In Retrospection – The 2015 A to Z Reflections

May 4, 2015 September 20, 2016 by Vinodini in 36 Comments
I had no intention of participating in this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge, owing to my hectic schedule at work and on the personal front. Last year’s challenge was an amazing experience that got me connected with a sea of bloggers with varied interests from across the globe. But this year no matter how tempted I was to take it up I was unsure if I could live up to the commitment of writing everyday. Though, just as slowly as the excitement of A-Z April 2015 started to build up, I gradually realized that it was kinda contagious. As fellow bloggers started discussing their themes for the upcoming challenge, I was still wondering if I should be going for it. And one fine day, I did it – I signed up for a whole month of writing diligently every single day along with my hectic day job and crazy traveling. This time around with a theme in mind.
Although, my theme appeared to be led by grammar and people actually ended up expecting that my posts would be educational, they were actually inspired by two words which when strung together are called phrasal verbs. You could read more about the idea behind the theme here. I’ve never been much of a grammar Nazi, so more than the grammar part of it, it was about the two words themselves that I took inspiration from. I had decided to pick up random quotes or inspirations based on those two words each day and weave essays, short-stories and poems around them. I did schedule a lot of things in advance, including the quotes and pictures. But when it came to writing those posts, beyond the first few posts, the story-teller in me took over. So, majority of my posts in April turned out to be short-stories and less of poems and essays. Talk about taking the easy path! Yes, I guess I enjoy and find the medium of story-telling the easiest to express myself with. But hey, I also managed to do a guest post for Blog-A-Rhythm, which comprises of my friendly community of blogging cheer-leaders!  Read it here.
In spite of scheduling a lot of posts in advance, April 2015 saw me dragging myself home weary from work, ready to crash, but determined to spruce up that one post that was to go live 12 am the next day. Sometimes I would wake up bleary eyed, proofreading my post once last time, just to discover that tiny typo that I would discover after it got published. Heck! And on one occasion, I sheepishly admit to have realized that I had forgotten the sequence of my ABCs. I had scheduled a V post before the W post, and someone actually had left a comment on it before I woke up to the fact in the middle of the night…yikes!  I quickly made amends, pulled the pillow over my eyes and dozed off again. But wait…there’s more! Nothing can beat the embarrassment of discovering that one of your half put together draft for a post that was to be published a few days later had got published in its half naked form, thanks to the over-sensitive touch screen of my over-Smartphone, without me noticing it till much later…grrrrr! Before I hastily deleted the atrocious post, basking in its incomplete glory, I noted that it already had a couple of views. I wished the earth would have swallowed up the red-faced me at that point. So embarrassing!
Although, this challenge is also more about sharing, connecting and exploring new blogs, I must add with a tinge of regret that I was unable to visit as many blogs as I should have, owing to my work schedule. I tried to visit the blogs of most bloggers I knew, a few great new ones that I came across on the A-Z page and some more who visited my blog, at least once or more during the challenge (I know once was not enough – but I did try. Sob!). My apologies if I did not make it to yours or for the number of visits, if they were less.
Nevertheless, the experience was rich and fulfilling. What I loved the most about this year’s challenge as compared to last year’s challenge was the outline given by the A-Z team this year, of keeping the posts short and concise. It not only disciplined us to express ourselves in a crisp manner but also made it easier to read more number of blog posts at a time without the eyes and mind glossing over. Kudos to the lovely bunch of the enthusiastic A-Z team, who kept motivating us throughout…you guys rock! Needless to say, I will definitely try and be a part of this wonderful challenge next year. Now, hoping for a much needed break. I look forward to catching up on a lot of real life that I missed in the month of April, but should be back with a fresh perspective on writing new posts soon enough. Thanks to all of you, who read, encouraged, poked, commented and shared my blog posts. It was truly an experience to cherish. See you guys around!
Read all my posts for A-Z April 2015 here:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
And yes, I got the sequence of alphabets right this time!

 

This post is written in retrospection for the
2015 A to Z Blogging Challenge Reflections.