One year ago today, I unintentionally began a personal project, posting to this blog every day for a year. I didn’t realize it at the time, it just kind of happened as I began in late October of 2008, rolled on through November’s National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo), and just kept going. After a few months, I decided to see how long I could go, one day at a time, and then about halfway through, I was on a mission to see if I could make it through an entire year of posting once a day.
Meaningless as it may be in the grand scheme of things, I mark this year with a certain sense of accomplishment. I saw it as a creative exercise, getting myself to sit down (even when I didn’t necessarily want to) to compose a post every day for a year, displaying more diligence than with any journal I’ve ever kept. I rarely lacked for material but often had to squeeze in the time.
Often the spontaneous posts (those I never would have written had I not wanted to play the game and get an entry in for the day) were some of my best received. Many times I sat down with one thing in mind and hit the “publish” button with quite a different post, surprising myself with what resulted. I managed to post on election day, after working over 20 hours; I posted from my vacation in the middle of the Caribbean; and I occasionally drove my friends crazy as I searched desperately for a connection to the interwebs, so I could make my post of the day while away from home.
I’m also proud that very rarely did I have to punt in order to make my deadline. It was never for lack of something to say and almost always came down to a matter of timing. On a few occasions I nearly forgot and barely squeaked through in time. A few times, I was literally heading up to bed when–d’oh!!–I’d realize I have one last thing to do before calling it a day.
One side effect I’d hoped to gain from my daily postings was an increase in readership to the site which never happened. That was a bit of a disappointment but I kept on because, while it might have been nice, that wasn’t the reason why I was doing it.
And now that I’ve reached the milestone (actually 365 + one posts in a row) I’m going to take a break tomorrow and intentionally break the string. That way I won’t be tempted to go for another year.
2 Things @ Once 
Well, you rock for doing that! Go you!
Nice work, mon amie!
Congrats! It is hard to stick to something like that. I am surprised you didn’t get more traffic. Still it is nice to accomplish a goal that you set for yourself.
I’m one of the beneficiaries of your dedication since I go to your blog every day that I’m in town and always find something new and interesting. Fantastic achievement. I know it feels like no one is reading at times but you have a very select cast of followers–far more unique than any twittering celebrity could gather.
Hmm. I’ll take a break from coming here tomorrow.
Congratulations. I sure can’t manage to do it. I’ve enjoyed reading every one of your posts and look forward to more.
Thanks all for your kind comments!
Funny thing Saturday, I was on the web throughout the evening and kept catching myself checking the time to see how much time I had before midnight to post. Sunday I was knee-deep in digital images and didn’t have a moment to spare and for the first time, was truly glad to take a break. NaBloPoMo is coming up next month and I haven’t yet decided whether to participate for the third year in a row. You’ll know it if I do. 🙂
And I missed it. For shame on me. Well, congrats on your milestone! It is a great accomplishment.
Congrats!! I also made that very same pledge, to blog every day, but my true year end is at the end of November. I’ve seen your name in the blogroll of NaBloPoMo all the time.
Thanks for being a consistent blogger! It’s a pleasure coming over here and seeing new things all the time.
Kristin – The Goat