When It Rains It Pours

        Folks in parts of the United States must be getting pretty tired of the rain and the wild weather that's been coming with it. Floods, hail storms, and vicious tornadoes have wreaked havoc across the Midwest as the May 21st Judgment Day has been rescheduled for October 21st.

        Of late it seems that there is more news than the news stations can handle. The news outlets must be thrilled with the prospect that more viewers may be tuning in to see what craziness is going to happen next. Current events are falling into our lives like a torrential rain of data and dirt.

        As I flew into Memphis recently to make my connection to Knoxville, I looked down upon the receding floodwaters of the Mississippi. A lady in a nearby seat remarked that it was difficult to tell where the river was. Only then did I realize that I was looking at the Mississippi River and its overflow. I felt relief that we had reached Memphis and I had one more short flight before I would be at my destination.

         Later I saw on the news something about how they were going to open some floodgates which would cause major flooding in areas in Louisiana. They wanted to save some homes upriver but would have to sacrifice others to do so. I paid little attention to the story as I was mostly ignoring the news and just trying to enjoy my vacation.

        Then there were the tornadoes in Joplin and elsewhere, not to mention Schwarzenegger and Jared Loughner, Obama and Osama, Libya and all of the other crazy places in the world. I am inundated with images and my mind is flooded with information that overflows beyond my comprehension.

        It's kind of like my life this year. Where did the time go since the start of 2011? The build up to the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge rushed headlong into April which is now like a blurry dream. Most of the A to Z list remains for me to conquer, as does about half of the A to Z Reflections. Then there are those e-mails piled in my e-boxes. A digital deluge threatens to drown me.

         Added to all of this is an assortment of travels, my search for employment, and the ongoing affairs of family. Today (May 25th), I got word that my brother-in-law Jack finally succumbed to his battle with cancer. My wife and I will head to Phoenix this weekend to provide whatever comfort we can to my devastated sister.

         Next week, the last of my daughters who still lived near to us will be moving to New Jersey to join her sisters. With her goes our precious granddaughter Marley, another bright ray of sunshine that will now be obscured by the rainclouds of the sadness we will feel without her.

      Is this the year that California will at last fall into the ocean? Probably not. The sun will eventually emerge from the clouds and the sad falling rain will be replaced by the purple-blue jacaranda blossoms which drift downward to the flowery carpet on the street.

      Everything will be okay.



       Do you think the current crazy weather has anything to do with global warming or is it just part of a normal weather cycle?     Or is it a sign of the end of the world?   Do you ever have to just turn off the news?    What storms are you weathering this year?


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A Few Thoughts from Readers About Blogging from A to Z

Feedback Is Helpful

       We've now heard some of the bad and some of the good in regard to the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.  Along with the observations about the Challenge some of you offered your own suggestions about how to improve Blogging from A to Z.   Also, during the course of the Challenge I heard various suggestions based on problems some of you encountered during April.  

        In today's post we will look at a few of these suggestions and ideas that were offered by participants and others as well.   Next Monday I will bring together all three summation posts and offer some of my thoughts and conclusions in order to garner some of your reactions.  Please check out the following suggestions and ideas and let us know what you think about them.

Some Thoughts Expressed

1)  Subdivide the A to Z participant list into topic or genre categories.  In order to keep the list more manageable turn it into several lists.

Here's what alberta ross commented on the post "Taking pride in ourselves (Rachael Harrie's reflection post).": 
"one of the things I found with this challenge is how many blogs I found totaly outside writing which I thought were great and am going to follow - how much I found i enjoyed other subjects - having blogs under topics may help but I would hate to think we lost that casual grazing which spreads our minds sideways" 

Another one of you said, "However on reflection and as I've posted some ideas .. I'd say definitely don't break us into groups .. categories is difficult - because I like to follow different people .. so the A - Z gives me a chance to find like-minded people, who are prepared to accept a challenge .."

2)  Find a way to eliminate commercial blogs, faulty links, non-participants, and other listings that waste time.

Suzanne made this suggestion:
I enjoyed it and would do it again. And yes, I made it to Z. I think we need to figure out how to delete spammers and blog links that don't work off the list. Also, ones who never did start. If you had more members to your team, you could maybe split up the list, and say the Monday of each week each of you would visit a section from the list, and delete any bum ones. Also, I think the signups should end on March 31.

3)   Why didn't I gain more followers or get more comments on my blog during and after the Challenge?


