First ever try to blog Every Day for a Month | NaBloPoMo
The other day I sent out my Substack newsletter announcing that I wanted to do this crazy challenge of NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. It’s this very crazy November challenge where you share 30 blog posts in 30 days. To me it seams crazy because it is! Everything in excess is a bit loony, right? But it can also be… sweet. Invigorating. Energizing. Fun. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping… what do I know? I have been blogging for over 20 years and have yet to even try something as crazy as blogging daily.
I still really think it might be too much…
Too much for one person to produce and share in just one month and probably not a good idea for most people. I definitely haven’t prepared blog posts in advance, although I have a list of ideas… But still I will attempt to do it. I’ll explain a bit more about why today.
When I first discovered this challenge, back in 2016 when it was hosted by a big network site called BlogHer, I was considering joining but thought it would be too much for me. I wrote:
I have never considered something as crazy as this for the blog before, even with my 12 years of blogging, but I guess I feel like I’ve been in a blog funk for way too long now. Is it a year, or more? The blog funk is not about not having something to write about, but having way too many things I want to share and not getting it out there. Time. Taking the time. Giving time to this my darling blog I guess is what I’m saying.
Back then I decided against it. This time I decided to give it a try. Why you might ask? I’m not really sure myself, but it comes down to these points I think:
Why I want to create 30 blog posts (or so) in a month
- My Internal list of topics is growing. That is, things I want to write about here. I have a few blog posts planned in my head that I have been wanting to write for a long time. They are in my brain and they are disturbing my inner peace in some ways because I can’t move forward until I write them – so maybe I’ll get to that this month. Hopefully. Maybe. For example, one will be about Feedly and how to use it to read blogs like mine.
- My back-list of things to share is also growing. And by that I mean things that I have created/made/photographed to share on the blog but then never did. I used to share “everything”, from the first idea of a new pattern to the finished creation on here, and I personally loved the fact that everything was here and easy to look back on and refer to. Now I feel like I could share a month with just things I created 2018-2024 that I haven’t shared yet, but don’t worry: I’ll share some of my current projects and thoughts in the mix as well.
- Looking back made me [want to] look forward, which is reigniting my spark a bit. I’m updating old blog posts (explained why here) almost daily and seeing some of those images for the first time in years, and reading posts I didn’t even remember creating, is exciting and fun! So inspiration has really hit around here. I feel the need to write and share again, and it’s been lovely so far. Let’s see if it takes us through the entire month…
I’ll just go with the flow for now.
I’m not sure this challenge will be for me or that I can do it, but I am giving it a try.
I am starting with this post today, and then we’ll see how long I can go without burning out or feeling overwhelmed. <- That idea/philosophy has been my guiding light through many challenges. I just start and keep at it, without thinking too much of the investment and the dedication needed. I mean, imagine if I’d known when I wrote my first blog post in 2004 that I’d be here 20 years later doing the same thing but with a lot more photos in each post, a higher word count, a list of ideas ready to be executed – and all these expectations on myself to be the best “content creator” I can be… I might just have given up before I started!
Joyous blogging is still possible in 2024
Another reason that I started to think about this challenge is because of Rachel. Of course I missed Blogtoberfest or Blogtober, haha… It’s something that the Barefoot Crafter, Rachel in Australia, has been doing on her own, for years. I just recently added her blog to my Feedly RSS reader, and right now I am catching up on her blogtober posts, reading about her amazing productivity and creative journey. Her joy for sharing is contagious! She uses Blogtober (which was during the month of October) as a guide to craft up a storm and then blog daily about what’s she has created that day or week. Amazing, right? Read her blog post about Blogtober 2024, where she writes:
It is a manic month, but one I am always pleased I take on. It forces me to think outside the box when it comes to things to blog about, and generally I come up with posts I really like but would normally not have posted if it wasn’t for the need to have a post each and every day.
Reading about her quilting, blogging and crafting made me feel like a very lazy person, having slacked of on so many things these past few years. Blogging and commenting not the least. But I know I am not lazy! It’s just been hard with life in general, and with my mental health in particular. I have lost a bit of the contact with my dailyish creative habits which makes getting back harder, and with that the sight of my passion. After the pandemic I have stayed in hibernation, which is not good for my soul. Let’s change things up, shall we?
Then when I googled NaBloPoMo a few days ago I clicked over to read this blog post called Who’s ready for NaBloPoMo 2024? by San, and there I found out how she had taken on this challenge for years. Her stamina was inspiring to me. One of her reasons is community:
I know that posting every day for 30 days straight can feel daunting, even stressful. Why would anyone want to do that? Well, I think it’s a great writing practice and a wonderful community event. I am counting on a bunch of (Cool) Bloggers this year to make NaBloPoMo a thriving success again
I guess that kind of inspiration is also what drew me into the challenge this time. That other’s has done it, enjoyed it, “won it” and will do it again is eye-opening and inspiring to me, to say the least. And if there is a community around it? Count me in. I feel lonely and abandoned by the world half the time, maybe this will help me out a little with that?
Some further NaBloPoMo Inspo
- NaBloPoMo in 2024 – San has an official list of bloggers doing the challenge this year! She also created the above graphic for the challenge and shared some advice on how to go about it.
- What is NaBloPoMo – at the unofficial NaBloPoMo Guide website there’s also some helpful hints
- My latest newsletter: Dailyish Creativity – is about this blogging challenge and other fun challenges that takes place in November
By the way, I’m going with the official abbreviation and hashtag to not be left out, but I’ve always felt that the U.S “national” is way too narrow for the blogosphere. So maybe not iNaBloPoMo after all – but it’s also fun to say out loud. LOL. These challenges should all be international in my opinion, just like the DIY Postcard Swap that I host – because we’re all here together, right? Wanting to be read, to connect, to inspire, to share.
Thanks for reading! Tomorrow: an artist date with a Tim Burton kind of cozy look…
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As a reader of the blog, I hope this month will not feel overwhelming to you. Instead I hope it will be fun, inspirational and cheerful. You can skip some or read it later, it’s up to you. My topics will be around art, craft and creativity as usual. If you want to receive blog posts via email (not the same thing as being on the Newsletter that goes out via Substack) that is a possibility again now (I finally fixed the plugin). When you leave me a comment below you can chose to check the box next to “Notify me of new posts via email” – and you’ll be added. Remove yourself at any time if it’s too much. Another option:
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I’m so excited to see you take up the daily blogging mantle!! Thank you for your kind words, though it feels strange to hear from your perspective that I looked productive, as I felt rather slack this Blogtober!
Can’t wait to see what you share this month
30 blog posts (& newsletters) in one month? That has always felt unreachable to me, and I don’t even have kids. So yes, from my perspective you are a very productive person with just that, plus the traveling & birthdays and all of the crafting on top? Aaaamazing. I feel bad that I didn’t know about it before so I could come cheer you on more.
Welcome to our little blogging community and the NaBloPoMo enthusiast. It think its my 8th year doing it. Not all ones I have finished but every single one was fun and I tweaked my blog. there is so much momentum at the end of the month and I have a running list of ideas I will never finish. Because as one of my favorite online creatives Elise Cribe said: creativity breeds creative. And it couldn’t be more true.
I totally agree with you that the nation thing is so American. It is much much more. I think last year we had participants from every continent.
Looking forward getting to know you and your blog in the coming days.
Thanks for your sweet welcoming Tobia! Eight years of ~30 posts is an amazing feat to me, I might not make it all the way but I will give it a real try.
Cheers from a fellow book reader & literature lover :)
Hi Hanna! I am in a similar boat as you are; I have been blogging since 2006 and have never done a daily post for a month. I also relate to you in the fact that the reason I wanted to do this is because I have so many half finished drafts and lists of blog ideas and I really need to get them out in a timely manner. My mind is swirling with ideas! I am looking forward to learning more about you during this journey.
Thank you Kyria! So glad to have a fellow newbie to NaBloPoMo with me for the ride!
