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I did it!
In the middle of a cross-country move and book marketing, I managed 30 days of blogging. Look for a post next week on what I learned.
But, today is our last theme day.
From Michelle Rafter's Blogathon website...
June 30 – Word Cloud Day. Use Wordle or another word cloud tool to turn your words into a picture. If you’re not sure what a word cloud is or how to create one, read these instructions. Then go relax, your blogging work for the day — and month — is done.
No, relaxing for me, because I'm in San Francisco trying to pick a house in a seller's market. Oh, and I need to focus on promoting my YA book, Chasing Memories.
But first...
Congratulations to all the Blogathon-completers!
Thank you, Michelle Rafter, for another lovely post-a-day-in-May challenge through Blogathon. For several days, I've been considering how to best wrap up the experience.
Then it hit me, the ABCs of Blogathon. Well, of course. Granted, I just came off the Blogging from A to Z Challenge in April, so I might be a bit A to Z crazy.
ABCs of Blogathon
Achievement. It feels good to commit to daily blogging and have the support necessary to achieve it.
Note: I had several posts I'm particularly proud of, one that was also featured at BlogHer: Reviewing Without Prejudice. Plus, I saw increased page views and comments.
Blogs, blogs, everywhere. I love the diversity of subject matter. Everything from animal narrators to mommy stories and writing adventures to adventures on a bike and planning dinner parties.
Community. If you have ever felt alone out there, wondering if anyone reads your posts, you need to find a blogging community. Blogathon is one of my favorites.
Decorative. With so many blogs for inspiration, it's nice a way to see what you do and don't like in blog design and then consider your own blog decor.
Engaging. Michelle is active in the Yahoo group and reading blogs. She cares and encourages participants to share their success stories at the end.
Fun! Who doesn't enjoy a good Wordle (or in my case, Tagxedo) post?
Generous. I'm always amazed how much time people will give to helping others. When questions are posted, people jump in.
Haiku. What would Blogathon be without Haiku Day? It's just another way Michelle pushes us to try new things and believe in ourselves.
Interesting. Both in what you'll learn and the blogs you will read.
Jan Udlock. Michelle's right-hand woman this year. I met Jan last year, and she's as gracious and supportive as they come. Thanks, Jan! (a shout-out to Jennifer Willis and Jackie Dishner, too, since we are talking Js).
Kaleidoscopic. I can only imagine that all the blogs viewed at once would create a beautiful pattern of words and colors.
Lessons Learned. Several of the bloggers have posted lessons learned both here at the end and during the theme day, If I started blogging today, I would...
My related posts
If I Knew Then What I Know Now
Community and Knowledge Go Hand in Hand
Michelle Rafter. Without you it would never happen. Many thanks.
New to...
Old. No matter how long you've been blogging, you will learn something along the way in May.
Photography. I'm not a good photographer, so I especially appreciate all the wonderful photo posts.
Questions. Several come up every year, and Michelle and her cohorts are quick to help or point bloggers in the right direction.
Rest... is for June 1! ;-)
Social. With Twitter pre- and post-parties and interaction on Yahoo groups, Blogathon is a very social and engaging community. A few bloggers in the Portland area even organized an in-person meet up.
Thirty-one Days of Blogging Fun.
Uplifting. You will believe by the end that you can do it.
Variety. I mentioned it above, but there's no shortage of subject matter. If you have an interest, Blogathon has the blog.
Welcoming. Michelle, and her team, make sure each blogger feels the love.
X marks the spot! (Come on, X is hard!)
Yahoo Groups. Some don't like it, but I find it so much more personal than Facebook. Plus, last year's kept going long after Blogathon!
Zany. You can't help but catch the creative bug when you see how interesting other people's perspectives are.
I admit that I'm still finding my way through the participating blogs. My goal over the next two weeks is to visit every single participant on Michelle's Blogroll. Wish me luck!
Congratulations to everyone who found out something about themselves, whether you managed 31 posts or not.
What was your favorite part of Blogathon?
Another Blogathon theme day...
Our fearless leader, Michelle Rafter, suggested everyone post a Wordle graphic today. I've cheated a bit, because I find Tagxedo a much easier to use.
Interesting.
I used my blog address to load words into the graphic. Clearly, I talk a lot about writing, books, my Mom, depression (but only in relation to my novel, Depression Cookies, so don't worry), blogging, ROW (as in A Round of Words in 80 Days), and words.
And how perfect that "Blogathon" ended up front and center.
Hope all my Blogathon buddies are doing well, and enjoying the holiday weekend.
I want to take a minute to acknowledge everyone in the military and a special thank you to all the ones who gave their lives so that we here in the United States could know freedom and opportunity.
Another graphic...
What words were highlighted in your graphic?
