Today’s the last day of Blaugust. I’m pleased to say I haven’t missed a day, which around the 7th or 8th I wasn’t sure I would be able to manage. In part I think it just took a few weeks to knock the rust off of the mental gears needed to post something everyday, but it was also a matter of having the courage to cover more personal topics than I usually do. a final piece fell into place around the middle of the month when I stopped worrying so much about “was it ready” and got to the point where I started to think “good enough, publish it.”

This last change was the most valuable part of Blaugust for me. I have long had a bad habit of writing up a rant or opinion piece on whatever the current big issue was in the MMO space and then saving it as a draft with the intention of coming back the next day to proof it and then publish it. Except I rarely ever came back to it the next day. Writing provides enough of an outlet that I don’t have the same need to get it published unless I do it right when I’m done.

I know a lot of bloggers struggled this month and maybe it’s because I’ve been doing this on and off for years. Or maybe it’s because I’ve been through the NaNoWriMo experience a few times and that was much more difficult. But I really enjoyed this and having a daily deadline was necessary motivation for me. I hope either Belghast or someone else takes up the idea next year.

Beyond the writing challenges and growth that I’ve enjoyed this month, I’ve also enjoyed the community aspects. I’ve added a few new blogs to the blogroll and my RSS reader, and picked up some new friends and followers on Twitter.

Thanks Belghast!

Day 31 of Blaugust

Blaugust Finale
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2 thoughts on “Blaugust Finale

  • August 31, 2014 at 5:24 pm
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    Horrah! Well done for reaching the end, mostly in one piece.

    I agree and many other has reflected that their level of pre-publish tweaking has gone down. I for one have drafts kicking around from 2011 and this helped me to clear a lot out and either publish or delete them.

    • September 1, 2014 at 9:00 pm
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      Thanks! And congratulations to you too!

      Getting over the save-to-draft habit has been the best thing about Blaugust. I’ve been trying to kick that habit for years and never quite managed it. I’m down to one draft left, from 2010 /cough, but it is the backstory for a Champions Online hero and I can’t bring myself to purge it. Someday I’ll finish it hopefully.

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