Wish I’d known about the walking club in October, I really need to move more but I am sure the club would have helped energize me? But I like knowing that it was out there.
Yay for you, Hanna! Your reasons for joining NaBloPoMo are so good, they almost make me want to join in! But I will certainly enjoy reading your daily posts. I love how you added the I at the front – it really is an international project, and it would be nice to have the name reflect that. I’m excited to read about all of your creative projects!
Aw, thank you Michelle! I’m not sure I can make it, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I decided to give this a try. :) I’m excited too.
I’ve done it many times since starting my blog in 2005 (a year after you!), sometimes with BlogHer (I won an iPad Mini that way!), many years on my own as a personal challenge, and then in 2022 I found San and her crowd, and I could not be happier. Welcome, I hope you love it. I feel like if I blog a lot, I have a lot of ideas. If I stop for months at a time (which I have done) then nothing seems blog worthy. So I suspect you will be fine, getting the juices flowing and so on.
What will we win this year you think? Fame and glory? ;-)
I’m excited to have a new blog to follow during this challenge. It is SUCH a crazy challenge, isn’t it? A blog post every day for 30 days! But we can do this. (And if we don’t, that’s okay, too!) Looking forward to following along. <3
(And that's such a good point about the "National" part of NaBloPoMo… hmm, something to think about!)
Thanks Stephany for coming by in this busy season, it really means a lot to me!
Hooray iHanna, I am so glad you decided you wanted to do NaBloPoMo and then found my website (and also got inspired by others!). I agree, it is a little crazy to blog every single day. I’ve also been blogging for 20 years and really only do this once a year because it is a time commitment that you can only take on for a short period of time. But if you’ve been keeping a blog for so long, you’ll know that sometimes inspiration ebbs and flows but that you’re also disciplined enough (and obviously have enough stuff to write about) to see it through.
And if not? Not a big deal either… the fact that you’re attempting it this year is amazing and the most important thing is that you have fun and make some new friends in the process.
BTW, we’re an international community, so I agree the “national” in NaBloPoMo isn’t quite correct… but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to change the the official abbreviation/hashtag at this point. Happy to know that people from all over the world are participating!
You are amazing for bringing this together and most of all, doing the challenge yourself so many times in a busy life. I am in awe of you all.
I’m so excited to do this one myself, and like you, whether or not I actually manage to write 30 posts in 30 days (of any meaning) is up for debate. But it’s such a great way to try and write, daily, and more, connect with so many other bloggers taking part in the challenge as well.
Good luck 🍀
Thanks Alexandra, I look forward to getting to know you via your micro blog, what ever that is – it’s not a concept I’ve ever encountered except as “twitter” before. :-)
It’s so exciting to see new bloggers on the NaBloPoMo list this year! It is fun and overwhelming, but it also makes November one of my favorite months of the year! We have a great blogging community and I hope you find it welcoming.
I do, it’s welcoming and joyful and exuberant if that’s the word I was looking for (I think it is). Thanks for welcoming me and commenting on my blog.
Like you, I’m hoping that I can get through a bit of my post backlog during NaBloPoMo. I currently have 8 posts in my drafts folder that need finishing off and posting as well as a list of possible topics. Hopefully, I can find a little bit of time to poke around here, as this is my first visit.
Eight is a great start! Now… how to finish just one for today, right? :-)
Your substack post was the nudge I needed. 🩷 Like you, I’ve never embarked on a daily(ish) blog post challenge although tons of art & creative challenges! At the beginning of a long challenge I start by defining small constraints to work within — to give myself a tiny bit of structure. Then I can do whatever I wish — veer in different directions, find out what materializes.
Thank you Tammy! It feels much better now that I know you’re busy on your side of the ocean writing blog posts like a maniac. LOL. Shouldn’t we do 365 somethings as well next year? Life is short you know… I am in if you are…. xo Oh, and when you have the time see if you want to add any suggestions to the Spotted Photo Theme for next year? I’d love to see more of your photography. xo