Went into this with no plan, few expectations and boundless optimisim in my ability to waffle. Did have a list of sorts and occasionally looked at it - mainly so I could change my mind. I blog daily (or nearly so) anyway, so that wasn't an issue. Toyed with a theme, but decided against it. If I do this again, may pick one.
I lucked out almost immediately, meeting some dazzling bloggers very early on. That bouncing off each other became a regular thing and was fun, informative, and often moving as well. It continues, which is even better.
Looking through the blog lists became a kind of personal challenge. I felt honour bound to visit them all, rather than sit in my comfortable zone. Actually did do that, but it was slightly counter-productive. There were so many on the list. If something didn't immediately grab my fancy I moved on, and will have missed some good things as a result.
Some frustrations there. Following Wordpress blogs I liked was a hassle and a half. Forgive me, Wordpress users, but very few of you made it through. Finding the blog you'd just clicked was marked a "private" was another major put off. Curious to enter such into the A-Z where one of the objects is surely to increase traffic.
Even so, my blog reading list has more than doubled.
The surprise for me was writing the family stories and enjoying it. If nothing else, it confirmed that stories do matter. Which should not be a surprise at all, but feels rather indulgent when it's your own family you're writing about. More egocentric memoirs may well follow.
I'm not crazy about the wordpress ones either. And a lot of blogs I started reading at the start also stopped about halfway thru the alphabet. That was discouraging.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the challenge. Me too, blogging about my favourite children's novels, sheer indulgence.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big fan of wordpress blogs, though I do follow some because they standout. And the linky list was so vast, I struggled to visit blogs. Like yours, which I just found today. I'm going to have a look around and am glad to meet you. Looking forward to future posts from you. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you and welcome :)
DeleteCongrats on making it to the finish line. 'Twas a good race, but I'm glad it's done. Good point about the Wordpress blogs, as well as the private one. (Glad to know I'm not the only one who didn't mess with following a bunch of the Wordpress crew. Just too much of a hassle.) I'm popping in today on Suze's recommendation. ("Analog Breakfast") And I like what I see, so count me in as your newest follower.
ReplyDeleteSuze is a kindred soul. Happy to see you here and you are most welcome - thank you.
DeleteI wondered about the "private" blogs too! :/
ReplyDeleteThe wordpress blogs don't bother me, if I like them I simply add them manually to my reading list in blogger. Anyway you did a great job with the challenge and congrats on finishing. It was not easy.
I think we gain a lot from writing about our family. At least I do, and I like reading about other people's families and comparing my experience. Those stories are so important.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to do A-Z again, I'd go without a theme. About half way through I felt locked in and abandoned my theme.
Yeahhhh, I'm with you on the Wordpress blogs -- I go back to many of them, but it's too much hassle to formally follow. I think Blogger does a better job socially.
ReplyDeleteFinding a core group you click with is the best. :)
Stories always matter.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hear you on Wordpress blogs, I run a blog on it (though my AZ blog was blogger)and have only recently started gaining followers.
The easiest way to follow WP is to copy the blog url you want to follow, get to your own dashboard, scroll down to your reading list, and click Add. In the window that appears, paste the url you want to follow. Done :)
The Wordpress thing is not a huge deal in normal circumstances, I think, but in the context of a rapid trawl it became an irritant. I'm about to do a post with a list of loved blogs on it, and there are a couple of Wordpress ones in there which I really would not be without.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you on the technical difficulties posting on some blogs. Every so often I see blogs that are so interesting only to find out you have to sign up to post a comment. Overall, I think we all had fun sharing our posts, reading others' and getting to know new people.
ReplyDeleteVery true indeed. I'm having a good time going through the reflections posts picking up good things I missed on the first pass.
DeleteHi Amanda .. your stories were fun .. I was worried about the RPGs .. but completely unfounded in the end .. and your drama and damsons - did the trick!
ReplyDeleteI have a wordpress account - so just sign in .. but then I have to jump through hoops to comment here and blogger 'chucks' some of the comments through to people's spam ...
Perhaps by next year we can blog in peace! Frenetic only with numbers ...
Cheers and good luck with the rest of the show .. Hilary
I think if you "manually" add blogs to your blogger dashboard reading list, it will eventually limit you to some arbitrary number (300 or so)? This does not apply to blogs you follow via the Friend Connect widget, which may be disabled (in favour of Google Plus) at some point soon.
ReplyDeleteGoogle reader will let you add ad nauseum. I tend to put blogs I know I want to revisit on my site's blogrolls (at this point I have 4 or 5 of those).
Yes please to more memoir! I loved reading your stories.
Elizabeth Twist: Writer, Plague Enthusiast
Why thank you :)
DeleteI find the whole bloglist system ridiculously confusing, but I'm working on making myself a little less phobic about tampering.
I have found through the reflections posts there are so many awesome blogs I didn't get to during the challenge. We have a lot in common, actually, so I am sad I didn't find you earlier. Looking at your list beside me... rehearsals (I am an Actor and Director) Storytelling (I am a storytelling champ), Mother's Son, (I am a Mommy times 3) Tombs (I love cemeteries) I could go on and on but I won't. I am grateful I found you now and hope to make better acquaintances as we go along. I wrote a theme this year Women Writers in Literary History - and loved it so much I wrote my first POST A to Z Woman Writer profile today. :~)
ReplyDeleteAh, we do have a lot in common then :) I should warn you that Some Mother's Son refers to a play and Tombs to a game I'm running, but I am also the mother of a son and have a fondness for cemeteries.
DeleteWelcome!
How nice to meet you :) Welcome!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the good report. If you got through the entire list that's pretty amazing. I'm pretty sure I haven't.
ReplyDeleteSo please that you could be a part of the 2012 Challenge and thank you for leaving a Reflections post.
Lee
Tossing It Out