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!








-----

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.




-

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".



.