Consider this blogger's comment:

I’m generally not a talker(some wouldn’t agree with me) and I guess I’m that way here too, I find myself reading beautiful posts and leaving without dropping comments. I forget that unlike in the real world where I am seen when i sit quite in gatherings just observing, no one sees me when I visit a page and seat reading and trying to understand the writer in the virtual world, and so no one knows I've been there.  iNyamu

4)   Now that the challenge is over my blog will go back to being unread as it was before.


Maybe this is why?:

I have learned that I am a really bad blog follower as I try to do too many things at a time and end up not going and visiting those folks that took the time to visit me.  I sincerely apologize to each and every one of you for making you feel unimportant if I did. :(  This is something that I hope to change."     MJ

Here's an attempt by Tina and Shannon to keep the spirit of community alive after the Challenge has ended:

Tina @ Life is Good  wrote:   Shannon @ The Warrior Muse and I are joining forces in another challenge. We're going to visit and comment at each of the participants of Blogging from A to Z, starting with the reflections post. We hope you'll join us!

5)   Not having CAPTCHAs.---  (It may be the browser you are using.  I found that using Google Chrome mostly solved the problems that I was having with WV.   The Word Verifications still take time and are a hassle, but when I started using Chrome I never lost a single comment and the process was very fast with all screen jumps and twitches eliminated.)




6)   Use the pop-up comment box system.


7)    Everyone should enter shorter posts.   


8)   Don't be clever .. eg going from Z - A .. it's bad enough with so many blogs going - wondering what's happening .. and I found where the posting was shared between two people a bit frustrating .. there's enough to do anyway without jumping around! Z - A can be done in May ..


9)   A system needs to be put into place to assure that bloggers at the end of the list will receive as many visits as the ones at the beginning of the list.


There were several suggestions regarding this.  Here are a couple:


Alex J. Cavanaugh wrote in his Reflections post:

Hart had an excellent suggestion, one I think we should adopt for next year. We start with the blog immediately following ours on the list. We go as far as we can, and if that’s only one hundred blogs, that’s fine. But that way, everyone receives visitors and no one feels overwhelmed.

And a similar idea:

With so many people entering, and such a long list of entrants, is there some way to ensure that people near the end still get lots of people to their blogs? It's not quite a random process. I was wondering if there could be a 'rule' that you befriend the 50 people in your '50' first??   Sarah

10)  There were too many on the list.  Could we set a limit on the number of participants next time?


But here's an upside to that thought:

The hardest part for me was the number of blogs I missed during the month itself - but, happily, I now have a treasurehouse of archived material to peruse.  Mojo

11)   To make it easier to find blogs that interest me most, "I would really appreciate to have something like an additional sentence or some keywords, what all those wonderful blogs are all about."


12)    How about charging an entry fee to be sure only the most serious bloggers get signed up?


What Are Your Thoughts?


          I have not included many of the other ideas that have been suggested in my comments, in some of your reflections, and elsewhere.  What are your thoughts about the suggestions I have included in this post?  Are there any other ideas you might suggest to make the A to Z Challenge better?






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The Positives of Blogging from A to Z

                  The Evaluation Continues 


         Each Monday in May I am examining a different aspect of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge for 2011.  If you missed last week, I reviewed some of the actual and the perceived negatives of the Challenge.  There were some outstanding comments and I would recommend that you read through them if you missed them.


          A reminder to those who don't feel that these evaluation studies have relevance to non-participants of the A to Z Challenge:  The concepts expressed can probably be related to some of your own blogging activities and certainly applicable to other blog events in which you may participate.   We want to hear the subjective opinions of those who participated as well as the objective thoughts from those who did not.


        What follows is some attributed quotes taken from comments or posts, as well as some general positives that were frequently cited by many sources.

Good things about the Challenge (with my comments or questions in red):

1)     Catherine at Composing Cat said this:   I'm not sure how I'm going to approach posting after this challenge. I liked being connected everyday to the blogosphere but it does take a lot of mental ability to post daily. I don't know that I can go back to my weekly memes either. It was great to participate in them when I didn't have any real content but I've learned some things about myself and my writing ability in the past month. I don't want to follow along. No, I don't have any delusions of being some great writer that can pump out mind thrilling content. I just feel like I'm finding my groove and before I was afraid to even look for my groove. I hid behind the creativity of others. Don't get me wrong I love those memes but i want to spread my blog wings and see if I can do what I set out to do with this blog...find out what composes me and develop my writing ability.  (I like how the Challenge gave her a greater awareness of her talents and made her think more deeply about the way she wants to blog in the future--Catherine's contemplations just grabbed me.)


