Last April I was inspired to do this crazy blog challenge; one post a day for the month (except Sundays) and the topic of each daily post was based on a letter. I learned about the challenge on April 1, so for the first week I was one day late. Still, it was (in retrospect) a heckuva lot of fun, and a great writing kickstarter. So this year, I'm doing it again!
Today is the day to announce your theme. Of course, I've already got the theme of "life afloat," so this is a theme-within-a-theme, so to speak. After 13+ years living aboard a small sailboat, I've learned a lot about downsizing, minimalism, and tiny home living that's not restricted just to boating. So much of this style I take for granted, so this year's blog challenge is my chance to revisit it, summarize it, and pass it on. A few letters -- B and Q and W come to mind, are going to be about blogging in general, just to keep it real.
Because I learned about the challenge at the last minute, last year, I had no time to pre-write my posts; my "planning" consisted of writing down at least one nautical word for each letter of the alphabet just to prove to myself that the writing would be possible, and then each day I had 24 hours to write that day's post. This year, I had plenty of advance notice ... and guess what? I didn't take advantage of it to actually write any posts in advance! Again, all I did was make the alphabetical list of topics, from "Anchoring Out, Anger-ing Out" to "Zout & Zwarte Peper (Dutch for 'salt & black pepper')." I'm looking forward to the challenge and the freshness and the informality I get from posting with those short turnarounds, but the procrastination is also a consequence of my basic personality type (which I'll have more about when I get to the post for "W.")
There are almost 500 bloggers signed up for the challenge; links to their blogs are here.
If you are also an A to Z challenger or a blogger on a theme similar to mine feel free to post a link below. See you in April!
I love "Anger-ing out" - that sounds about right! We are also a sailing blog that will be joining the A-Z. Looking forward to reading your posts!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm looking forward to following you during the challenge (and after). Love the beautiful photos on your site!
DeleteThis does sound like a great theme and a wonderful lifestyle you are living. I really think one of the best ways to get through the challenge is having everything written beforehand; scrambling around (like I did the first year I did this challenge) is sometimes so hard, especially with trying to write a post, visit other blogs, etc. Its a crazy wild time and I love participating in it :)
ReplyDeletebetty
http://viewsfrombenches.blogspot.com/
I'm sure you are right, and I suspect my life would be easier if I were that kind of organized and disciplined person ... but I'm not (*sigh*). Interesting to look at your blog, I'm terrible at photos but love looking at other peoples' pix. And desert Arizona is about as different from our life on a boat as I can imagine. ;)
DeleteWell, I'm already looking forward to A and Z giving your blog titles. They're very intriguing. And of course, I can't wait to see all the letters in between!
ReplyDeleteHaha, Ellen -- you're the one who got me into this in the first place! Now, I hope I can live up to my own billing. See you in April!
DeleteI'm with Matt and Lucy, "Anger-ing out" sounds pretty interesting (but so does anchoring out!). I'm looking forward to following along and gaining another perspective on living this lifestyle!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm looking forward to following yours; love your list of titles!
DeleteLooking for more A to Z sailing blogs! Glad to find you again! Melissa from
ReplyDeleteLittleCunningPlan
Melissa, just checked your blog and OMG now **I'm** feeling anxious -- not in the scared-and-stressed sense of the word but in the I-can't-wait-to-read-more sense! Cool theme! Your blog's not letting me leave comments, though; not sure why. But rest assured I'll be following!
Deletehey! loving your idea of life. :) all the best! even i will be doing the challenge..do glance through my blog when your free. cheers.
ReplyDeletehttp://tanvikarnik.blogspot.in/
I **love** reading the blogs of people who are living a totally different life than me ... I'll be following you ... and sending thoughts and sympathy, anyone who has had a "fur person" in their life will understand your loss; you wonder why the sun bothered to rise, this morning.
DeleteGood for you for deciding to do the challenge another year! And for writing your posts "on a whim" so to speak. Those can be very great posts; sometimes overwhelming though with visiting other people's blogs, etc. Best of luck with you with the challenge!
ReplyDeletebetty
http://viewsfrombenches.blogspot.com/2016/03/its-that-time-again.html
Looking forward to ur A post :D
ReplyDeleteHeather
http://heathersstitchingstory.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/a-is-for-atozchallenge.html#comment-form
@xstitchchick