Today’s Five on Friday list will be short and sweet because, honestly, I have a lot to do today. In addition to my usual Friday tasks–writing, running errands, driving my kid to and from school, etc.–I’m preparing to take part in the A to Z Blog Challenge. Last I checked, there were 1,400 bloggers signed up to participate! I’ve never done a blog challenge, but I’m looking forward to this one. If you haven’t considered participating in a writing challenge, consider signing up. You have until Monday to add your blog to the list.
You can follow the two of us (Lynn and me) as we blog separately. Lynn will be blogging on behalf of A Common Sea and I’m posting over at my personal blog. You’re welcome to follow along with both of us.
Still not convinced to sign up for the blog challenge? Here are five great reasons:
- Practice practice practice. My number one goal is to improve my writing (and blogging, specifically) in a way that engages readers and hopefully, entertains them along the way. Being responsible for one post a day ensures that I won’t have any excuses to procrastinate.
- A blogging challenge can help you think outside the box. My second goal is to get more creative with my writing. I have a lot of experience writing articles and doing academic research, so creative writing can potentially help me loosen up a bit.
- You have a lot of freedom regarding what you blog about, as long as it corresponds to the letter of the day. It could be a journal entry, a poem, a recipe, anything. It doesn’t even have to be the written word. If you’re a photographer, post a different picture each day.
- With so many participants, you’re bound to make a few new connections, maybe even friends. You’ll find people writing about topics that you love to read about, and you’ll probably find a few wacky blogs that make you shake your head, but that are fun to read nonetheless. For example, I had never heard of ninja kittens until I took a peek at one of the other blogs. It takes all kinds….
- Traffic! If you’re trying to get more visitors to your blog, this is one surefire way to do it. The Challenge guidelines ask everyone to try to visit at least five blogs every day, more if possible. Just be sure to update your blog every day–or schedule the posts ahead of time–and make sure your site is user friendly, with your contact information prominently displayed.
A Common Sea 
Excellent reasons all. I’ll link to this on the A to Z Blog Summary tomorrow (Saturday).
Lee
Sad Songs Blogfests—Places I Remember
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
Posted by Arlee Bird | March 30, 2012, 21:50Thanks for the link! Can’t wait to start the challenge.
Posted by katietesta | March 31, 2012, 10:02This challenge has pointed me in the right direction, as far as blog posts are concerned, in more ways than one. Research, motivation, style, content, just to mention a few. I’ll catch up with you during April. Blessings from Geoff.
Posted by Geoffrey | March 31, 2012, 10:30I’m struggling with the mechanics of posting and reading blogs. I was assigned the letter A (i.e., April 2nd) and Mysti posted my pience about Alzeiheimers some place some where, but damned if I can find it. Where do I post my additional April pieces – on my own blog “gg’s hope”; on A-Z blog — on individual participants own personal blogs. I’m sorry to be so dense but need to get clarification on the rules. I have a piece ready to post entitled “Birthdays – B for April 3rd) and have absolutely no idea what to do with it. Can anyone help?
Posted by georgianna33 | April 1, 2012, 23:37Hi! The challenge actually began April 1st with the letter A, so today, April 2nd, is the letter B. You should upload your letter posts on the blog that you specified when you signed up for the challenge. So if that was GG’s Hope, then yes, post it there. If you scroll towards the bottom of the challenge sign-up page (http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html) and look on the right-hand side, you can see the letter schedule. Except for April 1st, we skip Sundays. I hope that helps! 🙂
~Lynn
Posted by A Common Sea | April 2, 2012, 10:46cool ill await for your a-z hope you visit mine too here http://pa-ul.blogspot.com/2012/03/z-artists.html
Posted by artanddesignofpaul | April 1, 2012, 00:05Right after I hesitantly signed up for the A-Z Challenge, I started getting all kinds of ideas during my daily runs and hikes. And then on April 1st, I found myself writing about my life back home in Africa. Not sure what’s next. It’s exciting. And I love the idea that if I’m stuck for something to write I can come up with a recipe or a photo. Hmm, that’s given me an idea.
Posted by Rossandra | April 2, 2012, 17:51