2)       One thing I liked about the challenge was it gave me motivation to write even on the days where I didn’t feel like it!  (If you want to be a writer then you have to write!)


3)    I would never have seen it through if I wasn't in love with writing.   (A confirmation that loving writing will facilitate writing.)


4)      The Challenge provided a sense of community.  (We were together in a common purpose.  Participants from last year have often indicated how many of the relationships established in that Challenge have continued ever since.)


5)   Before the challenge, I wasn’t sure what the focus of my blog was. After the challenge, I knew which direction I wanted to go and what I wanted to write about. (The concentrated blogging effort allowed some to discover their passion or what was easiest for them to write about).


6)   Before the challenge, I saw myself as creatively-challenged. After the challenge, I realize that I have untapped depths of creativity!     Brianna at Pocketful of Playdough
(I really like how Brianna expressed this feeling.)


7)    The variety was great! I've come across blogs I'd never have known existed, It's widened my horizons - that can only be good.  says Sue    (It seemed like there was something for everyone and a whole lot more--what was a negative for some was an absolute positive for others).


8)  The list was huge!  I couldn't get through all of it, but it was nice to have the wide selection.  (The most common complaint was also something that many of us liked a great deal.)


9)    All of the participants were so supportive and friendly.  (The networking was superb in this event.)


10)  I really learned a lot about many different things.  (With so many topics represented and presented in so many fine ways how could one not walk away having learned a few things)


11)   I saw an increase in followers.   (Some participants were happy with adding a few while others saw large increases of 100 or more.   It's a controversial topic with many sides, but increasing following is a natural offshoot of the challenge.)


12)   The A to Z Challenge was fun!   (This was one of our main objectives!)




Let's hear from you


        Do you agree with all of these positives?    Are there any positives that you would like to add?     What is the biggest benefit you derived from Blogging from A to Z?








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Friday in Tennessee

     
      If this post is what you're reading then I didn't have an opportunity to write anything else.   I'm either having too much fun in Tennessee or can't get on the internet or both.

            In any case thank you for all the truly great comments left on my Monday post about the Negatives of the A to Z Challenge.     If you didn't read the comments for this post you should check them out--they are quite excellent.

            Hopefully, on Monday May 16th there will be the post about the positives of the A to Z Challenge.  See you there!



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Negative Responses to Blogging from A to Z

Why an Evaluation?

          The purpose of evaluation is to see how things can be improved--what works and what doesn't.  Authors will get evaluations of their works through beta readers.  These readers will offer suggestions to help the authors improve their works before they go to the next steps toward publications.  Companies go to extensive efforts and pay large sums of money to conduct surveys and do marketing studies in order to improve their products or services.  Likewise, if the Blogging from A to Z Challenge is to continue and grow in years to come, I'd like to see it become better than it is now.

         In my Monday posts in May I will be addressing all aspects of the Challenge--bad, good, and your suggestions and opinions.   On May 30th I will culminate the series with my evaluation of what I have learned from you and from my own observations.

        If you're thinking that you don't want to hear anything more about this Challenge or that this information doesn't have anything to do with you, please at least take a listen to what will be said.  An event such as this is normal everyday blogging on steroids.  There is merely greater intensity of posting and networking.  What you can learn by normal blogging can be intensified in a crash course that event blogging can offer.   Everyone can learn from what bloggers learned in A to Z and likewise the A to Z bloggers can benefit from the knowledge that you may have.   Some of the best input might be gotten from the objective observations of non A to Z participants.   So let us hear from everyone who has an opinion and keep an open mind about the thoughts that you will be hearing in the weeks to come.

        And if for some reason you have no idea what this A to Z thing is all about you can go to read about it in the A to Z Announcement Post.

Let's Start With the Bad

        There is so much positive feedback that we've all been reading about the Challenge that I know as far as I'm concerned I feel pretty good about it all.  But I certainly wouldn't want to be content to bask in that positive glow and totally ignore some of the problems that were perceived and the bad feelings that some people had about the A to Z Challenge.  I am going to list through these negatives with little comment--I'll make most of my comments in the last two posts of this series.   Please leave your thoughts in today's comment section.

Here is what some of you said (with my thoughts or questions in red) :

1)   Blogging everyday is too difficult or stressful.   Some bloggers don't like to post on week ends.  (It's a challenge!)

2)  Too much of a chore to blog everyday.  ( It's also a chore for many of us to go to work everyday.  It depends on how do you look at it?  Thankful?  Optimistic?   Do you make the best of things or turn the negative into something good?)


