Monday, May 5, 2014

Reflecting On The A to Z Challenge

And you thought you heard the last of me and the A to Z Challenge.

BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!

According to those who read the rules better than I did, I am expected to write a reflections post about my 2014 A to Z experience. I am nothing if not a rule follower, so reflect with me:

A core group of Facebook friends (many from high school) were faithful readers.
Behind the 8 ball. Because I couldn't keep up with the reading and commenting.
Challenging would certainly describe this, but in a good way. Mostly.
Determined that I will catch up on all that reading and commenting.
Exciting when a post fell into place, especially when I didn't know where it was going.
Family did without meals pretty much all month, but at least I had an excuse this time for not feeding them.
Grateful for the chance to stretch myself with my writing. 
Hoping my friends aren't as relieved it's over as I am! 
Investigating and fact finding was enjoyable, not work like it was in school
January. When I'm going to start putting my ducks in a row for next year's Challenge.
Kitten love. Ruby helped me nearly every time I sat down to write.
Lizzi, my dear Lizzi, the encourager, invited me into her A to Z group.
Maybe just a LITTLE planning would have made it easier on my part.
New blogging friends! So happy to have made new friends! 
Old blogging friends! It was nice to have familiar folks in the fray as well.
Positive experience, in spite of it being difficult. Or maybe BECAUSE it was difficult.
Quitting was never an option. Never.
Random. My posts were completely random. So I never got bored.
Success! I posted every single day, cutting it close to midnight a few times, but I made it!
Timing of the Challenge was difficult, since I also had a huge project for preschool to complete during the same time frame.
Unexposed passions came to the surface when I wrote my post about Picher
Volume does not necessarily equal quality, but I feel it did in this case.
Wakefield Doctrine. Clark was a terrific cheerleader, and I appreciated it very much!
Xhausting. Writing every day is harrrrrd!
Yes, I'm participating next year. I think. No, for sure. I'm there.
Zowie! It certainly made April go by swiftly.

Here are some of my favorite posts from the Challenge; if you haven't read any of them, then at least read these:

E is for Easter
I is for Inedible
J is for Jesse James
P is for Picher, Oklahoma
T is for Tiny Dancer
V is for Vignette
Y is for Y, Not I

And a special THANK YOU to Christine from In The Coop for inspiring me to join this year.

Okay, now I'm done talking about the A to Z Challenge. 

Or am I?




14 comments:

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge, despite the hard work. You had lots of great posts this month.

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    1. Thank you, Christine! I was remiss in not including you as my inspiration, and I have rectified that. Thank you for doing such a fantastic job with it last year that I wanted to do it THIS year.

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  2. This is such a U for unique way or writing the reflections post Dyanne :)
    Glad I met N for New U !
    Nothing popping in my head for reflections. I totally loved urs

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    1. Thanks, Afshan! And you're having too much fun vacationing to worry about reflecting on A to Z!

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  3. Congrats...yours were tons of fun reading!

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  4. Congrats for doing it! There is something magical about having a deadline that makes it possible to write so much more freely and regularly. I need to start self-imposing fake deadlines so I can get back into a groove.

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  5. I tip my hat off to you! I am not...ok, I'm just too lazy to take that on. I have mad respect for those who do. Creative minds have to take part in this so be proud of all your hard work!

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    1. Thank you! If I had known how very much work it was going to be, I don't know if I would have done it. But now that I've done it, I'm glad I did. It's a good thing it's only once a year!

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  6. Really nice "reflection" Dyanne. The more I hear about this A-Z challenge the more impressed I am with everyone who participated!

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    1. Thanks! You should try it next year; you have 11 months to prepare!

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  7. Congratulations on completing the challenge. I really like the way you wrote your Reflections post. :-)

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    1. Thank you so much! I'm STILL not caught up reading other bloggers' posts. It may take me a year!

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