Jounce #AtoZChallenge Bloghop

Hello from team captain, J! Yes, I do love the letter today. I hope you have lots of joyous J posts.

Don't forget that this is a bloghop. We're one of the few blogging communities remaining. Jounce to other blogs! Leave comments for your fellow A to Z participants. We join together here, and have a connection and camaraderie. I'm not jesting! Go out there and make a new blogging friend today. 

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Hop to as many blogs in the challenge as possible. Grow and strengthen the community.

Please follow us!

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
@a.to.z.challenge     @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

I is for Inspiration #AtoZChallenge

I is for Inspiration!

Where do you find your inspiration for the A to Z Challenge?

I find it in the everyday moments that spark my attention. I find it in the quiet times and the loud times. I find it in the in-betweens.

Where do you find your inspiration to keep blogging all year long?

This is my struggle. I love doing the A to Z Challenge. (I've tried other challenges, but none of them have grabbed me like A to Z has.) But I struggle to post consistently throughout the other 11 months. Some years I do great, others, not as much. Bringing on a co-blogger to keep me accountable definitely helps! What keeps you inspired all year long?

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Hop to as many blogs in the challenge as possible. Grow and strengthen the community.

Please follow us!

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
@a.to.z.challenge     @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

Keeping Heart #atozchallenge 2024

If you're not accustomed to blogging every day, you learn that coming up with a daily blog post is hard work. I've been blogging daily for almost ten years, and it's still hard work. But hard work isn't the only factor behind blogging: you have to keep your heart in it.

Easier said than done, isn't it?

You're going to have days when you sit at the computer and say, "you know, I don't want to blog today. I just want to sit here and watch cat videos on YouTube." And that's okay: we all get that way sometimes. The trick is to have your blog stuff done first. How can you do that?

1. Build up a backlog. On days when you feel like you could write all day, write a few extra blog posts. If you have a pretty set schedule every day (Monday's Music Moves Me, Top Ten Tuesday etc.), it's pretty easy to do that. If you don't have a set schedule, find blog topics that have no "expiration date" and accumulate a pile of those, sitting in "draft" status, ready to release when you need to.

2. Re-run previous posts. When you need a post and don't have one, find a post you've run previously and run it again as an "encore presentation." In fact, find a bunch of your best posts when you have some "down time" and keep them in reserve. When you re-run them, make it obvious that it's an encore.

3. Be honest. There have been one or two times when I just couldn't get the lead out and told my readers "Sorry, no blog today."

Are there some techniques you use when you have a post due and have trouble getting it out?

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Hop to as many blogs in the challenge as possible. Grow and strengthen the community.

Please follow us!

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
@a.to.z.challenge     @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

Gathering Things #AtoZChallenge 2024

What are you gathering during this year's Challenge? 

Experience? - A challenge is a great way to practice blogging, and learn what style of posting best fits you. It also helps with forming a regular blogging habit.

Information? - Setting a good theme for yourself can inspire some in-depth research that can come in handy for later projects too!

Comments? - I love reading the comments during the challenge! They light up a blogger's day. (If you leave thoughtful comments, you are the best!)

New blogs to follow? - Yes please! I love finding new and interesting blogs, and new and interesting people who write them.

Books to read? - A to Z always adds a whole lot to one's TBR, beware! :)

Momentum? - Keep going! You have already completed one whole week!

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Hop to as many blogs in the challenge as possible. Grow and strengthen the community.

Please follow us!

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
@a.to.z.challenge     @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

You CAN Win the #AtoZChallenge 2024 🏆🏅🎆🎉 Five Tips 5️⃣

Welcome to the letter F. Don't fail now! We lose so many good bloggers by the second week of the challenge. It's hard to imagine keeping up the fast pace of the start for the whole month. Here are five tips for you:

1.  Look out for negative thoughts and feelings. The little voice saying "I think you can't, I think you can't, I think you can't" doesn't own you. Acknowledge it and then reach for your goals anyway.
2. The fact is that many of our bloggers do complete the challenge. Many do come up with an alphabet of blog posts in April. And the successful majority carve out time to visit and comment on at least 50 other blogs in the hop! There is a community here waiting to show you support and ready to help you achieve your social blogging goals.
3. If you can picture yourself failing the challenge, you can also picture yourself winning the challenge. There are many possible scenarios. You can decide how this April will end.
4. If thinking about the whole month or whole challenge gets to be too much, then focus on just one day. Create one blog post for the next letter, and then go hop to a handful of blogs. Find just an hour or just twenty minutes. Negative thoughts have to be on mute for a little. ⏲ Set a timer. ⏳
5. What is the very BEST-CASE scenario for the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge for you and your blog? Find your goal! Maybe it's getting to display the winner's badge. Perhaps it's getting a certain number of comments, or leaving a given number of them. Maybe it's about improving your writing. Or proving to yourself that you can actually create a month of blog posts. Whatever would make you feel the BEST about completing the challenge, write that down and read it to yourself all month. Every time you want to quit, look at your reason to try, your stated desire, and imagine yourself achieving that goal. Consider how it will make you feel to be a winner.

You CAN do this! Please, ask any of our A to Z team members for help. We all have lots of experience and plenty of ideas to share. We want to celebrate with you during the reflection post in May. We love hearing stories of bloggers who achieved their goals during the challenge. 

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Hop to as many blogs in the challenge as possible. Grow and strengthen the community.

SIGN-UPS CLOSE APRIL 7, 2024.  
Sign-up for the challenge! https://forms.gle/41PjgHFL4zwnM2Am7

Please follow us!

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
@a.to.z.challenge     @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

E is for Excitement! #AtoZChallenge

Sign-up for the challenge! ***https://forms.gle/41PjgHFL4zwnM2Am7***

E is for Excitement

Are you excited to be taking part in the A to Z Challenge this year? Every year, I get excited to get started, but it gets more and more difficult as the month goes on. That's why it's a challenge, though, right? 

I just want you to know that if your excitement is waning, that's okay! There's still plenty of time to find your excitement again! You want to know what did it for me? I got my husband to join in. Now he's far surpassed me by opening every blog on the Master List! You want to know how many I've opened so far? 0. 0 blogs. I certainly will look at many over the next few weeks, but it's been a rough start for me. If you're feeling that, you are not alone. Don't give up! Keep the excitement flowing. Find a new blog you're excited about. Share the A to Z Challenge with a friend, and keep blogging!

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Hop to as many blogs in the challenge as possible. Grow and strengthen the community.

Please follow us!

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
@a.to.z.challenge     @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

Desire #atozchallenge 2024

Sign-up for the challenge! ***https://forms.gle/41PjgHFL4zwnM2Am7***

If this is your first A to Z Challenge, what made you decide to do it?

If this is not your first Challenge (especially if you've been away for a year or more), what brought you back again this year?

In short, what do you want out of the challenge? Some possible things you get from doing this annual exercise:

• You want more traffic for your blog.
• You have a great theme that you want to share with everyone.
• You're looking for new "blog buddies."
• You're interested in seeing what everyone else comes up with.
• Force of habit?

What you want is your desire. Kind of a strong word for it, I admit, but that's what it is. It's what makes you come back every year. For me, this is the highlight of my blogging year. I want to see what everyone else does. I have a theme that I think will be entertaining. More traffic would be nice, of course, even though this is pretty much just something to do.

Whatever your desire for this year's Challenge, I hope you find it.

MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/w54yupwe

Hop to as many blogs in the challenge as possible. Grow and strengthen the community.

Please follow us!

bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
@a.to.z.challenge     @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge