5 Reasons To Do @AprilAtoZ and 5 Reasons I’m Not

The April A to Z Blogging Challenge will be here before you know it. You can sign up for it at the April A to Z site. What’s the challenge? To blog every day of April (except Sundays), beginning with a post inspired by the letter A and continuing through the month and the alphabet.

5 Reasons To Do It

1. It’s fun.
2. It’s challenging.
3. You meet lots of nice people.
4. You discover lots of new-to-you blogs
5. You learn a lot, especially if you visit blogs outside your area of expertise.

I’ve done the challenge for five years, and it’s always been great.

So why am I not doing it this year?

1. I already blog every day (including Sundays).
2. There are over a thousand participants already signed up. I know in my head that I’m not expected to visit them all every day, but the guilt I feel anyway is unpleasant.
3. One can access the list of participants on the sign-up page, so I can still visit any blogs that intrigue me without feeling obligated.
4. I have my own blogging schedule, and, as much fun as the challenge is, I don’t want to sideline what I want to do in order to accommodate a month-long challenge.
5. Which I’ll do in May, if I do the Story-A-Day May challenge again!

I never claimed to be consistent.

But, if you’re looking for a great bunch of fun and supportive people to encourage you to at least try to blog daily, you can’t do better than to attempt the A to Z challenge.

Did I mention it’s fun?

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Even if you’re not doing the challenge, come up with a theme. Last year, for instance, I had one of my characters blog every day, from Alexander (Sandy) Schneider to Moder Zglaria.

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “5 Reasons To Do @AprilAtoZ and 5 Reasons I’m Not

  1. Dan

    January 18, 2016 at 7:09am

    Great reasons. I am thinking about joining the challenge this year, mainly for reasons #1&2 but 3-5 are great too.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 18, 2016 at 8:28am

      It’s GREAT fun. I always look forward to it, and I look forward to it this year, whether I participate as a blogger or just as an explorer. πŸ™‚

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  2. Jane

    January 18, 2016 at 9:45am

    Hey, alphabetical would be a great way to START a blog!
    (Not hinting. That would be disingenuous of me.) (Challenge: Use that dis- word NOT in a political context!) πŸ˜‰

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  3. Shelly

    January 18, 2016 at 1:46pm

    Thanks for this post. I’ve never heard of this challenge before and will check it out.

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    • Author
      • Shelly

        January 20, 2016 at 1:46am

        Yesterday I was out of town shopping all day and looks like they stopped accepting blogs. Oh well, maybe next time!

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        • Author

          Marian Allen

          January 20, 2016 at 8:24am

          Shelly, I think they just haven’t taken down last year’s participants yet. I’m told they’re just gearing up for this year’s challenge. I think registration opens on January 25th. πŸ™‚

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          • Shelly

            January 20, 2016 at 12:42pm

            Good to know! I’ll keep checking back. Thanks!

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  4. Patricia Stoltey

    January 18, 2016 at 2:16pm

    I sat out the AtoZ last year so I’m going to jump back in this year to get myself back into the game. I don’t have a theme yet but I’m working on it.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 18, 2016 at 2:34pm

      It’s gotten way too big for me! I like smaller challenges. πŸ™‚

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  5. Alana

    January 18, 2016 at 6:21pm

    I did A to Z last year and was intending to do it again. I am confused – it seems to be full up but it also says signups don’t begin until 1/25. I found several new blogs that I still read and it was worth it for that reason alone. I will probably do it, and may even use a similar theme to last year – America the Beautiful.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 18, 2016 at 6:57pm

      Alana, I don’t know where all those participants came from; the page address identifies itself as 2015, so maybe those are leftover from 2015 and just haven’t been cleared out yet. Go back 1/25 and you’ll probably be able to sign up. πŸ™‚

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  6. Ally Bean

    January 18, 2016 at 7:04pm

    I’ve been thinking about doing the challenge this year, but am on the fence. I survived a few of the NaBloPoMos so I have a feel for the amount of effort it takes. Just don’t know…

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 19, 2016 at 8:20am

      If you already blog every day or almost every day, the biggest challenge is keeping your posts short in deference to the folks who try to get around to as many participants as possible every day. You don’t HAVE to have a theme, but it’s become sort of A Thing. No, actually, the BIGGEST challenge is trying to keep up with the blogs I already read plus visiting as many of my fellow participants as I can. With 2000 or so participants, it’s a guaranteed FAIL, and I don’t need any more FAILs, you know? It is fun, though. πŸ™‚

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      • Ally Bean

        January 19, 2016 at 8:18pm

        Interesting observation about keeping up with your blog reading + more. After 12 years of blogging, I’m finding so many of the newer bloggers aren’t conscientious about reading other people’s blogs. There’s a lack of reciprocity that was part of blogging early on. I miss that sense of community. Thanks for your thoughts about A to Z. Just might do it this year.

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        • Author

          Marian Allen

          January 20, 2016 at 8:20am

          Maybe the new guys just haven’t learned about reciprocity yet. I didn’t know, when I first started. It only took a couple of people saying things like, “I came here from So-and-so’s blog…” and seeing how bloggers ran in and out of one another’s “houses” to teach me. πŸ™‚

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  7. Holly Jahangiri

    January 20, 2016 at 9:49am

    For those interested in just exploring the blog list, I have a drop down menu on mine with the lists from the past year or two.

    I’m still undecided. I was on Stephen’s team last year, and want to see what they’re up to this year. That was fun.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 20, 2016 at 10:11am

      Holly to the rescue! Peeps, Holly’s blog is definitely one to follow!

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  8. Debbie D.

    January 20, 2016 at 11:10am

    This will be my third time participating, for all the reasons you mentioned. Daily blogging is difficult for me, so it’s a once a year thing only. I know what you mean about the guilt of not having time to visit more, but most of us do what we can. I believe 5 was mentioned as a guideline, not the entire list. πŸ™‚

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 20, 2016 at 12:55pm

      I could probably manage 5! Thanks for the encouragement, Debbie. πŸ™‚

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