Na Blo Po Mo ... huh?
National Blog Post Month ... is it real?
Its very real, according to Eden, the person who started it all. November is National Blog Post Month, and this November marks it's third year. So what's it all about, Alfie?
The story goes like this: Eden Marriott Kennedy is a writer and blogger, and she knows what's going on on the 'Net. In November 2005, Eden took part in NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month, which is a very ambitious project: participants attempt to write a 50,000 novel during the month of November.
Eden was one of 59,703 official NaNoWriMo participants in 2005, but she was not one of the 9,765 "winners" who completed their 50,000 words. The following year, 2006, Eden began her own November tradition, NaBloPoMo, aka National Blog Post Month. Here's what Eden has to say about NaBloPoMo's beginnings:
In 2006 I started NaBloPoMo as kind of a joke, because I'd failed at NaNoWriMo the previous year. I decided that if I couldn't write a novel in thirty days, at the very least I could post on my blog every day for a month. I thought maybe thirty or forty people would do it with me. We ended up with around 2,000 bloggers, I think. In 2007 we moved over to Ning and got almost 6,000 people, and in 2008 the party just keeps getting bigger.
Pretty damn impressive.
After the successes of NaBloPoMo in November '06 & '07, Eden was inspired to invite bloggers to participate on a monthly basis, instead of only in November. After all, the NaBloPoMo website was just sitting there most of the year, and many November participants were interested in continuing to meet the challenge of posting on a daily basis.
As of this writing, every month is National Blog Post Month, sorta ... In March 2008, NaBloPoMo became a monthly event with a suggested-but-optional theme for those needing a little nudge or a bit of extra inspiration. Bloggers choose whether or not they wish to participate each month, and Eden keeps a monthly blogroll on the NaBloPoMo website.
November, however, is still The BIG Month. For one thing, November is traditional. November is also the month when NaBloPoMo offers actual prizes, which are donated by participants.
This is my first year participating in NaBloPoMo. It's also my first year of having a blog, or I would have joined sooner. My blog is new -- my first post, Insomnia, debuted September 26 -- so I'm still finding my blogging voice and playing around with topics, format, layout, etc. Like Eden, I previously attempted NaNoWriMo, and didn't achieve the 50,000 word goal. Posting a daily blog entry is a more realistic goal for me, and leaves plenty of time to keep my KinderKorner Website up-to-date and administer the KinderKorner Listserv, which has 10,000+ subscribers.
Writing daily comes naturally to me. I'm a Natalie Goldberg devotee: her book, Writing Down The Bones, is my writer's bible. I've been doing what Goldberg calls Daily Writing Practice for the past 15+ years. I'm published in multiple genres, and I teach writing workshops that teach teachers how to teach writing. I can't imagine what life would be like if I didn't write, each and every day. Even so, publishing on my blog every day is going to be a challenge.
All writers have setbacks from time to time, whether it's writers block or real life barging in. I've made a commitment to posting daily this month, so that's what I'm going to do. I've already had two days this month when I *only* posted a photo, because time is easier to come by some days than others. I had planned to write and post this article on November 1, but needed a few extra days to pull it together after the unexpected passing of my father-in-law. I know there will be additional challenges before the month is over, and I have a backlog of quick-write topics and photos to share, to fill in any spaces.
It's technically not too late to participate in this year's November challenge, as long as you have posted daily so far this month. Skipped days and days off aren't allowed. You can't miss a day and then make it up by posting twice on another day. There's only one rule ... you have to post every day.
Don't know what to post? Post a photo, a recipe, or an email from your mother. Post your grocery list, your check register, or your children's handprints and spelling tests. Post a screen shot of your house from Google maps, or an X-marks-the-spot treasure map. But post something, for heaven's sake ... there's a whole world out there, and if you're already hanging out in front of your computer, you might as well be a part of the conversation.
p.s. ~ I made the colorful badge at the top of this post. Please feel free to copy & use it on your blog, and send me a note to let me know if you do.
