NaBloPoMo wrap-up

Well, I did it. Almost. While I missed one day of posting in November, I managed to get 30 posts in 30 days and folks, that's a NaBloPoMo success. So what in the hell did I get out of this second annual experiment in blogging?

Well, the first thing I got out of it was that I really do enjoy writing. I kind of already knew that, but whenever I do this I remember how much I enjoy writing about whatever the hell happens to cross my mind. Sometimes I can get five paragraphs out of it and sometimes not. Most of the time, the posts don't go in the direction I expect them to. Nowhere was that more apparent to me than in my private dining post, which started out as an examination of a day I spent on the Iowa State campus as a late 30-something and became something more akin to a confessional.

Last year I mentioned that I didn't think that posting daily upped my traffic at all and that it certainly didn't net me a ton of new readers. This year, I stepped outside my comfort zone and pimped this space a little bit more than usual. I linked to every post on my Twitter account and to most of them on Facebook. The advent of lists and the ability to control who can and cannot see content I post on Facebook has made me a bit braver in that respect. Doing that roped in a few new readers and saw some days' hits actually hit triple digits, although I think those were due in large parts to a whole bunch of apparently unrelated hits from Italy looking for a picture of Corpse Bride. I rarely get more than about 40 hits a day which is so minuscule in the grand scheme of things that it's the blog equivalent of a speck of dust. Not that I live and die by blog hits. Nor do I live and die by comments - although feedback is always nice. You simply cannot measure a blog based on the number of comments that it receives.

My favorite posts out of the month were the previously mentioned private dining, as well as the one with me confessing I've never done a shot, the Friends post and the Roxette/Heidi one. I am also pretty fond of the pictures I posted for Anna's birthday but there was not much actual writing on that one. I also did four of my book challenge posts. I'm never sure if those are worth the time or not, but I enjoy writing them so whatever. Skip them if they are of no interest to you.

There's no way I will keep this up in December, but I do want to try to blog on a more regular basis. NaBloPoMo always proves that I am not short on things to write about but what I am short on is time and energy. So we'll see how I do. What I am going to be doing is tweaking the site a little bit and adding in Blogger's pages options. You'll notice them along the top. There's an "about me" section that has nothing in it (apparently, I'm shallow and empty.) I'll also be adding a "greatest hits" section. There I will link to some of my favorite posts and the ones that continue to get the most hits. I think it'll help to serve as a starting point for anyone that may randomly stumble across this space or, more likely, someone I know personally that I send to the blog and keep them from being overwhelmed by the 1400+ posts. It'll be the zero-depth entry section of the blog.

Mostly, this month has been a fun time to write about what I like. And that's the biggest thing I learned. Write about what you love, not what you hate. Sure, there'll still be criticism of those things that do not live up to expectation, but I find that I am much more excited about writing about those things that I love and am passionate about. I'll also continue to share the occasional confessional post which might reveal more than I want it to, but honestly, it's in the little stories that we really get to know each other. And sometimes they're easier to write than they are to tell in person.

And THANK GOD I finally got more hits than just people looking for pictures of the monster from The Relic or trying to find out about rumbling appendicitis - probably the most common searches leading to this blog, although "Madonna remixes" is starting to give both of those a run for their money.

Thanks for continuing to read and thank you for sharing the month of November with me.

NaNoWriMoBloPoMo

It's almost November which means only ONE thing around here - we're about to lose Heidi for a month. Monday starts the beginning of National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo for short) in which participants attempt to write the first draft of a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. Last year, Heidi wrote Double Blind during NaNoWriMo. This year, I think she's planning on writing the third book in the Special Delivery series so fans of that series, the wait is getting close to being over. There will be write-ins all over central Iowa for the next month and I'm sure I'll be at many of them providing moral support and drinking overpriced coffee.

Me, I'm not that ambitious. But what I AM planning on doing is participating in NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month. I did this unofficially last year but this year, I'm jumping in with both feet and have signed up on the web site. While it was originally developed as a counterpoint to NaNoWriMo, it no longer is just a once yearly event taking place in November. However, in honor of Heidi's attempt (and the attempts of all others in the Central Iowa Authors NaNo group), I'm choosing November and, according to the FAQ on the web site, it's still the most popular month for people to participate.

I can't promise something witty every day, but there will be new material at least once a day in November. Some days, it may be no more than a YouTube link with some sentences to go along with it, but I do hope for some longer posts as well. I know that blogging is ancient history, but my dogged determination to keep this space going is stronger than ever right now.

I have a few posts I've saved for November, but expect me to catch up on my book posts. But if last November is any indication, who knows what I'll get up to.