#AtoZChallenge 2022 Reflections and Winner Badges

<a href="http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Reflections 2022 #atozchallenge" border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglvp-aAddyX3nvJI6OdvqKpWiz0ITjX2IyLOyesrxMt857VrATVnJZmsmT5FYll7l-AEbI7Gs9NjAXpERPJJBecBFr9hRBmUn-mXxqxGl6QXe8I_-p4p2CksC3pOiiF0mwehcihwo8Qx26vh65cq09hjbgWU31LNirDp5tRrlqvEwCzWCcGZw1_Z9lkg=s320" width="320"></a>



<img alt="#AtoZChallenge 2022 WINNER badge" border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQT-exinfk6KajvsBZjjkRiwqsJk2N7cFuPqT3X9DlavFAIzQNXEUuTNartuLLPWzcYVmzofuWGBy5JiOfYi31GLfuT7IML61Vs___aJeS728jZT_1fm1vl485pv44Leai7tBvWR8S0HUbJ3_eJoatkca4RpRbYVvX4Zyl8NFdfopyBN3-1JNqCrnD/s1600/A2Z-winner-2022_na.jpg"/>

And GIF! For the animated crowd.



<img alt="gif #AtoZChallenge 2022 WINNER badge animated" border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rh_Zu_RwyghNVZJxrd9TsBSdC2LDtOnbkrCtxtQ9v8ZZcw2zBaXqodnHUWvbfd77GLBp0mGDcHCOkFe_jqpxYbpj67sSfkUsADDgd8ZPvFZuoS39_L2VW2fMlv6UT6zVzx8AUvmrZb3Ie-0F7aSaZK821v0454qrhs9mrSscgydc0Y-QeMCEyV4X/s1600/A2Z-winner-badge_2022.gif"/>

Time to reflect on the 2022 A to Z Challenge and visit and comment on each other's reflection posts. 

Here are some ideas to help you write it:

• Give consideration to how the A to Z Challenge impacted your blog.
• View your stats to see how the last 30 days changed your blog view numbers.
• Make an observation about how many comments you got on your April posts.
• Contemplate what you learned from making posts during the Challenge.
• What gave you the idea for your Challenge Theme, if you used one?
• Did any blogs you visited in the Challenge make a lasting impression on you?
• Perhaps meditate on how to express your thoughts about the Challenge this year.
• Give an opinion on any of the three #AZchat events from this year.
• What impact did the Challenge have on your social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)?
• Rumination about the A to Z Challenge can help the team improve!
• This year included a deliberation to find another graphic person after the loss of Jeremy. Muse about the imagination and talent of Anjela.
• What is your impression of the A to Z Team?
• After much cogitation, let your pensiveness reflect in your post.
• Did any dreams or goals you set come to fruition during this April Challenge?
• Please tell everyone if you picked up any sweet merchandise this year.

The A to Z team would LOVE to know your thoughts on NEXT YEAR! 

What needs to change?

What should stay the same?

What theme do you think we'll use?

Comment here, hit up our social media, or put it in your reflection post. 

Remember to post and sign up before May 7 to be included!

Reflections Sign Up Form
https://forms.gle/bcQ3vjPsK7cBMWmT9

Reflections list 

Visit each other and comment, please!
Make a copy for yourself to keep track of which blogs you have visited. 
If you take a copy before May 7, be sure to check back so you get all the entries! 
https://tinyurl.com/AZRef22

CLOSES ON MAY 7!!! 

Twitter and Instagram chat:

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=%23AZchat+on+Twitter+and+Instagram&iso=20220503T01&p1=211&am=30

Don't forget! 🤔💡

The ROADTRIP sign-up is May 16. 

That's when you'll tell us what post you made this year that you hope more of us will see later.

Tell us your favorite post you made during the 2022 Challenge. Or the one you'd like to see get more comments. Or the post you feel will net the most permanent followers to your blog.

Start thinking about which you'll choose when that opens on MAY 16.    



bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
@a.to.z.challenge @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge
Please follow us on social media.

File, Make a Copy of the Master List for yourself! Click this:
https://tinyurl.com/AtoZ22
Be sure your copy has all 234 bloggers who were in the 2022 challenge. Hopping to other blogs to leave comments was half of the challenge!

Get your 2022 merchandise here: 
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/103818836

#AtoZChallenge A Reverie

The team's theme of the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge this year is:
ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAMS, AND THE DUALITY OF 22

 Hi A to Zers! Here we are at the letter R already! How is your challenge going?

When I was allowed the opportunity to write this guest blog I went into a reverie (or daydream) about reality and reflections. As an amateur photographer I enjoy finding interesting reflections, whether they are in puddles, lakes, flowing water or the calm sea. The reflections are an optical illusion. They are often very beautiful, but even the smallest child soon realises that they can’t be touched. They have no solidity. They are not real in that sense.

Another sort of reflection is thought. I am not a philosopher and will leave it to those better qualified than myself to answer the question, ‘Are thoughts real?’

My reverie caused me to reflect on previous A to Z Challenges. This is the 10^th year I have participated. The first year I was rather new to blogging. My first blog was set up for a particular purpose. I found writing to a formula somewhat limiting, so started a second blog, Sue’s Trifles, with the idea of taking part in writing challenges. It was a few days before the start of the Blogging from A to Z in April Challenge, as I discovered by doing a search for ‘challenge’. I signed up and wrote my posts mostly on the day they were due.

One year I also did the challenge on my third blog, Sue’s words and pictures, which is where I post some of the photos I take. Sue’s words and pictures began in 2015 after a particularly enjoyable day out with hubby and my new smart-phone.

Preparing twenty eight posts (including the theme reveal and reflections posts) on one blog is time-consuming. Double that and advance preparation is essential. I recollect that after the first year I began to prepare and schedule my posts in advance. Sometimes I’d be away from home for a week during April.

This year I almost didn’t take part. I am trying to write a memoir of my childhood in the suburbs of south London. It will contrast life in the densely populated south with a village in Lancashire where I was taken for an annual visit to my grandparents. Other parts of the country will also feature. The differences between the north and south of England are topical as the UK government talks about ‘levelling up’.

It was Dave, who wrote the fascinating post about all the twos, who persuaded me to take part again this year. For a writer one person wishing to read their output is a spur. My dream is that many of you will wish to read what I have already written and what I write in the future.

This is my second guest post on this blog. My first is now somewhat superseded by changes in technology.

The theme of dreams and duality encompasses (I hope) reality and reflections. Perhaps memories of other times and places also have a relevance to the theme. 

I have rambled long enough. Reflections are important in the A to Z Challenge. Bloggers are invited to reflect on their experience of taking part. If you are intending to publish a Reflections post it is not too early to gather your thoughts about comments you have received and blogs you have visited as part of the challenge.

Writer bio

Susan always wanted to be a writer.  In 2012 she revived her interest in writing with a project to collect the kinds of sayings, which were much used in her childhood.

Blogging was intended as a way of improving writing skills, but has become an interest in its own right.  Susan experiments with factual writing, fiction, humour and poetry.  She does not yet have a book to her name. Her interests include words, languages, music, knitting and crochet.  She has experience of the world of work, being a stay-at-home mum and an empty-nester.   She is active in her local community and Church, where she sings alto in the choir. She is a member of the Association of Christian Writers. She and her husband live in the north of England. 

Follow her on Twitter @suesconsideredt

Reflections will open on May 2. Will you write a post for that?

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
@a.to.z.challenge @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge
Please follow us on social media.

File, Make a Copy of the Master List for yourself! Click this:
https://tinyurl.com/AtoZ22
Be sure your copy is updated with everyone who signed up for the challenge. Hopping to other blogs to leave comments is half of the challenge!

Get your 2022 merchandise here: 
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/103818836

Hindsight 2020: A to Z Challenge Reflections

We have done it! Another year of the A to Z Challenge flew by. Whew! It was an unusual year, for sure, but we are all extremely happy that you all made it happen!

Here are some numbers:

510 blogs were signed up for the Master List this year. Not our highest number ever, but still a pretty good number for a blogging challenge! We also had a lot of returning bloggers, which was great to see!

92 blogs signed up but didn't post. This always happens, but it is especially understandable this year, when everyone is a little out of sorts, and readjusting to a different routine.