3)   Too restrictive -- I want to blog what I want to blog about.  (And how did A to Z not allow you to do that?)


4)   I really hated A-Z because it caused bloggers to write about what they HAD to write about rather than what they WANTED to write about. Or at best, figuring out a way to hammer a square peg into a round hole to accomplish both.  (Once again, the prompt was a letter, the possibilities of what to write were endless).


5)   I didn't like A to Z because I like "normal" posts.  (And how are the A to Z posts abnormal?)




6)  It’s been hard to keep the personal connections with all the chaos of challenges.  (Chaos?  What chaos?)


7)  "Differences in blog hosts."  (I'm sorry but I copied this from a comment and now don't recall what this referred to exactly--did anyone have a negative feeling in regard to this?)


8)    Difficulty in accessing certain blogs.  (There were some blogs that I found difficult to understand how to navigate them or find ways to comment on, if indeed one could comment)


9)   Some blogs seemed to be just advertisements.  (I noticed this too)


10)    The only frustrating aspect of the challenge that I experienced were the CAPTCHA word verification features that many bloggers had on their blogs. This made it difficult to visit and comment on as many blogs as I hoped.   (How many times has this been said?  Not just here in this Challenge either.)

11)     Encouraging negative thought trying to get others to quit with them or turn against the event or some of the organizers.  (Sadly, I noticed a few instances where certain people were unhappy with the Challenge and tried to encourage other participants to quit or made unkind comments in reference to me.)

12)    The list was too big!   (Can an author have too many readers?  Can a business have too many customers?  Can you have too many friends?  It's mostly a question of management and organization.    This will be covered extensively on the final evaluation post.)

13)   There were too many different kinds of bloggers on the list!  (Another of the most common complaints which will be addressed in greater depth in my evaluation post.)

Now I turn it over to you:

           Here you have the thirteen most common complaints that I've run across so far.  I think there is a solution to all of them.  Some may come down to personal preferences.  Others are definite legitimate gripes that should be addressed.   I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts and I will be including those in my May 23rd post and they will also help me in my evaluation on May 30th.

            Can you think of any other negatives about the A to Z Challenge?  Which of these above cited problems are of greatest concern to you and what do you think is the solution?  How would you address the ones that are of little concern to you?  If you did not participate, what did you dislike most about Blogging from A to Z?

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What's Gonna Happen Now

          Some folks might think I run things into the ground sometimes and maybe I do, but sometimes I just like to study some things in depth to know how they work and what can be done to make them better.  So it goes with the April Challenge.  This month long event involved a lot of bloggers who had a lot of opinions.  And many of us are already thinking about next year.

           If there is going to be another A to Z Challenge next April I think most of us would like to institute some improvements.  There are some things that need to go, some that need to stay just as they are, and some that need to be tweaked to optimal performance levels.

           What are these things that I'm talking about?  That's what I want to examine during the month of May. This month, each Monday--which is my usual day for blogging and writing topics--I will be looking at some of the comments I read in the Reflections posts and other places and evaluating them to see how the A to Z Challenge can work in the most superb way.

Here is part of the Tossing It Out schedule for May:

May 9 -- The negatives of the A to Z Challenge.

May 16-- The positives of the A to Z Challenge.

May 23 -- Some more of your suggestions about the A to Z Challenge.

May 30 --  My evaluation.  At this time I might also consider adding a poll to get your opinions of the ideas that I think would work best.

             And for those of you who are thinking that you don't want to be hearing about the Challenge anymore, I hope that I can relate the content of these posts to more general application to all blogging and other activities.  So even if you hate this A to Z Challenge you might want to give these posts a chance as there might still be some information that you might find useful.

             As for my Wednesday and Friday posts, they may or may not be there.  I do not have anything scheduled as of yet.  As I have mentioned I will be in East Tennessee starting next week for 10 days and then immediately turn around to spend a few days in Houston.

             Since I will be spending a lot of time with family, I may not have the same blogging opportunities that I have at home.   That quality family time will be important to me.  However, I will attempt to continue to make some rounds visiting blogs when I can during this period.

              On one of the upcoming Fridays I will have more to say about what will be happening on Tossing It Out in the months to come.   I have things planned that I hope you will enjoy and that I hope will enlighten you.  

               And finally, to all of the Mothers out there:

         Happy Mother's Day!!!    

                                  Have a wonderful time!








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The Reflections Post List Closes Tonight!

