It is same time of the year again, mid of march. When the wind of Blogchatter’s A2Z is getting stronger and it’s almost the time when theme reveal posts would start coming up. So, I think this is the right time to share my experiences about A2Z Challenge with all of you.What helped me in this challenge and how I learnt to fight a blogger burnout post the challenge. And why not, this year is going to be my Hat trick.
What is Blogchatter’s A2Z Challenge?
As the name suggests, it revolves around English alphabets in an order from A to Z. This is a month- long challenge. There are 26 letters from A to Z, it means you have to post one blog post every day. Sunday is a rest day or day where you can cope up with more reading.
In my first A2Z challenge in 2019, I wrote from Z to A. The alphabet of the day must be part of the title of your same day post.
Like on Day 1, alphabet A so if you plan to write about delicacies of India the tile can be ‘Amritsari choley’ on day 2, with alphabet B the title cane be ‘Bengali sweets’ so an and so forth.
The tricky titles come when you hit the alphabets like Q, W, X not just because its tough to find the title rather because you are already in the middle of the challenge and the energy is weaning too.
Tips that can save you from Blogger Burnout
A2Z is the most rigorous challenge that every blogger must participate at least once. Little stress can bring the best out of you. Writing, reading and sharing for the entire month not only improves your blog stats but surely teaches so many new things. Our thinking horizon and knowledge improves a lot.
In 2019, I took a challenging theme of writing a love story in reverse manner. You can check it here!!
Although it was much appreciated by friends, family and many in blogging community, but all that put me into a blogger burnout phase. I had a writer’s block and didn’t publish a single post in the following month.
If you follow these tips, blogger burnout can be put at bay:
Plan, Plan and Plan
As they say, a battle prepared well is battle half won. There is no escape from planning. No matter how blessed writer you are, but having a plan for 26 days can help you sail smoothly.
Make a excel sheet or just a pen-paper chart, include all the activities right from editing, getting relevant images, scheduling the posts, writing or researching for the next post as well as reading. Just do not keep everything in mind, bring it into black and white, believe me it will help you a lot while executing.
Have a Theme
It is not mandatory as per the rules of the challenge however it is very highly recommended. Having a theme, will streamline your thoughts. The posts will be an array of a same topic so even your readers will be happy to ready more relevant things.
Say you are a mom blogger, take a theme ‘mother and infant challenges’ or ‘books for early readers from new born to tweens’ 26 elaborated posts on such topics will help you, your readers ad well as stats of your blog.
If say you do not decide on a theme you will have to think fresh for every post. That can be draining and stressful. Unless you do not plan to write short stories or something like that.
Network More/ Make Friends
I have made quite a few, thanks to the community that I can dare to participate in this nerve wrecking challenge for the third time in a row.
The friends you make will not just help you coping with this one but also in many more challenges related to blogging as well as personal. They will safe gaurd you againts the thoughts of leaving the challenge in between, with writers block as well as with blogger burnout.
Remember to respond to the comments received on your post and reciprocate the same by paying back a visit, that’s general courtesy.
Reading is not a chore
Do not take it as a task or rule to complete the challenge, rather take is as a learning. The more you read the more knowledge you will gain. You might learn a new style of writing, new things about a place, new recipes and so much.
If you take reading as a chore, you will do it half-heartedly. And you will leave irrelevant comments on others posts, I can assure you that you will receive same dryness on your hard work. Everyone puts a lot of effort in writing and publishing, there might be conflict of opinion but being rude or insulting is not sign of good community. Task conflict is okay, relationship conflict is a No-No.
No matter you are a new blogger or a seasoned one, Blogchatter’s A2Zchallenge is worth participating. If you are yet to sign-up, head here straight, we all are here to support. Let’s be part of each other’s journey. As the authors of International bestseller ‘IKIGAI’ say ichi-go. ichi-e “This moment exists only now, and won’t come again”.
You can check out my A2Z 2020 posts or in fact you can check my book Dreams decoded which is a collation of all my posts in BlogchatterebookLibrary. This book is not about ‘goals and dreams’ rather its about the ‘night dreams’, meaning of dreams that you see when you are asleep.
Do share your review, once you read it. Good Luck with #A2ZChallenge 2021
Ujjwal, you have shared a perfect plan for Bloggers to go ahead in the AtoZ challenge. Yes planning is most important aspect of this challenge.
