It is time to reflect again; and while I am not sure if my thoughts below are that, I am labeling them such – random reflections on these multiple blogging challenges I took on this last month.
My Random Reflections
- I did it again! (completed the challenge, in the nick of time!)
- And oops, I did it again (did not pre-write/schedule any posts like I hope to at the end of every year’s challenge, and once again, going at the whole shebang on the day of – well, the day before)
- Once more, and all over again, the challenge reconfirmed that when writing is not a solitary activity, it takes on a different avatar! Knowing others are with you is encouraging in itself
- And the interaction with other participants inspires on so many levels.
- Working on my themed prompt (which kind of developed and morphed as I found myself challenged, well, of course, for certain letters) was fun for sure, and totally unexpected at times.
- I used AI to generate images for a few of the pins this time around, and enjoyed the process so much that i ended up with many other images simply because I loved them!
- And also to generate blog post titles a couple of times as I played with alliteration. While the AI titles didn’t always work for me, they did give me more to work with and play with so I could arrive at the title I wanted.
- One more AI thought and then back to regular ones; AI can help, just like prompts do. We need to figure out how best to use it to our advantage while maintaining our voice and our creativity within our works.
- I have tons of visiting to do and commenting as well. Not a reflection really but something that just needs to happen! The reflective thought here is … well, I could have scheduled my posts earlier but.. (I have said it already, way too many times!)
- I was amazed at how some other bloggers seem to have it down and also totally appreciated that many visited my blog a few times though I had not been able to visit/comment more than once or twice overall. I will be doing visiting and commenting – blog tours – in the month of May. It was cool that Ronel had two different A-Z challenges going on at the same time, and I loved how Frewin explored language in his posts (one of my fav type of posts anytime!). AI peeks in here again as I talk about Misky and her cool AI images along with poetry (and I enjoyed both her visual and literary creations). There are way too many other blogs and bloggers to talk about, including Martha and Kebba from the UBC; and… well, I think I need to create a whole different post to talk about bloggers and their inspiring ways!
- This year made me doubly sure that I need to work on my posts beforehand (and maybe only keep the NaPoWriMo/APAD prompts to add on a new poem to each post at the end). So I plan to start work on next year’s A-Z much earlier than April of 2024!
- The best parts of this – the challenge itself, the community of bloggers, and the inspiration the whole activity generates!
- Challenges are fun!
The A-Z (+ more) Posts
My posts for the month are below:
- Zunday Zcribblings #145: Zooming in on Zari with amaZing Zog!
- Yam By the Yamuna: You Alone With the Yazh So Amazing
- X for eXcellent Dashavatara! + eXploring eXploding Gravy in Xanadu
- Wondrous Warli Art: Like When Clouds Touch Earth
- Voice of Vishnu Sharma: A Visit to the Wonderful Art of Intelligent Living
- Udayana: Unrivaled Love and Undefeated, Rising Up From Losses
- Tamil: Today I am a Tree-bute to this Wonderful Timeless Language
- Sunday Scribblings #144: Unfounded Fears in a Book Lover’s Mind
- Sushruta and His Stunning Staying Power
- Resolute Razia Sultana: Wonderful Ruler – Read Read Read About Her
- Quintessential Qutub Minar: Questions and More About Angels Too
- Porus the Powerful: The Peerless Protector of Places and More
- Ode to Ooty: Other Words for Paradise and More
- Nur Jahan: Narrative that Inspires No Matter the Years
- Sunday Scribblings #143: Loving with Negations and More
- Magic of Moochwala and Musical Mirrors, The
- Larger than Life Lagaan and Lifeboats With Delightful Cookies
- Kabir: The Mystic’s Master Class to Poetry and Life
- Jagadish Chandra Bose’s Genius Plus a Wonderful Journey From Jazz to Junk
- Invincible Indra: Inspired to Rhyme by Epic Tales- Imagine That!
- Heart Beats for Harihar in Big and Little Poems
- Sunday Scribblings #142: Sonnets and Scrabble Make a Super Sunday
- Gopal the Jester’s Guide to Grasping Joy in the Everyday
- Fantastic Fatehpur Sikri Says Forget Me Not
- Exceptional Ekalavya: Eb to Flow and Everything Great & Else
- Daring Durgavati and Daunting Didda: The Story of Two Queens
- Chennamma and Her Courage Dipped Out Loud of the Air
- Baba Budan’s Beans and Beautiful Blue Ever Afters
- Sunday Scribblings #141: Booked for Better or Verse
- Admiring Avvaiyar(s): For All Each One Alone Was
And Now, the End of This Post
I hope to get another post in dedicated to the blogs I enjoyed reading later this month (after a blog tour of sorts). But here is to one more successful A-Z/NaPoWriMo/poem a day/month-long blogging challenge completed for all of us..
Linking this to Thursday 13 where many cool bloggers post 13 things of randomness each Thursday, as well as to other random posts (including the A-Z reflections post)
I can’t wait to dig into these more! I love your insightful reflections into the challenge where you discovered what worked for you, and what you could tweak to make it a little better.
I really enjoyed reading your post! Your reflections on blogging challenges and experiences were insightful and relatable. I appreciated your honesty and vulnerability in discussing the ups and downs of blogging. Your writing style was engaging and kept me hooked until the very end. Keep up the great work!
I enjoyed reading this article. Your approach to reflecting on your blogging is a healthy exercise I should try soon. I think it is a great way to improve one’s work.
Yes, AI can definitely help, but it can also do a lot of damage by helping people that don’t really have anything new or insightful to say. I like your attitude toward AI though, and your post is certainly unique so you don’t fall into that category 🙂
I’ve been digging into these! Great reads. I am inspired by your journey!
Your “13 Random Reflections on Blogging Challenges and More” post is insightful and engaging. I appreciate your honesty and transparency about the ups and downs of blogging. Your reflections are relatable and provide valuable insights for fellow bloggers. Thank you for sharing your experiences and tips for overcoming challenges in the blogging world.
Finally I have, I hope, done justice to your wonderful posts in a Roadtrip Reviez over at https://how-would-you-know.com/2023/05/roadtrip-review-no-5.html
Bravo Vidya!
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