Before this 31 day challenge I would have described myself as a fairly reluctant blogger. I wrote a post once or maybe twice a week but to be honest I always saw it as a bit of a chore. Challenging myself to write (and post) every day has completely changed my mindset and encouraged me to see my blogging and writing in a completely different way.
1. Contrary to previous beliefs I am not as much of a planner as I thought. I like to get up and write whatever is in my head rather than planning ahead.
2. I can blog from my phone. A total game changer as before I always had to use my laptop.
3. A blog post doesn't have to be meticulously crafted to be readable. Sometimes the comments that most strike a chord with readers are the off the cuff comments which I've thrown in at the end.
4. Personal is good. Sharing more personal stories and emotions, whilst a little more difficult, generates a lot more interest and comments from readers.
5. A blog post can be just as long or as short as I want it to be. No more stressing about it being the 'right length'.
6. I really am a morning person. I tried to write my blog posts at night and it didn't end well. Maybe that's the reason I've never managed to keep a journal going longer than a few weeks.
7. I can procrastinate for England. OK, I knew that one already but this challenge just reinforced it. If I didn't blog first thing it simply wouldn't get done.
8. I really can stick at something if I put my mind to it. At the fine age of 45 this is the first time I have successfully done something ( anything) for 31 straight days. Last year's attempts at a dry January were pretty pitiful, for example.
9. I have found other bloggers. Blogging more has encouraged me to read more blogs myself and I've found some brilliant new blogs and writers I had no idea about before.
10. My blog is not dead ( or even slightly ill). It has hit the ground running in 2017 and has no intentions of giving up now. Given an infinite supply of hot coffee I reckon I could just keep going and going.