Thank you, I am reading up all the posts which will help me next month!
Thanks you Ujjwal..These tips are very useful..will keep all this is mind. I agree planning is the key and I am all set.
I have been a part of Blogchatter A to Z for last 3 years I guess. But this year I am bit skeptical as I am already in middle of a burnout from a lot of things and Blogchatter A to Z + the month of Ramazan is coming together. So it might be a little too much for me. But let’s hope I find a way before the last date to register for A to Z challenge. 😅
These are some amazing tips however I suck at planing.
Agree with all the pointers. I will not be doing A2Z this year but going to miss it badly. From my past experience, I can only say that planning is must in this challenge.
After 2 years of thoroughly enjoying my A-Z experience, I’m taking a break due to numerous work commitments. I’ll be honest, your advice is sound but personally I didn’t do it that way. For me, the fun was in the daily spontaneity of writing and reading!
Thanks for sharing this amazing pointers. We never taken part in this challenge but will going to be a part of it soon.
Great tips Ujjwal and I agree with all pointers. I also feel that A2Z is a challenge that is totally worth to try it. though there is lots of hard work but end result is equally amazing. looking forward to know your this year’s theme and posts.
These are valuable tips to stay fresh and on top of the tasks of A2Z. It all boils down to tenacity of purpose and focus, ultimately.
It is true that writing 26 blogs in a month can take its toll ! I agree planning is important , plan and schedule the writing and having a dedicated writing time of the day are great helps.
These tips are really going to help a lot get succeed in this challenge, I have registered and planned the theme. Looking forward to reading more like-minded posts!!
Loved your tips gal, i can feel you, only the one who has been in the grind knows them ,see you soon in AtoZ
I had participated once in Blogchatter A2Z challenge but couldn’t complete it properly.
It takes lots of ideas & creativity to daily come with posts.
This challenge can get overwhelming at times and I agree that planning well and enjoying it is the best way to go. I’m working on my theme for this year too.
These pointers are very well discussed about the bloggers in here… Trust me I needed it..
Planning is definitely the key to succeed in this challenge, otherwise it becomes difficult to write a new blog everyday. My best wishes to u.
I think I’ll do the reading better than the writing. But hats off to those who do 26 posts in a month plus reading and sharing. All the best to you!
Good to see that you are a part of A-Z . I am gearing up for my stint as well. Looking forward to your posts.
I am too participating in the blogathon and super excited about it. I am ready with my theme and topics all I need to is start writing. Good luck to u dear .
Yes I am thinking of taking up this challenge too from my food blog this year.
These are indeed some great tips to sail through A2Z challenge. even I try and follow these to happily finish these.
This post is going to help all the newcomers for sure. Even I feel this challenge is all about planning. However, good you are at writing but if posts are ready it helps a lot to sail smoothly. All the best, Ujjwal👍
I will participate in Blogchatter’s A2Zchallenge in the coming days. With a full-time job and the demands of my role, I currently have no time. Even my own blog is missing the love 😢
Thanks for sharing this post it’s really helpful for all new bloggers who want to participate in. Blogging challenges and can’t plan how to start
Thank you for these tips, I am going to keep these in mind. I am trying to get all my posts ready now. All the best for this year’s A to Z.
This year for the first time I will be participating in the A to Z challenge. Thank you for sharing such important tips I’m sure this will be very helpful to me
Yay, I am super excited too for this and these tips are definitely going to help us get through this 26 days of writing fest. I agree, planning is indeed a must for this and also helps in streamlining our thoughts.
The A2ZChallenge seems like a cool challenge but I do get that it can be a stressful one when in a challenge. I like your advice and the tips, planning is essential.
Oh wow! Great tips…
Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m thinking of participating this year!
I agree with you. With A2Z, thorough planning is definitely a must and also pre-writing the daily posts would ease the challenge around. Thanks for sharing these experiential insights with all of us.
I’ve been meaning to take the A2Z challenge this time, and this systematic approach is definitely going to help me out. Looking forward to reading all your blogs. Good luck to you.
My work has never permitted me to take up this amazing challenge. I am getting a fair idea on how to go about it from this post. Let’s see if I can take it up in future.
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These are great tips and I wish I had read them in March! But I intend to take part in future A2Z challenges so I will keep these points in mind.