I issued myself a challenge 30 days ago to publish something every day for a month on this blog. I almost did it! I think I missed about four days. Generally speaking, I feel like it was a good exercise for me, and I learned a few things.

I don’t like using writing prompts. Of the 26 or so that I used, I really feel like only a handful of them actually prompted above-average writing. Several of them made me think, though, which I enjoyed. What Happens on a Tuesday, Thank You Letter, and List of Regrets were my top three favorites to write, and when I go back and read them, they don’t make me cringe in any way, so that’s a plus. I think some of the other prompts I used were kinda generic and didn’t really spark a whole lot of originality in my writing. I will likely avoid writing prompts in the future.

I liked setting a publishing goal for myself. As I said at the beginning of this challenge, I write almost every day, but I don’t always publish what I write. Setting the goal and forcing myself to hit “publish” on my blog was helpful in forcing me to actually write and put it out there. The downside of this is that I felt so many of the prompts I used were pretty basic and boring, so quantity does not equal quality at all in this case – at least in my opinion.

I probably should have chosen a less busy month in which to do this challenge. I had a lot going on with my daughter’s graduation, her prom, my son’s end-of-school activities, and various minor household catastrophes. In fact, as I type this, I realize I probably should have just blogged every day about surviving the month of June!

I learned that if I publish, people read. It’s been fun to see so many WordPress users like and comment on my blog, and for that, I thank you for stopping by! I have been slowly making my way to each of your blogs too, and I am enjoying seeing the varied and interesting things you guys are doing with your blogs. I’m hoping to get more connected through the reader as the summer progresses.

I’m going to make it a point to publish more regularly after this little experiment – maybe two or three times per week. I think writing about what matters to me will be a bit more interesting to write and a bit more engaging to read, and it will force me to be brave and publish even when I’m feeling vulnerable and unsure about what I’ve written. I truly appreciate everyone who takes the time to acknowledge, comment on, and support my writing. Thanks, guys.

Onward!