A very belated happy new year to all of my blog readers, even though it’s almost February!
Where has the time gone since my last post on Christmas Day?
It’s been a wonderful Summer here and I have been enjoying the warm weather and the change of pace. I am mindful of my countrymen to the north who have faced extreme weather conditions in the form of flooding and severe storms. For the uninitiated Summer tends to bring with it extremes to Australian weather and this year has been no different with heat waves, fire and flood. And that’s just in a two week period!
Otherwise, I have been checking in and reading your blogs and making the very occasional comment. The idea for January though was to keep away from writing and just be. And I was and now it’s over.
I’m also now officially excited as I’ve just signed on for the 2013 A to Z April Blogging Challenge. This is where the blogging journey began for me last year and so I have a real soft spot for this challenge. It was the impetus for starting my blog and it gave me a great introduction to the blogging world.
The Challenge involves creating 26 posts in April, one for every letter of the alphabet. Each day has a designated letter and on that day you post a blog relating to that letter. The subject matter is entirely up to you. You then visit 5 other blogs participating in the Challenge and comment on their blogs – you can visit more if you want. Last year there were over 1,000 blogs participating!
So, if you are contemplating starting a blog, have only recently started a blog or have an established blog, here are 10 reasons why YOU should sign up for the Challenge this year:
- It’s just plain, good fun.
- It’s a great way to get your creative juices flowing.
- It will teach you about the craft of blogging and you will see your blog posts develop as the Challenge continues.
- It’s a great way to meet fellow bloggers, both on WordPress and Blogger. The Challenge is supported by its own blog site, a Facebook Page, Google + page and Twitter account. Go meet some people, ask questions!
- You will learn a great deal about blogging technique, community, presentation, online interaction and promotion.
- It’s a fantastic way to tap into a ready made audience.
- It’s a great way to experiment with your blog in a situation where you have the potential to receive some knowledgable and valuable feedback.
- You will certainly lose your inhibitions about blogging by the letter E!
- You have the opportunity to talk to some extremely experienced bloggers who are willing to share tips and tricks. The hosts are generous with their time and ideas and are very receptive.
- It’s only February and you have oodles of time to prepare.
- I know I said 10, but here’s a bonus reason – because 10 just isn’t enough. You will have a great sense of achievement and satisfaction when it’s done and will have likely picked up at least a dozen new followers along the way.
I hope you come and join me in the Challenge come April. If you decide to, please add a link to your blog in the comment section below, so I can visit you throughout the Challenge. Also, if you have any questions about my experience from last year, I am happy to answer them.
Join up and experience all the emotions from Anticipation to Zealous. You’ll be glad you did.
Raising the Curtain 
Yee Haa you have returned to the fold! Glad you have a lovely break and a different pace. Happy New Year J. 🙂 xx
It’s been lovely and happy new year to you Rambly!! So good to see your smiling face around here. Hope all is well in your corner of paradise 🙂
Pretty good. Started a new job 1 month in… still adjusting lol. Everyone fine down here in not so sunny Melbourne. Storm has hit and cold and raining…got to love it down south. 🙂
Happy New Year! I was thinking of you yesterday and *bam* here you are back in full gear. This challenge is how we met, so of course it’s close to my heart. I look forward to seeing what you do this year…perhaps I’ll join you.
Glad to know you are enjoying your Summer!
I’d love it if you join me Lisa, you’d totally nail it. I am very grateful we met. Here I am and there you are, writing up a storm!
Nothing much scares me like the thought of posting a blog entry daily. Yikes. 😉
It is pretty scary but the trick (which I didn’t appreciate last year) is to plan ahead, so you have your blog posts pretty much written before the challenge starts. You can then ficu on the networking and visiting.
Not sure yet if I will rise to that challenge! 😉 But thanks for the heads-up!
You’d be great! But whatever you decie, hope you’ll come along for the ride as a reader.
Well, you would think that the Rocky Horror reference would be enough encouragement for me to join the Challenge 😉 … hum will give it serious thought! I think I am in between study periods during most of April.
It’s a great way to break in a new blog. After the Challenge is done, you end up with a wonderful block of content. Hope you do participate :).
Enjoying summer is far better than blogging. I’m glad you’re okay.
Let’s add one more: you learn about things you might not have learned otherwise.
Thanks John, hope all is well in your world too. Yep, let’s add one more – looking forward to sharing the A – Z journey with you.
With friends like you how can the A to Z Challenge not be a big success. Thanks for a great post which I will link to on my next Monday post on the A to Z Blog.
Thanks Lee. I will never forget the kindness you showed me at the start and during the Challenge last year. To a novice blogger any amount of positive attention and constructive advice is a godsend. Thank you and thanks for the proposed link. It’s time for me to pay it forward.
Thanks for the shoutout! Tweeted this 🙂
No problem, Damyanti. Thanks for the tweet and for swinging by. Will stop by and visit your blog ahead of the Challenge.
welcome back! so glad all is well. I am contemplating the challenge, I so enjoyed yours last year, you inspired me and gave me such a good time reading your posts. I look forward to them again this year! glad you are back! DAF
Thanks DAF, I hope you do decide to undertake the Challenge this year. We can be Challenge buddies 🙂
Some of my friends did it last year and they looked like they had fun. This will be my first year participating.
Good luck, I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful experience.
I participated last year and loved every single word of it (and letter …. except for maybe the U, X and Z!) It was a lot of fun and will blog again this year with A to Z. No posts written and ready yet, but I have my list of words I’ll use, which is a help.
See you there!
Thanks for coming by and saying hello, Trisha. I hope you enjoy it again this year, I’m really looking forward to it. Will swing on by your blog when the Challenge is on.
Great post! I had to share it. I’m a first timer to the challenge and to blogging, but what better way to just start back into writing! btw- love the name Raising the Curtain and the tagline! See you around!
Thanks for the share. It is a great way to kick start a return to writing. Will drop by and see you during the Challenge.
Hi! I came across your blog from a the A to Z website. This is my second year taking part in the challenge. Last year I had no theme and did not finish. this year I entered two blogs. Living Loving and Learning will have a theme where I write about a phobia- bad thing is there are no phobias with two of the letters… the other blog Stephanie M. Pawley- not sure what the theme will be. Looking forward to reading your posts.
Hi Stephanie, thanks for swinging by. Now you have me intrigued, which of the two letters have no phobias? Good luck with the Challenge x 2, I’ll look forward to reading your Challenge posts.
Love your background! Noticed you checked me out, so I thought I would wander over. The A to Z Challenge sounds like quite the workout – maybe just the thing I need to get me back on a blogging schedule? I’ll have to think about it. Thanks for stopping by!
It’s always great to hear from someone who ‘survived’ the challenge last year and recommends it! I’ve just posted my first “A” entry and already enjoying the other posts and diversity of content and ideas out there. My first real challenge is the time zones…I’m about to go to sleep in Australia and keen to check out more of the posts that are appearing as other parts of the world start their day 🙂
It’s always great to hear from someone who ‘survived’ the challenge last year and recommends it! I’ve just posted my first “A” entry and already enjoying the other posts and diversity of content and ideas out there. My first real challenge is the time zones…I’m about to go to sleep in Australia and keen to check out more of the posts that are appearing as other parts of the world start their day
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