I survived my first A to Z Blogging Challenge and I’m feeling pretty happy with myself. I was confident that I would finish as I’ve always had good follow through on projects, but the real question was would I scrape by and limp towards the finish line. While I feel like I did in fact finish strong, I had to step back and wait a week before tackling this reflections post so maybe there was a small bit of limping at the end.
Being new to blogging I had set some personal goals with participating in my first challenge.
- Build Content for my Site. I now have content on my site. I really do! Although I hope to look back someday with thousands of posts under my belt and think how cute it was that I was excited when I hit 26 posts. But until that time, I’m going to celebrate this milestone.
- Write Consistently. Coming up with 26 days of content forces you to write consistently which makes the process more comfortable. I still haven’t quite figured out my transition to a normal blogging schedule but I’m not afraid of a blank screen. I filled up 26 of them.
- Improve My Writing Skills. I recognize that I still have a lot of work to do in this area, but I definitely saw myself getting better as the challenge progressed. While writing every day certainly helped, visiting some of the other amazing writing blogs participating in the challenge was equally helpful.
- Develop My Blogging Voice. This is another area that will continue to evolve and improve, but the challenge certainly helped. Having a post go up each day, allowed me to focus on finding my authentic voice. It still needs some tweaking but at least I know it’s going in the right direction.
- Connect with Other Bloggers. I found that the majority of my time during this challenge was spent trying to visit as many other blogs as I could. While time-consuming, it was rewarding and probably one of the biggest benefits of the challenge. It showed me the larger blogging universe and gave me the opportunity to connect with other bloggers.
- Highlight Maine. As my blog is focused on all things Maine, I wanted to show my love for the state. The challenge helped me to dig a little deeper and even come up with content I might not have thought about if I wasn’t looking for something for a few of those harder letters.
Now that I’ve reached my A to Z Blogging goals, it’s time to set some new ones. Before I move onto my next challenge, whether externally defined like this one was, or internally motivated, here is a recap of what I did in the month of April 2016.
Click on any picture to jump to a slide show with hyperlinks to the A to Z Challenge Post associated with that image.
As I finish up this recap, I also wanted to thank all my fellow bloggers from the challenge for the support and encouragement they provided during my first A to Z Blogging Challenge. It helped me to stay motivated and on track. For that, I am truly grateful.
Weekends in Maine 
I loved your A to Z Challenge – and good luck finding what works for you blogging. I still feel like I am working on that part!
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Thank you for your visits and comments! I suspect that finding what works long term for my blog will be a longer, ongoing process but the blog challenge was a great start.
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I remember when I did it last year, I was so surprised at the spike in traffic I got with the daily posts. I’m not quite there yet with the daily ones (I miss a Sunday here and there now), but it made an impression. Some days, I wish it hadn’t!
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I really enjoyed reading your posts. Someday I will come by Maine for a visit and now I’ll now where to go 🙂 Thank you so much for coming by, even since the challenge, and checking out my posts. I look forward to your future posts!
J.H. Winter
Ink & Stitches – http://blog.jhwinter.com
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Thank you for visiting. I really enjoyed your posts as well and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.
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Excellent wrap-up reflections! I have good intentions to get back and read all of your posts! My first time with AtoZ also. Hope to see you 2017! 🙂
https://meinthemiddlewrites.com/category/a-to-z-challenge/
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Congrats on completing your first A to Z Challenge too. I definitely want to do it again next year. It was so much fun.
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It was a really fun challenge! I enjoyed reading your posts and came away with a lot of the same observations about my own blog! I’m looking forward to keeping up with all the good stuff happening in Maine, if only to do a little armchair traveling!
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Thank you for all the support during the challenge. It really was a lot of fun. Crazy busy but fun! I enjoyed your posts too and am looking forward to reading more of them now that the dust has settled on the challenge.
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I enjoyed your posts and tried to comment as much as I could. I added you to my blogroll fairly early in the A to Z Challenge, too!
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Thank you for following my posts during the challenge. I appreciate it and enjoyed visiting your blog as well. It was so nice to connect with other bloggers.
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Congrats on finishing! (I had to take a week off after A to Z, too. Recuperation!)
Your blog was one of my favorite new ones that I found.
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Thank you for visiting during the challenge. I really enjoyed your blog as well.
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Great job! And I love the design of your letters up there!!! We all survived another A to Z…such a great way to meet new people.
Stephanie
http://stephie5741.blogspot.com
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Thank you! Yes, meeting other bloggers was a huge part of the challenge and one that I really enjoyed.
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Well done on the recap. Great points, and I especially like the graphics you used to summarize your 26 posts. Maine is def on my bucket list, so I will be returning to your blog to get some travel hints. Congrats on surviving the challenge!
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Thanks so much. I had fun playing with Photoshop for the graphics on the post. Maine is a great destination. I hope you do make it out this way sometime.
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Congratulations on completing your first challenge 🙂 Reading your reflections has totally taken me back to this time last year. I was new to blogging and I did the challenge and I felt vey much the same things as you. It really helped me become focussed and a year later, I’m still posting daily!
Debbie
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It was a great way to kick off a new blog. I’m so glad that I did the challenge. I’m not sure I’ll continue to post daily, but I am working out a regular, consistent post schedule moving forward. I’m impressed you’re still posting daily. That’s fantastic!!
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It was great to bump into your blog through the challenge. I love Maine so you’ll see me again, for sure. Best to you.
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Thank you for visiting and for your support during the challenge. It was a lot of fun and so great to meet other bloggers.
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You’re welcome. By the way I posted about Portland two days ago. 😊
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Thank you for letting me know. I’m still catching up post A to Z challenge.
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I thought about you yesterday as I watched a rerun of Shark Tank. They highlighted a successful business called “Maine Fresh Lobster” (if memory serves). I enjoyed learning more about Maine with your A to Z blogging!
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Too funny. I had to check that out. They have a great story. Cousins Maine Lobsters! Thank you for stopping by during the A to Z Challenge.
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