Reflecting on the A to Z Challenge

Well, I made it!!  This was my first year doing the A to Z Challenge, and I jumped in the deep end right away--not only did I sign up for the challenge itself, I volunteered to be an Ambassador for the fantastic Arlee Bird, whose idea it was to begin the Challenge in the first place.

I'm glad I took this opportunity.  It was a lot of work, but it was worth it!  I planned out all my topics in March, but I didn't pre-write or schedule any of my posts.  I like writing every day, but since I only have a certain amount of time every day in which I can do my blogging, that meant I didn't have time to visit as many other blogs as I would have liked.  I feel bad about that, and that's something I would definitely change for next year (you bet I'm doing this again!).  April was a busy month for me in other ways, but I'm proud of the fact that I did keep up with my posts, generally having them published the night before.

I am following quite a few new blogs as a result of the Challenge, and I'm delighted to welcome new followers myself!  This event has been a blessing in that area, allowing me to get to know other bloggers, some of whom have interests similar to mine, and others who I would have never found if not for the Challenge.

In terms of how the administrators organized everything, I have no complaints.  It's a massive job to host such a huge link-up, but I think they did well.  Those many of us who helped patrol the link-up list did our best to make sure everything was running smoothly.  I think perhaps it might be helpful if there were even MORE of us ambassadors/minions/whatever-we-were next year, especially if the Challenge grows in popularity (which I sure hope it will!).

I think perhaps it might be beneficial to have a few separate link-up lists, divided by type of blog (personal, writing, cooking, photography, etc).  That would make the list a lot less overwhelming to navigate, and it would help bloggers find more easily the blogs they're interested in, versus just blogging the whole huge list.

I will definitely be doing the Challenge again.  I appreciated the fact that it required me to be disciplined with my blogging.  I enjoyed the community, and getting to know other bloggers.  I definitely appreciated the major boost in visitors it gave me this last month!  I also enjoyed the mental challenge of having to come up with a post topic for each letter of the alphabet.

There are a few things I'll be doing differently next year.  I will start visiting blogs in the days and weeks leading up to the Challenge, as they are added to the link-up list.  I will plan my posts six weeks in advance and start writing them four weeks in advance.  Then I'll spend my time each day visiting blogs and leaving comments instead of writing.  I hope to be an Ambassador again next year, too (just for future reference, Lee!), and I hope to do a better job of it next year.

Did you do the Challenge?  What did you think?  Head over to the A to Z blog and share your post!