Author/Writing was, once again, our most popular category. We had (at least) 120 authors with us this year!

702 is the number of comments you lovely people left on the main blog this year! That's about 23 comments a day. Thank you for visiting!

If you would like to help us learn more about the experience you had this year, don't forget to fill out the After Survey here!

If you would like to add your blog to the list of Reflections, fill out the Google Form here and view the list of participating blogs here.

On a more personal note: I think this year was the Year of Good Commenters. Maybe because of the lower number of blogs participating, or maybe because everyone is trying to be kinder in these trying times, but the comments I have received and seen were all friendly, and contained substance and encouragement, rather than things like "hi." 

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Had a different experience? Can't wait to read all of your Reflections posts! Sign up here!

Thank you all for participating, for visiting, for posting, for commenting, and for making this year's 2020 Mission a success! Happy Blogging! See you on the Road Trip!

#AtoZChallenge Reflections 2019

We're celebrating our Tenth Anniversary here at the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

#AtoZchallenge. The blog hop that made an online community by asking bloggers to spend the month of April using the English alphabet as inspiration for their posts. We're glad you stopped by today.

The Reflection post is a tradition here at the A to Z Challenge. It gives us a chance to look back at what worked, what didn't, what we've done, what was learned, and where we hope to go from here. Take your time and think. After you've posted, add your direct link to the list.

This year, in honor of our anniversary, here's a list of ten questions you might use for your post:

1. What did you love about the challenge this year?
2. What would you change about it?
3. What was the best moment for you during this year's challenge?
4. What is the best comment your blog got during the challenge, and who left the comment?
5. Will you do the challenge again?
6. Was it well organized and were the hosts helpful? (Did you fill out the after survey?)
7. How did you and your blog grow, change, or improve as a result of this challenge? Did you find new blogs out there to enjoy?
8. Were you on the Master List? (If you did the challenge last year, was it better this time without the daily lists?)
9. Any suggestions for our future?
10. Any notes to the co-host team? A word of thanks to Jeremy for all his hard work on the graphics? A picture with your A to Z shirt, if you ordered one?

This list is just a suggestion. Follow your heart and mind as you reflect on the challenge.

LINK TO REFLECTION SIGN UP:
https://forms.gle/qWu8NmVgitt9CBiK6

If you're participating by posting a REFLECTION post, do so there.

DIRECT link to your Reflection post, please. (Not to your blog or main website, but to the post!)
Closes May 17.

LINK TO REFLECTION LIST:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BakdXuadi9VJE1JM3mcnR9H8ooleTRoX9JGHlF-OYy4

To find, and hop to, all the blogs officially participating in REFLECTIONS, click the above link.

HTML code for the reflections badge (for those who wish to use it)
<a href="http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/" Target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOD6U5DCjNhlF6ReezBvYYfOIHWEYph9bcyYeaA0c5e53s0h32fXpfkvgsv4tz0TiCw7jmGR6D9dYSAI9b48jCSo7-VxkXDpuWSQud1M7oAASLXq6bi3lVyjzHJxLwSo7UeE9_ovH7L1I/s320/reflection.jpg" alt="#AtoZChallenge 2019 Tenth Anniversary Reflections badge" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="930" width="500"/></a>



The team needs your feedback!

https://forms.gle/k4UpJgaTpca5venR7

That's the link to the after survey.


It's much shorter than last year's survery. Please take a minute to fill it out. There's a chance to win a guest post. Thank you!

SURVIVOR BADGE IS ON PAGE 2 OF THE SURVEY!

May 20 is the sign up for the Road Trip! Mark your calendar.

Grab your A to Z gear, and other cool goodies from our graphics guy, here: NeatoShop.com/artist/Jeremy-Hawkins

#AtoZChallenge After Survey and May Announcements

Welcome to May, A to Z bloggers! Here's what's going on right now.

1. The link to the after survey is below. Please fill it out if you did the challenge, didn't complete the challenge, thought about doing the challenge, did the challenge in a previous year, might do the challenge next year, etc. In other words, WE WANT YOU. Listen, the last few months were a real bear for the team. We had to adapt and come up with creative solutions to a lot of behind-the-scenes problems. Your feedback is the ONLY way we can know what we're doing right, doing wrong, or not doing at all. PLEASE, make time before May 18 to take the survey. Thank you.



