog? What knowledge do you share with others?

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

J is for Journey #AtoZChallenge

MASTER LIST

Our team theme this month is “Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals”.

J is for Journey

I would like to share some quotes about journeys:

• "Life is a journey, not a destination." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu
• "Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
• "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

Let's see if we can adapt these for blogging:

• Blogging is a journey, not a destination.
• The journey of a thousand blogs begins with a single step.
• Not all those who wander to all of the A to Z blogs are lost.
• The real voyage of discovering new blogs, consists not in seeking new blog posts, but in having new eyes.

Some are better than others, but you get the idea!

I have known all of these quotes, or at least some version of them, since I was very young. They serve as good reminders as we think about aspirations. Sometimes reaching the goal feels anticlimactic after all you have to go through to get there. So remember, whether your goal is blogging-related or life-related (some might even say those are equivalent!), each step is important. None more so than the first one. We are 10 posts in! It's not too late to catch up if you fell behind!

~Jayden

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Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge