It was Julie from Angler’s Rest who kick-started my involvement in the A to Z challenge 2012. She’s written a great guest post on the Challenge pages on tips she’s learned from completing and surviving two challenges. If you’re at all interested in the challenge for next year, do pop over and have a look.
Quite honestly it wouldn’t have occurred to me to start 12 months out but Julie’s certainly got me thinking.
The big advantage of prior planning and writing, apart from not running from pillar to post, is that it leaves you with time to visit other bloggers, something I failed to do adequately this year. I confess I found some downright weird, but then they probably were bored to tears by my family history posts. I found others I really enjoyed reading but haven’t necessarily added them to my Google Reader list which is heavily focused on family history. However I’ll probably pop in from time to time and see what they’re up to.
Julie’s great tips and strategies could be applied to other series as well eg Geneabloggers Quarterly calendar lets you know which topics are coming up for the Abundant Genealogy series
Family history across the seas 
I’m a fan of the plan. I don’t have time to write every week, so when I do grab a couple of hours, I’ll draft up a few posts, then I can polish and publish at will. It helps to prevent blog neglect.
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I like to plan the topics Fi but less inclined to write too much in advance -the joys of being retired I guess. I’m using scheduling quite a bit more now than before…amazing what’s there when you go exploring 😉
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Thank you Pauline. The planning structure was something I devised in a former work role, to help the students who were working & training to plan & stay ahead of the game.
I do often do for Geneabloggers, & various other weekly memes. I currently have over a dozen posts written & saved in draft so they can be checked before publishing as they were written on iPad, which can change text completely!
Next up will be the COG & the Beyond series!
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Thanks Julie. All good advice and strategies. In some ways a bit too much like work for me but that’s just a personal preference. I plan the topics out before I start but don’t often write up the posts too much in advance. For me the ipad just doesn’t work for long text typing but then I’m also not using a keyboard. Look forward to your new posts.
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Thanks Pauline. I find the iPad a pain to type lots with, the Email and social media is fine, blogging and lengthy emails is tricky! – I do have an external keyboard, but prefer my trusty laptop!
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Plan a year in advance! duh, now why dinna I think of that. My biggest problem with the challenges comes from the unexpected–which typifies my life. I am thinking now that A-Z fpr 2013 is doable. Thanks
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Sounds like we’re both more “seat of the pants” in terms of writing Joan. I do write some in advance but only a week or two if I’m going to be away or busy. But Julie’s certainly got me thinking already about 2013 and starting well in advance will change how I approach the stories. This year’s was easier as I was writing from what I know or have experienced.
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I need to plan in advance but I take so much time working on the posts I’m doing now that I don’t know where I would fit time to do next years in!
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I agree Kristin…I can’t help myself with writing long posts, but it doesn’t help with getting some advance writing. I suspect I’ll keep doing some in advance and others to whatever idea takes my fancy at the time. I might just start in on next year’s A to Z though as I have a couple of possible themes in my head. I really enjoy what you write, so do whatever works for you I think.
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