October Ultimate Blog Challenge – Day One

I’ll call it ‘Third Time Lucky’, for want of a better philosophy, but the Ultimate Blog Challenge is back. I made a weak attempt in January, then slightly better in July, and have signed up again for October. I’ve dusted off my iPad and sharpened up my keyboard, so let’s go! 

Why Am I Doing This?

I learned so much from the first two challenges that I couldn’t resist coming back for Round Three. I saw the difference the challenges made to my writing, and I know I can learn a lot more. 

And one of the great things about the Ultimate Blog Challenge is the people you meet on the journey. Accepting the challenge is a lot more than simply posting a blog each day – it’s about reading other people’s blogs. When someone makes a comment on one of my blogs, I immediately feel connected to the reader.   Leaving a comment for another blogger makes a connection with them. And it makes a difference. We don’t sit and write each day to have nobody read our writing, no matter how humble it might be. Seeing a comment at the bottom of a blog, validates the time and effort of writing it. It makes it all worthwhile. 

So, what is the Ultimate Blog Challenge?

The challenge lies in being able to address a set topic, within a specific time-frame. Since there are only twenty-four hours in a day, that’s all you get, from the time you get the topic of the day, until the next one arrives in your inbox. 

For someone like me, the ticking clock is my biggest motivator. Without the time-frame I’d spend way too long writing each blog. Writing within the confines of a day ensures I get a hurry-on. And that in turn makes sure I use less words instead of more. 

One of the things I’ve noticed about my writing is that I’m getting much more contained in my ‘wordiness’. 

“So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys – to woo women – and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”

N.H. Kleinbaum, Dead Poets Society

When recycling isn’t a good thing!

Recycling waste is great for the environment. Recycling blogs isn’t good for the challenge. Each blog has to be new content. Perhaps a new spin on an old theme would work, but re-posting something that has already been posted doesn’t fit within the Blog Challenge guidelines.

Here’s to writing one blog a day for the month of October!

May we all succeed and arrive at the end of the October Ultimate Blog Challenge with thirty-one blogs, done and dusted.

This is my first blog for the month.

Enjoy!

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8 responses to “October Ultimate Blog Challenge – Day One”

  1. Dianne Hill Avatar
    Dianne Hill

    Best wishes for this attempt Maureen. I do think to do a post a day for a whole month is just a bit much – like you, I have quite a few things in my diary and wouldn’t make it. Maybe next time.
    Best thing is to do posts ahead of time and schedule them. You might have to edit a bit to complay with the day’s instructions though. Cheers

    1. Maureen Avatar
      Maureen

      Thanks Di. I agree, a post a day is a lot! But, if I can conquer this I will have learned to be a bit faster with the blogging. And that in itself is a challenge…. But it’s the people I meet along the way that makes it so powerful.
      Thanks for reading my blog, and taking the time to comment.

  2. Trish Avatar
    Trish

    Good luck this time around!!! I have failed each time but am determined to try again. I really enjoyed your overview of the Challenge.

    1. Maureen Avatar

      Thanks Trish. If we learn something each time, then we haven’t failed. Even if, as in my case, I’ve learned that I take too long to write a blog. Now that I’m using the Gutenberg Plugin on my WordPress site, I’m seeing a big difference. Everything is much easier, and therefore much faster. Good luck with your blogs. I look forward to reading them.

  3. Theresa Avatar

    Good luck on Round 3! I’m sure you’ll do great, and I look forward to reading your posts throughout the month.

    1. Maureen Avatar

      Thank you, Theresa. I’ll be stocking up on cheese and crackers again today, just to get me through. It’s amazing what you can survive on when you have to…. Thanks again for reading my blog. Much appreciated.

  4. Pamela Schmidlin Avatar

    Welcome to the Challenge, you will definitely make it through the 31 posts/ days this month- I love your style of writing, I feel as if we are friends having a conversation. I try to write as if I’m talking to friend right in front of me…..or as if my Mom or Dad are sitting right on the other side of my table and talking with me…….I hope to read you posts every day and hope you do the same, sharing each blog with others as well….Yours and mine…..posting on Twitter, etc (@thedogrunner) my instagram is @thehealthydogrunner …..I will also be challenging myself to do a vlog on YouTube everyday this month to up my traffic and gain followers and new friends!

    1. Maureen Avatar

      Thanks for the vote of confidence, Pamela. I’ll keep blogging away as much as I can, although I have a fairly heavy schedule this month with other things. Ah well, life is what gives us something to write about, so I can’t complain. I will certainly read your posts as well. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.