Well, I did it. I survived NaBloPoMo 2013. I honestly can’t believe that this is the last post because it seems like yesterday I was only a week in, and telling my roommate that I couldn’t imagine lasting three more weeks.
This is how I feel on the inside right now:
Winner winner chicken dinner
Would I do it again? To answer that I’ll need to do a recap.
Stats
- WordPress follower count increased by 70%
- Twitter follower count increased by 20%
- Facebook page fan count increased by 10%
- I was Freshly Pressed for the second time, and that post currently has 630+ likes
- I have more page views for the month of November than I do for all the other months in 2013 combined
- Top 3 posts: Things My Therapist Taught Me, 5 Stages of a Juice Cleanse, 21 vs. 31
- Forced me to write regularly
- I met some amazing people through the Yeah Write, BlogHer and Nano Poblano networks
- I was able to connect with non-NaBloPoMo bloggers as a result of my posts being shared
- As seen above, it can improve your overall blog stats
- It feels great to have conquered this beast for the second year in a row
- I now know that I can write good material consistently if I focus
Cons of NaBloPoMo
- Writing, editing and posting a piece every day was very time-consuming
- Comments became overwhelming on some posts
- I love reading others’ blogs, and I wasn’t able to do that regularly
- I had to post some pieces before I felt they were really ready, and wish I could have had more time to fine-tune them
- Churning out posts for the sake of posting really sucked the joy out of writing
- I think I may have annoyed some of you because of the frequent posting
The verdict
I would absolutely do NaBloPoMo again if I knew I could commit to it. Being able to tough it out makes me feel like I truly am a writer, something I’ve never really been convinced of until now.
I’d like to give mad props to my blog wife Speaker7 who not only persuaded me to do this, but also stuck it out the entire month with me. Do yourself a favor and go read her blog if you haven’t already.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by, followed me, shared my posts, commented, and endured the barrage of posts during NaBloPoMo. You really helped keep the fun alive, and motivated me to keep going. I look forward to catching up with you on your own blogs once the dust has settled.
Until next year…
Sips of Jen and Tonic 
Congratulations! Your writing was / is awesome! I’m glad to have stumbled on to your blog!
Well, you definitely are a writer — I can’t believe you need convincing!
I know exactly what you mean about publishing posts before they felt ready. It was tough to make the choice to publish them, but publish them I did, LOL!
In terms of bothering people, OMG, I so relate — there were any number of days where I felt like, OMG, Me again? HA!
It was great reading your blog regularly. I’m going to keep at it!
Thanks for all of your support over the past 30 days!
Well done lady! I don’t know how you found the time to crank out all of those posts, especially considering how well written and interesting they were. I am totally and completely impressed!
If I tried to write a blog post every day I’d stop blogging as it’d suck the fun out of it for me. I COULD NOT post a post I knew could do with obvious improving. I’d post it and get annoyed until I deleted it. And then hope no one read it. So the fact that you could post every day blows my mind. And kind of scares the hell out of me. 😉
Congratulations!!! Excellent job!!!
Tell me you’re not going to disappear now.. Right when your followers just were getting to count on words from you.. Not fair! It’s an outrage! We wont have this!!
You made it! I shall send a marching band to your home at once!
How could you ever think that you annoyed us? Your posts are a hoot and a half, darlin! You and Speaker 7 are my inspiration. I’m hoping to cut in on the marriage so we can be sister wives.
And you are a WRITER. I blogged about that the other day, about writing/blogging. I believe the best of the bloggers, the Superstars, are true writers. You are one of them. Own it.
It must be the full moon. I’m getting positively misty…
You totally rock!! I’m glad I got to follow along and the stats are really amazing… maybe next year. 😉 Well done. And in honor of your stamina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQOix-KidpY Poor yourself a cocktail and play that over and over!
Well done! You have all inspired me to take it on next year!
I think I may have annoyed some of you because of the frequent posting
Annoyed? I was in awe. I might not die like Maineiac, but… I would probably annoy my little family trying to find all my marbles.
It’s great when you set your writing goals and accomplish them. Writing everyday was definitely tough. I did it for a whole year and I totally know how you feel 🙂 Congrats on crossing the finish line.
This month has been a blast but I’m glad it’s over, not sure if I’ll repeat this next year. I mean I’m certainly not doing both again, just not sure which one to redo, maybe I’ll alternate.
ECHO ECHO
I also did NaBloPoMo but I haven’t checked my stats. I normally blog daily so that wasn’t a big deal for me (I can always find something about travel to talk about!) I’m glad it turned out so well for you!
Good going!
Wow, I don’t know where November has gone! The increase in followers is huge, and I hadn’t seen that your therapist post was FPd, congrats for that! Well deserved. I can certainly imagine that keeping up with the comments was tough at times. But you did it, you got through it, hurrah!
Congrats on getting through it! And you made some awesome points here. I think I’ll attempt to participate next time around!
Congratulations. I enjoyed your posts. I might do it again next year, but I will do my best to be better prepared. I too, posted a couple of pieces that I felt I could have done more editing to. sighs… ah well. I agree with you… I think it’s worth it. 🙂
If you’re into super cool button badges, we have one for you over at yeah write for you to show that you finished NaBlo with the yeah write crew. It’s in the sidebar of this post. Congrats!
Well played Jen. Well played indeed. And nice touch using an English football (soccer) team picture.
yeah! Congrats on all your success! I really am impressed you and Speaker managed to crank out good quality posts every single day. I would die.
Congrats on surviving and thriving NaBloPoMo. Now kick back and enjoy December. You earned it.
It was great fun being along for the ride. Now relax!
You did a fantastic job Jen – plus lots of giggles on the way.