I Did It!

Ok, it’s over and it’s done and I did it!  At the end of September, I accepted a challenge from another blogger to create a post every day in October.  And not just random posts, but I had to stick to a theme.  Well, I can now say that I was able to complete the challenge.  I had a post every day in October and I stuck to my 31 Days of Falloween theme. 

I did learn a few things while taking this challenge.

1. It was hard.  Sticking to a particular theme made it difficult some days because so much happened in October that I wasn’t able to share everything I wanted to because it didn’t really fit the theme.  I know some bloggers that post every day.  It is a huge commitment to do that and still provide meaningful content.  Plus, at times it became stressful, with extra pressure to ensure that I didn’t miss a day.
2. The theme picked is key.  I am very thankful that I thought this through.  Falloween was probably just about the best theme I could have picked for my first time out on such a tough challenge.  I did have plenty of ideas and natural inspiration to choose from but some days it was hard.  I didn’t want to be too repetitive and I didn’t want to post something just to have a post for that particular day.  Had I picked another topic, it may have been even harder to come up with posts on a daily basis.
3. Organization and planning were key.  I have read other bloggers tips on the organization that is required to keep up a successful blog and prevent roadblocks that can happen.  They have special calendars, logs, journals…you name it…to keep them on track.  And when tackling such a big challenge as this one, I now understand why they have to keep track of ideas for posts and use whatever works to stay organized. 
4. Thank goodness for the ability to schedule posts.  This feature was a saving grace for me.  During the week when I work, I don’t always feel like being creative or have the time.  Many weekends I was able to create several posts at once and then just schedule them in advance so that I didn’t have to worry about them when I knew I would be crunched for time and creativity.  Also, I had two out of town trips that would have made it very hard to keep up the challenge if it had not been for this feature.
5. I am glad that I took the challenge.  But, I don’t think I will do something like this again.  There were lots of other things going on that I wanted to blog about, like more from our trip to South Carolina in Septemeber, our trip to Pittsburgh and my trip to New York City this month.  Those kind of things didn’t really fit into the theme so I couldn’t post about them when they were happening and that’s one of the reasons I started this blog.  I want our family and friends to know what is going on with us, hopefully while it is happening.   And I want it to be spontaneous, not manufactured.

Oh well.  I can claim this a success in my book.  I tried something new and learned many things from it.  I most likely will not do something like this again but I am glad that I went through the experience.  I wouldn’t expect a post a day going forward. =)

With that said, I think I will be taking a break for a few days at least, unless I really feel like adding something.   I hope you enjoyed the challenge with me. 

Until the next post!