I can’t believe this is one of the two final blog like crazy entries I’ll make for the challenge this year. Blog Like Crazy (#bloglikecrazy) was created by Javacia Harris Bowser, founder of the writing community See Jane Write (I am a proud member). Javacia created this challenge for writers who weren’t participating in November’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge during which writers attempt to write a 50,000-word manuscript. Instead, bloggers are challenged to write one blog of at least 300-words a day for the 30 days in November.

When I started planning for the once-a-day blog challenge in October, I thought I’d be a week ahead the entire time as well as elude the dreaded writer’s block, but neither happened. I managed to stay a few days ahead during the first week, but after that I was either a day ahead, but mostly a day-of writer. Some days the words flowed effortlessly. Some days I second guessed my blog topic which had been scheduled weeks in advance so, I changed it. Other days, the words would not flow and I’d write what I could between working, or cleaning, or walking. It would also prompt me to use some of the strategies I wrote about to deal with writer’s block, such as doing more reading to get inspiration.

This experience has given me so many gems that I will continue to employ in my career as a blogger and vlogger.

Gem #1: Got Me in the Habit of Writing Consistently

I don’t think I’ve ever written at least 300 words for 30 consecutive days in my life and I am proud of this achievement. Writing consistently for the Blog Like Crazy challenge made this a normal practice for me, one I am grateful for as a writer. I plan to continue to write daily, though it will be a mixture of journaling, writing poems and blogs, it will be consistent.

Gem #2: Helped Me Create an Extensive Writing Portfolio

When I launched my blog on April 20th of this year, I did it for a few reasons: to express my creativity as a writer and to build a diverse writing portfolio that editors and other businesses seeking my writing services could easily access. When I started, I had a plan to blog at least once per week. But, between working a full-time job, freelance writing, taking care of home and myself that quickly turned into a bi-weekly goal. I struggled to keep up with that schedule and before I knew it three months had passed and I hadn’t written a new blog post. When Blog Like Crazy was presented by Javacia, I knew it was the perfect opportunity for me to get back into my goal of creating an extensive writing portfolio.

Gem #3: Boosted My Creativity and Got Me Out of My Comfort Zone

Inspiration is my thing. The story of my life is inspiring. I love to encourage and inspire people and I am often reading, watching or listening to something (you guessed right) inspiring. I also make jewelry, love clothes and accessories and can sing. Things I’ve never written about until I decided to blog like crazy. I wrote about facing my stage fright , some of the best advice I’ve ever received and my top 5 favorite thrifted pieces. It felt uncomfortable putting more of myself out there for the world to read, but it was also freeing and enabled me to connect with lots of different people who share the same interests or have similar stories.