Friday 10 May 2013

Agghh to Zzzzz... Reflections of the A-Z Challenge

Phew! It's been a week or so since the end of the A to Z Challenge, and time to have a brief look back and cross-examination on how I found the last month; what I found difficult, what I found fun, and of course what I have learnt. When I chose to enter the challenge I honestly thought my daily life and work would get in the way too much and prevent me from posting every day. This turned out not to be the case, I managed to write and post a fresh page on all the dates of April. I'm pleased with myself, mostly because I'm not a good deadliner and a non-admitting procrastinator at the best of times. I'm also happy with the content I posted, some words came out well, and in particular was chuffed to get guest writers into the frame too. 

Who need's a gold medal or a Blue Peter Badge? I got this!

The Up's... 
(The steady progress of my writing, furthering of my knowledge and exposure to my blog)

Being able to put my personal gaming views down without constraints and knowing that I'll be reaching an audience that will get what I'm talking about, and maybe even introducing non-gamers to the joys of video gaming.

Reading other peoples blogs was excellent, I found some really fine posts, amusing ditty's and thoughtful material. Taking in various viewpoints and subjects is always good for the soul.

Forward planning of my posts helped to hit the deadlines, and made me organise my writing better than usual. This is something I'm actually very proud of, getting the damn things done on time! I have got to apply with to my personal works and get them finished and published! No excuses now.

Researching material and facts turned up some gems on knowledge whilst providing a refresher of the gaming info. This will stand me in good stead for my future works on The Pixel Empire.

My vocab has improved yet again, which is something I'm always trying to extend. The combination of writing daily and reading daily has aided this substantially.


The Down's... 
(Disappointments, upset's and complications)

I didn't read or comment as much as would have liked on other blogs, to my own self-arse slapping. This was due to my personal time constraints. Shift work and a young family makes writing difficult to fit in and concentrate on, even without having to post daily.

Lack of sleep! To get a post finished on time, I often found myself writing into the early hours, or getting up early to finish/post the next letter.

I tended to commandeer the computer for long periods, because although my posts were not lengthy or complex, I did a lot of researching to get my facts right. I also found myself downloading a game I had mentioned, only to become wrapped up in it.

I was not happy with some of my definitions of each letter, and thinking back I could have done better titles and themes. Some of the games got repeated several times, something which I a tried consciously to avoid.

The Diagonal's... 
(These are the paradoxical's; not good or bad, just darn frustrating and can be summed up with the expression "Meh...")

My novel writing, review writing and most notable my work for The Pixel Empire did slacken off due to keeping up with the blog. Whilst I was still writing each day, as my own personal targets are, I didn't get other writing down elsewhere. Glad it was for only a month!

Some blogs I read didn't seem to be taking a subject, theme are reason passionately, some just a mish-mash of words, moaning about trivial matters more like a diary. I look for reason in blog articles, not self-deprivation and pessimistic whingeing.

Writing about my past game experiences with thought caused me to take a second look at my thought processes went reviewing. This is a developmental aspect, but does provide a bit of a headache. Still, food for thought.


Overall, I'm glad I entered in the A to Z Challenge and very happy with myself to complete it without fracturing the rules or missing posts. It certainly lived up to it's name, it was a challenge for sure, and I hope to give it another go next year. Something not gaming related for a change.


Bug...'Out!