        You still have a few hours to put up your thoughts about the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.   We appreciate all of you who have taken the time to tell us what you think.   Let your voice be heard--good or bad we want to know what it takes to make this Challenge the best it can be.  The Linky list will close at midnite tonight Wednesday May 4th.  Sign up below.

The Linky list is now ready for you to add your link.  Please add the link that goes directly to your Reflections post since we well be referring to it in the weeks to come and we don't have to search for the proper post.   The list will be open until May 4th.   This is a blog hop so you will easily be able to add the list to your own blog site as well.


 Please use discretion and courtesy if you add your name to the list.  We invite all participants of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge to join us to express themselves.   Others who feel like they have something truly relevant to add to this discussion are also welcome to participate with their thoughts so long as they are constructive in their intent to help and enlighten others.  Those who merely want to offer negative rants that have no constructive value are asked to refrain from joining the list.    We don't mind hearing your negative thoughts just so you are not trying to tear down other people or hurt the reputations of those who mean well.    And please don't add your name to the Linky list if you have no intent to participate and merely want to be seen on the list.  The list is intended to benefit others and not waste anyone's time.




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2011 Blogging from A to Z Challenge Reflections Mega Post

Please copy the Badge and display on your blog to let everyone know that you  finished!

           We made it!  Some never started, a few had to stop early, but as far as I have been able to tell most of you made it to the end of the alphabet.   It was fun, but it was sometimes grueling.  It was a Challenge.

            I want to start by extending my deepest thanks to the A to Z Team who so effectively helped to co-host this event:

Jeffrey Beesler's World of the Scribe 
Alex J. Cavanaugh Alex J. Cavanaugh 
Jen Daiker's Unedited 
Candace Ganger's The Misadventures in Candyland 
Karen J Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain 
Talli Roland 
Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough Blogs 



      These bloggers did a fine job of making the rounds in visiting as many participants as possible and I hope everyone will stop by to tell them thanks for keeping this Challenge going.

       Next I want to thank each and every one of you who made it to the end or at least gave it your best shot.  I have made many wonderful new blog discoveries and met wonderful new friends just like in last years challenge.  I think that several of these new friendships will last a while and may lead to some interesting collaborations.  And I really want to thank the many of you who continually gave me and the rest of the team such positive feedback and words of encouragement and thanks.   Thanks to all of you.

        This year's A to Z Challenge showed even more creativity that the Challenge of 2010.  The many returnees had the hang of the process and showed their mastery of day to day blogging.  There were so many amazingly creative entries for each day from the veterans and the new participants alike.  There were short stories, poems, essays, and informational pieces that were original, thought provoking, and often absolutely dazzling.  Anyone who thought this Challenge would produce a bunch of hack work and trivial blog posts was proven wrong on a daily basis by some of the quality that appeared on some of your posts.

       It was a challenge for sure, but for me it was great fun and highly rewarding in many ways.  For the month of May I will be cutting back extensively on my blogging activity so far as posting goes.  Instead my focus will be on responding to all of you who posted your reflections. trying to keep up with regular daily visits, and attempting to continue on through that monster list of over 1200 bloggers who signed up for the A to Z Challenge.

       My plans at the outset failed and I don't know that I even visited half of the blogs that signed up--I still hope to do so.   I had not expected as many daily comments on my own posts as I had received and now I remember why my email box was so full last year after the Challenge.  This year I have over 1800 emails to get through.   Without daily comments I should be able to go at a faster rate, but still it's going to take some time.

        I want to give a special thanks to Marcus at Writing Investigated for creating the Blog Navigation buttons.   I know many of you had fun with these and even relied on them to a great extent.  "The Next Blog" button has been a great aid for me in keeping track of how far I am on the list.  The "Surprise Me!" button helped break things up for me and skim the list when I was feeling like I wasn't getting along far enough.  Marcus volunteered to do this for us and I hope all of you will stop by to thank him.

        So enough from me.  I want to hear what you have to say.  In a few weeks I am going to try to have a recap post where I will compile some of the best suggestions that you have to offer and things that occurred to me as the Challenge was underway.   There is much improvement that can make the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge better, but I want to assimilate the data first before I come to final conclusions.  So stay tuned for a post near the end of May.

       What about next year?   This Challenge seems to be a hit so we'll definitely consider that option.  But for now I think a lot of us need some down time as far as blogging is concerned.  And maybe even some extra sleep and perhaps a vacation.  I'm going to Tennessee next week for nine days and have time with family.  I'll slow down some during that time.  But like the Terminator--"I'll be back".



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