Do you like blogging challenges and blog hops/ parties?

Do you participate in any challenges in April, or others hosted during different times of the year? Do you think them interesting or find them as an opportunity to grow as a writer?

I have been blogging since 2013 but I didn’t discover blogging challenges until 2014. Before then, I tried all kind of tactics trying to boost my blog’s views but to no avail. The challenges certainly helped and the moment I started participating in challenges, conversations began to creep in.

The longest challenge I’ve participated in is Friday Fictioneers – a flash fiction challenge where we’re challenged to write a 100-word story based on a picture. It’s my all-time favorite challenge because it satiates my wild imagination and challenges me to be short and concise in my writing, which was something my college instructors urged everyone to master.

In the month of April, you will typically find me writing for the A-Z challenge. This is a challenge in which I choose a theme and 26 posts, highlighting the 26 letters in the alphabet. I have been participating in this challenge since 2015 but I haven’t participated 10 times, if that’s what you’re wondering. I skipped a few years in between due to various circumstances.

This year, my theme is places, in which I highlight 26 places I’ve been or want to explore more of. At first, I thought it would be easy but it’s not as easy as I thought. There are letters of which I’m torn between 2 or 3 places. I keep needing to decide, “should I pick this one” or “should I pick that one?”

I am not hosting any challenges. I want to but 1) no one asked me and 2) I don’t have any good ideas for a good challenge. Maybe a good idea will come to me some day.

Finally, blog parties! I’m not much of a party goer because I’m socially awkward. I’ve been to a couple of blog parties and I felt it was the more awkward thing ever. So, not a fan of blog parties.

Sunday Poser