If you have been following my blog you know that during the month of October I setup a daily blogging challenge with Jaffe. The goal was to write a new article on my blog every day. I was really excited about it! I setup a whole editorial calendar of things I would like to blog about, along with approximate dates that they would be posted. I powered through the first half of the month and it was a lot of fun! But you may have noticed that about halfway through the posts started dropping off, and eventually stopped. October was a very busy month! Add on top of speaking at several conferences, the day job, starting a new relationship, and some external commitments a daily post and life gets really hectic.

So I failed the month of daily blogging challenge. I think I made it a few days further than Jaffe though ;).

What are my takeaways from this challenge?

• I like to write – I have known for a long time that I enjoy teaching people, and writing is one way of getting that out. I have now had two publishing companies ask me to write in-depth WordPress books, and have been published in WordPress magazines. I am excited about the book opportunities
• Writing takes a lot of work! – I formulate ideas pretty quickly in my head, but putting them down in print it not always so easy. It takes finessing the idea into something understandable, and time spent researching and ensuring what I have to say is legitimate. That and I think I have some obsessive compulsiveness when it comes to writing. I read over everything many times while writing, then read the entire thing several times before posting. I tried my hardest this month to just write and not worry about reading it over until the end. It was challenging!
• I want to write more – Most of my articles are about WordPress as that is currently where I spend a significant chunk of my life. The feedback I have received from the community has been truly wonderful. In everything I do, not just WordPress related, I would like to give back to the communities on my website by providing resources others can use.
• Having a blogging partner to push you really helps – Jaffe also had a busy month and his blog fell victim just as mine did. We started out strong, wavered, then crumbled. In the beginning we checked on each other daily to see how the posts were coming, but as we got busier we ceased and relied on ourselves instead. If you take up a challenge like this make sure you check in with your challenge partner every day. They will provide encouragement and that kick in the rear you need to get going.

So I guess to wrap it all up, this blogging challenge was fun and insightful. I learned a lot about myself, how to write better, and my audience this past month. I will hopefully be posting more often now that I have a good taste for it, and I look forward to the next daily blogging challenge I receive.