Have I Learned Anything From NaBloPoMo?

This is how they got me:

If 50,000 words seem like 49,000 too many or you’re more interested in blogging than writing a book, NaBloPoMo — National Blog Posting Month — might be your speed: a challenge to post once every day for the entire month of November. No theme, no word count, no rules; just you, your blog, and 30 new posts.

Sounds like a blast, doesn’t it?

Until you realize… I have to write every day for the entire month of November? That’s a lot of posts, kids.

But we’re more than halfway through the month and I’m hanging in there so far. The Big Question is: Have I grown as a blogger? A person? Have I learned anything?

Let’s see, shall we?

 1)  Scheduling is everything.  The “Schedule” feature on my WordPress blog has saved my Canadian bacon this month. It is November 9 as I write this but you won’t it won’t go “public” (if one can refer to ten readers as the “public”) until the 19th or 20th. Which, by the way, is the closest I’ll ever come to time traveling like Doctor Who.

For me, being able to write posts ahead of time and let them publish at a predetermined schedule is key to this whole endeavor; as a dad/husband/bellman/nerd/hack writer, I never know how much free time I’m going to have.

2)  Even half-baked posts can be useful someday.  Thanks to NaBloPoMo I’ve pretty much cleaned out all the half-realized posts that were languishing in my blog’s archive. Not that I’ve been throwing just anything out there for your enjoyment; every post in my archive has needed some tinkering and updating but at least they’ve given me a head start.

3)  NaBloPoMo is a lot of work – but it’s a helluva lot easier than NaNoWriMo.  For me, at least. After the crap-on-a-cracker that was my first book, it’s taken me years to write a second book that I can be proud of. Now I just have to finish uploading it to Wattpad…

So NaBloPoMo is a godsend for a hack like me.

4)  It’s actually fun to see your blog stats rise during November.  Publishing every day really does have a significant impact on one’s stats, which is always good for the ego, which leads to increased self-confidence, which leads to better product (posts). I love it when everyone wins. don’t you?

5)  You can’t go wrong with a pic of Stana Katic.  A single pic of the Castle hottie will get your stats rising. Not to mention other things…

Unfortunately, half my WordPress pics aren’t working right now.

My life sucks sometimes…

6)  And GIFs of Stana Katic?  Well, they’ll put you over the top! Your stats, I mean.

I don’t know the name of the picture the image above was taken from… but I’m betting it’s “The Greatest Movie Ever Made”.

 

7)  It’s healthy to challenge yourself occasionally.  A little (controlled) stress can be good for the soul.

I’m a bellman in a thousand-room hotel.

I’m a dad to a teenaged girl.

I’ve been married for over twenty years.

I’m used to stress (to say the very least), but not everyone can say they carry the same load, so NaBloPoMo is a great way to test your limits without actually risking that giant aneurysm you’ve been dreading ever since they cancelled Cop Rock. Thirty original (mostly) ideas for thirty days is a great way to put your creative engine through its paces.

8)  But I’m still going to be glad to see November 30th!  This has been fun but I still have a ways to go, so I need to get to work on tomorrow’s post.

Oh, more more thing…

9)  NaBloPoMo has made me realize I make the rules on my own blog!  Who says you have to always have ten things on a list?

And just so my female readers don’t feel slighted…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never say I don’t love you, ladies.

See you in the lobby, kids…