2. GUEST POST SPOTS GIVEAWAY! What!?! Yeah, you read that right. We're giving away guest spots as a prize. To enter, fill out the after survey and check YES, that you wish to have a chance to win. Write your own, have team captain J Lenni Dorner interview you, or pitch us another idea. Use it yourself or auction it off. Any all-ages content, up to 2000 words, 7 images max. This blog has an impressive reach, as you probably know. The prize must be used between June 4, 2018 and March 3, 2019. Dates on a first come, first serve basis.  



3. Bonus good news! Filling out the survey can help you write your reflections post. It has been known to inspire discussions about what you did or did not like about the challenge. And it can remind you of what you've learned this month. For that reason, the SIGN-UP for reflections WILL REMAIN OPEN until May 18. (The same day the survey closes.) For those of you who don't know what a reflections post is, stop by on May 7 for the post with the details. 
   



4. The ROAD TRIP is coming back! This year, we're asking bloggers to pick ONE post from your #AtoZChallenge 2018 offerings and link it up. Which post that you published this year was your favorite? Start thinking about it, because the Road Trip is coming on MAY 23. (The Road Trip is where bloggers continue to visit each other from May thru March. Often, people will comment on one A to Z blog post and then surf to your latest post to leave a comment there as well.) 



5. Tee-shirts for sale. Our awesome graphics guy, Jeremy, made a tee-shirt for the 2018 Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Think how cool you'll be strutting your stuff in the only official gear of the #AtoZChallenge! Impress people with your month of blogging and blog hopping fortitude by wearing a shirt that showcases your passion for this challenge. Post selfies in your shirt using our hashtag! Randomly find each other on the street. Wear it to remind yourself that you're part of an online community. Or wear it when you're going somewhere and need something that no one else is likely to wear. Perfect attire for rock concerts or the first day of college! It also makes a cool conversation starter among those who don't know what the challenge is. 



6. Former team member DL Hammons has WRiTECLUB voting still going on all month. It's your chance to make a difference for aspiring writers. Please check it out frequently!

To take part in the survey, please click: 

https://goo.gl/forms/ov9AUyP1dJ6lhoPl2

This form will close on MAY 18.

The A to Z team recommends TimeAndDate or WorldTimeBuddy for your time zone calculation needs.
We use Midnight GMT.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the standard by which all time zones are based. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time zone used for UTC. That's why we use it.




https://goo.gl/9f9mfR
Click for the MASTER LIST of all participants who signed up for the #AtoZchallenge 2018!

2018 Pre-Challenge Blogging from A to Z Survey #AtoZchallenge

Jayden, our new co-host, has crafted this poll to help our 2018 challenge be a huge success. It can't happen without you.

Please take a minute to fill this out. (It doesn't matter if you've been with us since 2010 or if 2018 will be your first time-- we want YOUR ANSWERS!)

As a bonus, there's a special prize pack for one lucky random winner!
Any A to Z participant who completes the survey and publically shares this post is eligible to win.
Closes March 3, 2018.

Disney's "Frozen" executive trio stationery set (leather journal, writing utensils, light keychain), Thor: Ragnarok coin, keychain (nail clipper, bottle opener, logo of 2018 Superbowl champions-- the Philadelphia Eagles), Minion Dave sticker, "Party Rd" Pennsylvania Amish country novelty road sign, 5 postcards (Pennsylvania state images, Pennsylvania Dutch direction sign, Pennsylvania Amish horse and buggy Intercourse picture, Whoopie Pie recipe, Shoofly Pie recipe), and "Be Insta Famous" social media journal.

(Estimated value= $50 US)

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Pre-Challenge Survey Closes   ---  March 3, 2018
• A to Z Challenge Sign Up   ---  March 5, 2018 
• Theme Reveal   ---  March 19, 2018
• "A" post   ---  April 1, 2018 (No fooling! 😁 )
•  After Challenge Survey  ---  May 3, 2018
• Reflections  ---  May 7, 2018

Mark your calendars. 📅 

Survey link: https://goo.gl/forms/jXMnJKkwrdUt3y0o1

Don't forget to SHARE THIS POST!