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2017 A to Z Reflections #AtoZChallenge

I survived the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge and earned a badge!

2017 A to Z Challenge Survivor Badge

It is tradition for participants to post reflections after the Challenge. These are my 2017 A to Z reflections.

How it started

In the last week of March, author Donna B. McNicol asked if any of her friends were participating. I said yes! I had been wanting to get into blogging and figured this was a great opportunity. Why not sign up and learn as I go?

Theme

I wrote about Ecuador since I live in a country that is not well known globally.

Topics

On April 1, I had a list with a topic for each letter of the alphabet. I knew what I would write about each day. Until I began each post. It turned out that I had little to say about some topics. Others needed more research and time than I could do in a day. For some I had no photo to accompany the post.

The list I had on April 1 and the 26 posts I published had only 5 words in common. I have a bunch of almost done, half done, and hardly begun drafts. Some of those will morph into future posts.

By the numbers – April

  • 26 posts in 30 days
  • 4821 visitors
  • On average, 14.65 people commented daily
  • I read and commented on about 490 A to Z posts

 

Lessons Learned – 2017 A to Z Reflections

  • My photos are a hot mess. I spent hours seeking ones that would fit each post. Late in the month, I searched for photos prior to beginning a post.
  • April is a great time to begin blogging, if you can keep up with the pace.
  • April is not a great time for in depth posts. Some of my topics deserve more detail than I could cover in a short time. I wrote some anyway and will expand on topics in later posts.
  • Learn from others. I made adjustments based on blogs I read during the month.
  • There is little time for anything else in April. If you participate in the A to Z Challenge, clear your schedule for the month. Alternately, write posts ahead of time. Then April can be spent reading and commenting on others’ posts and responding to comments on your posts.
  • Use a blog link in your signature when commenting on other’s blogs. It is the easiest way to find blogs for reciprocal visits.

 

Where I go from here

I plan to publish a new post each Monday. They will be similar to my April posts. I also signed up for a blogfest… I still need to figure out blogfests. Ignorance did not stop me from the A to Z so I’ll learn as I go!

  • We Are The World Blogfest – The last Friday of each month, we will promote stories showing love, humanity, and brotherhood from around the world 🙂

 

Thank you

26 Posts in 30 Days

  1. Adventure – My life is one!
  2. Boobies – beautiful and bountiful on Ecuador´s coast! Blue-footed boobies, that is
  3. Currency – Coins over bills
  4. Digging up Manteño history
  5. Earthquake – The night a 7.8 shook Ecuador
  6. Fireworks – Any time is the right time
  7. Guayaquil – Iguana Park and other free attractions
  8. Humpback Whales
  9. Iguanas at our bedroom window
  10. Jama Bridge Jumping
  11. Kinder Eggs – Contraband
  12. Latitude Zero
  13. Monkey on my head
  14. Nurturing Owl Parents
  15. Olon Orphanage
  16. Post-Earthquake makeshift camps
  17. Quick stories – Rare Frog, Heated Toilet, Happy Snake
  18. Reinventing a 2.4 km beach front boardwalk
  19. Sunsets near the equator
  20. Tide Pools in Puerto Lopez
  21. Underwater Endangered Testudines (a.k.a. Sea Turtles)
  22. Vegetable Ivory – Tagua
  23. Water. Clean Drinking Water
  24. Xanthophobia, Xenoepist, Xyzlacatosis
  25. Yuletide at the Olon Orphanage
  26. Zoo – I live in one!

 

I am a US Expat in Ecuador. I grew up on a Minnesota farm, worked in IT in California's Silicon Valley, then moved to a coastal Ecuador fishing village. My goal is to share Ecuador with you, one snippet at a time. Topics include attractions, compassion, ecotourism, Ecuador products, everyday Ecuador, and flora and fauna. Please let me know what you would like to read more about!

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