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Monday, May 7, 2018

Reflections on A to Z Flash Fiction Tiny Tales

Well, April came and April went. Now it's time for some reflection on the April A to Z Blog Challenge. This is not my first year. In fact, it was my fourth year. But it was my first year where I did two blogs, one on my personal blog for the Goldendoodles and this one with flash fiction stories.

This was also the first year the staff at A to Z tried using Google docs to master the beast of link signups. The first two years I participted, they used LinkyList. Last year they tried another method that was so bad, I can't even remember how it worked. LOL!

So here is my take on the good, the bad and the ugly for 2018, both for my posts and the challenge overall. [NOTE: This post will be repeated on my personal blog.]

THE GOOD:
  • I prefer themes and easily set them for both my blogs and then participated in the theme reveal.
  • I pre-wrote all 26 blog posts for this blog. I kept it simple, a little text and a several fun photos.
  • I pre-wrote 65-75% of my blog posts for my writing blog.
  • The Theme Reveal list helped me choose blogs to follow.
  • Being able to add my blog links to the Daily List in advance was a HUGE advantage. I suspect I would have missed many days of posting as I often did last year.
  • I managed to reply to EVERY comment left on both blogs. Phew!
  • I visited the blogs of all my commenters, often adding them to my blog reader to follow.
  • I commented on 60% of the blog posts I read.
  • I checked out the blogs of commenters and found some new ones that way (not all were A-Z).
  • I found way less folks who posted they were going to participate but didn't! Yay!!
THE BAD:
  • I got sick in the middle of April. A nasty cold that hung on for weeks. I barely got the last three posts written in time. Phew!
  • There were a couple of folks that didn't make it easy to find their blogs (from the comment profile). Hoping they will realize that and fix it. It's the one way folks find their way to the blogs if they don't have a direct link.
  • Still not a fan of Google+ but I did join a group and post all my links there (and they post to my G+ profile automatically from Blogger).
THE UGLY:
  • I really can't think of anything other than the personal time sacrifice - and I'm retired. LOL!

Would I do anything differently? Not much that I can think of. I would stick with writing in advance

What were my goals and did I accomplish them? My first goal was, and always is, to increase readership of my blog(s). I definitely did that as compared to last year where I had very few comments and no gain in readership. I also found some new blogs to follow, non-writing related blogs (of which I already follow too many). In addition, I gained a couple of new friends on Facebook, folks who had interesting blogs and got me invested in their lives.

My second goal was to get my writing mojo back. I was ready to retire from it and writing flash fiction re-ignited the fire. But, I still plan on taking a couple months off to read. It's been too long!

What's next? Well, our personal blog will continue to be about our daily life as well as the life of the #2Doods. I hope you will find your way there for my ramblings and our meanderings.

This blog? TBD [to be determined] I hope to write some flash fiction with prompts for other sites, but other than that, not sure. What would YOU, my readers, like to see posted here?


14 comments:

  1. It was a pleasure to coming across your blog and reading your posts, Donna . All thanks to AtoZ Challenge. I have not read all your posts. But I've bookmarked those I haven't and will be reading them soon. Cheers, Varad.

    https://looseendoftheredthread.wordpress.com/2018/05/03/43-posts-and-a-conked-laptop-reflections-atozchallenge/

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    1. Thank you so much - I've enjoyed yours as well and still have a lot more of them to read. Loved discovering the meaning behind L.E.R.T.

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  2. Hope you return with more flash fiction!

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    1. I can guarantee some flash for sure...thinking it will be prompted from some other blogs. Or I may start my own prompt day with one of my photos (B&W).

      Thanks for joining in the fun - tickled we connected!

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  3. I loved reading your flash fiction for the A to Z. It is making me think about doing something similar for next year. I'm following you now so whatever you decide, I'll be able to see it. Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogosphere too. I have seen a few people comment about how they do not want links left in the comments because it does something to the analytics and invites or indicates spam. I didn't notice any this year - yet.

    Janet’s Smiles

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    1. Thank you, Janet, and since I follow you, too, I'll know what you do next year. LOL!

      I remember some folks posting about the analytics but I haven't seen any spam. I prefer links in the comments and since I don't obsess about number of site visits, I'm always glad to see a link to follow. PS> If you're on Facebook, feel free to send me a friend request. https://www.facebook.com/donna.mcnicol

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  4. I definitely find it helps to have almost everything written ahead of time. I know that works better for me. I missed the setting up the links ahead of time but will have to check that out next year. I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge again. I'm a year behind you as this was only my third year. Weekends In Maine

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    1. I hope they keep the Google doc methodology next year, I do think it worked best. Thanks again for stopping by!

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  5. Youch! That's amazing! A to Z X 2. I'm impressed. Mind you, if I hadn't completed a book during the month I guess I could have done it too. Good to meet another crazy person. :-) My reflections of a crazy A to Z Blogging month

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    1. Thank, Shirley. It sure sapped my energy levels. But we made it through, didn't we! Yay!!

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  6. Enjoyed the flash fiction. From your reflections, I guess this one of the well planned one :) Congrats on a successful completion!!

    BTW, you are nominated for the Mystery Blogger award – https://lonelycanopyblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/12/the-mystery-mania/.
    Do check out and keep the chain going!! ❤ ❤

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  7. Thank you so much, Seema. I'm glad you enjoyed the tales. I do try to write in advance for my entries, takes a lot of the pressure off, leaving time to read and comment on other blogs.

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  8. How many page views have you got for all of your A to Z posts?

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    1. I just tallied up the actual A-Z posts and ended up with 4777 total.

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