The A to Z challenge came as a surprise to me. I had started blogging about eight months previously as a way of storing content which my daughter could view at her leisure – or not at all!
When I started out I knew nothing about the social-networking aspects of blogging, but I began to learn and to make blogging friends. I started to take an interest in challenges, but (unless I could write them in the same style as my blog) they seemed out of place. So, on the Monday of Holy Week I set up a new blog. I had seen a new theme on WordPress (Pachyderm), which I really wanted to use and I began. After a few days (and as many posts) I typed “challenge” into the “Reader” and soon found a blogger who had signed up for the A to Z challenge. I was in time to join in and did so with no more ado. Two posts on my original blog were about letters of the alphabet and I had been thinking about a few more, possibly to spell out a word or words, but it was difficult to find words which didn’t overlap in the letters used. So an alphabet challenge was ideal. My theme was alliteration.
I found five A to Z bloggers to follow from the outset and have added more during the challenge. I was thrilled that Arlee Bird (the founder of the challenge) looked at my early posts and commented on two of them. I have been following one of his blogs since then. He used the same word as me for X on his Tossing it out blog. My X post was of a slightly different format from the others. I think xenophobia is a serious issue.
I have tried to visit and comment on blogs, but commenting on blogs on platforms other than WordPress can be fraught. The html to provide a link to my blog does not always work, sometimes the comment disappears, other times it produces an error message. I have learned to copy (as a precaution) any text I type into a box before clicking on any links, buttons or what you will…
…so I have not left quite as many comments as I’d have liked and people returning my visits have mostly found my original blog rather than the challenge one. I am grateful for the new followers and hope to continue following most of the blogs I have been enjoying.
I have written posts ahead of time in order to allow for unexpected delays or demands on my time. By the end of the challenge I was a week ahead with all the remaining posts scheduled to publish automatically.
Part way through the challenge I set up a facebook page for my blogs, but I only have a few friends on facebook, so I wondered whether I was wasting my time. I had posted every post up to and including U, when I noticed there was a facebook page for the challenge. So my posts from Q onwards are linked there!
The five blogs I set out to follow are
Victoria’s blog
Rebeccah Writes
Never cry over spilled milk
life as a journey
Unveil the Other Side
Blogs I discovered and began to follow through the challenge are:-
Pressing in and on
Faith, Life and Compassion
A few words A blog by the founder of the A to Z challenge.
Writing under fire
Roll Away the Stone
Being Positive with a Depressive Soul
Stratoz
Ephesiansfour2
Fruitful Words
Mary e agius
Joe’s Musings
Writingwildly By Linda Garcia
I have visited other blogs too. Only one blog shocked me. One person who commented on my blog had marked his (AC) but I didn’t check the list before I clicked on it. Live and learn.
Apart from alliteration I have had at least one Bible reference in each post.
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