Reflections on Blogchatter A2Z 2018

At the end of a month of hurricane blogging and reading, I am still wallowing in the delight and amazement of the entire exercise. I cannot but thank the Blogchatter Team enough for this stupendous initiative and introducing me into a whole new level of blogging. Truly, at the successful completion of the A2Z, I was able to take my blog to the ‘next level’.

The A2Z started out as a first-of-its-kind experience for me, as I had never tried my hand at serious blogging before. But once it started, it was a roller coaster all the way. Choosing the theme was the first important step and that done, the journey only got better. Blogchatter made A2Z easy for us with a well-structured plan, clear rules, timely linkies and prompt replies to our queries. The DM groups run by Blogchatter introduced us to our fellow bloggers who very quickly became our friends as we shared thoughts, opinions, likes and support with each other.

My blog had hitherto not seen such an influx of readers and visitors and thus the experience was one of a delightful learning for me. Almost every post that I wrote in the A2Z was read, commented on and appreciated by my fellow bloggers and other readers. This in itself was a rocket of inspiration and urged me to write better in each subsequent blog-post.

The Blogchatter team left no stone unturned to ensure that we had the time of our blogging life during the A2Z by continuously ‘liking’, ‘retweeting’ and sharing our posts and links on Twitter and other social media. The ‘secret activities’ and ‘badges’ kept us thrilled and our morale high. The veterans of earlier A2Zs soon turned mentors for newbies like us, where they answered our questions, offered advice and constantly encouraged us with their comments and appreciations.

The other aspect of the A2Z which became as integral to the journey as the blogging itself, was the group of new-found friends among the fellow bloggers. We discovered many talented writers amongst ourselves who wrote on varied subjects, different genres, adopting a range of impressive styles of writing thereby giving us a myriad of blog-posts to read every day. Discovering and subsequently following others’ blogs was yet another wonderful find of the A2Z.

 A marathon as the A2Z has its own share of challenges as well. Time and time sharing was the primary challenge that I felt hit us hard. While composing our own blog posts every day, amidst the daily chores of work and life, took up the major share of our time, reading so many good blogs by others also necessitated that we devote due time. Gradually, it all fell into a daily routine, but then the learning was to come better prepared the next time around.

As I reflect on the recently concluded A2Z, I must say a BIG Thank You to Team Blogchatter and my fellow Bloggers of the A2Z, especially the ones with whom we formed a close knit group of daily camaraderie, for a very enriched, delightful and rewarding experience. While my blog had seen its next level, A2Z has also opened doors for me into newer and exciting territories of writing. Armed with more confidence and the boost of appreciation and encouragement gained from A2Z 2018, my mind is already planning for my theme for A2Z next year!

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