8 Reasons I Chose to Blog From A to Z

Happy April y’all! I’ve been on the fence for quite some time about this year’s A to Z Challenge.

I did it last year and loved it, but it definitely requires work and planning. I keep a pretty full plate so I’ve been wavering on it until last night, when I took the plunge.

I am blogger #1741, just in case you wondered how many new blogging pals you could meet. 🙂

If you would also like to take the plunge, click on this link for the A to Z Challenge Sign-up. There are categories this year, which is kind of fun…I chose HU for Humor.

Note: You have until 9:59 pm Eastern time to sign up today and then sign-ups are closed.

My husband asked me why I’m doing this and here’s what I told him:

1. I’ve never met a writing challenge that didn’t make me want to jump aboard. (It’s a sickness, really.)
2. I love meeting new friends.
3. It’s my 2nd blogiversary today, so a little variety is in order. (More on that tomorrow!)
4. Blogging daily to a letter stretched my writing better than anything else I’d ever done.
5. My blog is my “morning pages,” which is why I have 28 draft posts right now — just because I post less these days doesn’t mean I write any less. Why not use them?
6. It will challenge me to write even shorter, and I already used 30-40% less words in 2012 than I did in 2011.
7. I can always quit if it gets really overwhelming.
8. It’s fun. Especially when you see the wild stuff people come up with.

In case you’re wondering…

What is the A to Z Blogging Challenge?

Here are the basics:

Can you post every day except Sundays during this month?  And to up the bar, can you blog thematically from A to Z?

Most of the time if you subtract Sundays from April, you then have 26 days–one day for each letter of the alphabet.  When April 1st lands on a Sunday you begin on that day which will be the only Sunday you would post during that month’s challenge.

Using this premise, you would start beginning April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until you finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.  It doesn’t even have to be a word–it can be a proper noun, the letter used as a symbol, or the letter itself.  The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day.

Are you up for the challenge? Or will you be in the cheering section?

What do you think of writing and blogging challenges? Did you sign up for this year’s A to Z challenge? What do you recommend for “D”(for some reason I’m drawing a blank on “D!”)? Enquiring minds LOVE to know these things here at More Cowbell!

Jenny