It's official, my year-long goal of blogging every day has reached the half-way mark without missing a single day! I thought I'd take today to look back at the experience and share what it's meant to me.
I started this journey on a whim. Literally, I hadn't even thought about doing this until January 1st. I'd never set such a big goal before, so I really didn't know what I was getting myself in to. 365 posts about gaming should be easy, right? For the most part it is, but I'm also ashamed to admit that there are days when I just don't want to think about gaming.
However, I continued on without missing a day even though I knew all of you were crossing your fingers and hoping I'd miss a day and give you stuff. Nice guy that I am, however, I decided to instead celebrate my dedication to posting, and yours to reading. So for those of you who are newer, that's why I'm doing monthly giveaways.
Despite posting every day on the internet, I was still a bit hesitant to really get my name out there and ask people to read my stuff. Then I started my three part series "Is WAAC Wack?" and I was so excited about how hard I'd worked that I posted to several forums, using my posts to start some civil conversations. I was blown away by the response - other than a few people, eveyone was either very supportive, or very polite in their disagreements of my points. I even received a few private messages and emails from people who wanted more of a one-on-one conversation about it. Never before have I been so encouraged about sharing my ideas!
After my WAAC series, the likes on my Facebook page slowly started growing. I tried to be cool about it, but it was so exciting to see that people actually wanted to read what I had to say, or at the very least didn't mind associating themselves with my page in order to win free stuff. Many guys in my gaming group are loyal readers, but it's been really encouraging to see people I've never met liking and commenting on my posts.
My WAAC series also made me appreciate writing a continuous series of posts. Some I never got much momentum on, like the Playing to Win series (which I still plan to pick back up!). Others have become favorites of mine, like my Countdown to Cyriss which lasted 12 weeks, or the "My Top 10" and "Gamer GIFs," which I always have a lot of fun writing.
Something else that was a big step for me personally was joining two blog networks: Iron Agenda Blog Network and House of Paincakes. Having to write to them and explain why my content is even worth reading really pushed me out of my comfort zone because I had to break out of my shyness and basically admit that I've got some quality content that people will enjoy. You'd think I'd have already thought that since I was asking people to read it every day, but I'd never really stopped and told myself that I was producing some pretty good stuff.
This was the first time where I've ever felt like I had something that people wanted - my small commission business gave me a taste of it, but blogging has shown me that people are interested in my opinions. I've gotten some really positive feedback from my more essay-like posts (Is WAAC Wack and Lose with Purpose being my favorites), and it's that sort of feedback that makes me want to continue blogging in 2014.
In the end though, I think the biggest thing I've gotten out of this experience is the ability to really examine myself. I've always tried to know who I am in all areas of my life, but never have I pushed myself so hard to understand something as seemingly unimportant as "who am I as a gamer?" Coming up with content every single day has made me have to dig deep and criticize how I feel about painting, rules, gaming companies, my opponents, why I play, etc.
As I was scrolling through my past articles, I realized just how wide my content has been this year. On the bar to the right you can click on each month and expand it to see the articles written in those months. I'm pretty happy with how varied my topics have been. Around March/April I was getting worried that I'd run out of gaming content, but my "See you tomorrow!" promise at the end of each post, which has been around since day 1, actually pushed me to keep going. There's even a way for me to have that be my signature at the end of each post, but I like typing it as a reminder that I will, indeed, see you tomorrow.
So what has it been like joining me on my blogging journey? Whether you've been here since January 1st, you're a recent addition, or you're somewhere in between, I'm curious to hear your experience. Any posts that you've particularly enjoyed? Do you read every day or just when you see an interesting title? Anything you wish I'd cover more often? Let me know!
See you tomorrow!
Remember to follow me on Facebook. I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways! This month's giveaway is for an iOS copy of X-COM Enemy Unknown, so enter here to win!
I read every day. I enjoy them because the blog to me seems like the type of conversation the geeks would have on a regular gaming night, but instead of talking about it then you get to talk about it in small bursts throughout the week. While you may analyze yourself, your quite regularly ask your readers the same thought. Although this hasn't brought about any deep secrets I didn't already know, it has brought to memory many games and fun times I have had while being a gamer geek throughout the years. That is what gaming is all about anyway isn't it? Good times!
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