My Monthly Reflections - September

This month's theme was sex, love and relationships. I loved this topic because there is so much choice about what to write about! After a brainstorming session, I had a list that was mostly sex! I had to scrap an idea or two to include the love and relationship side a bit more, so I stuck with the things I felt most strongly about.
I decided to do a post about what true love means, and it occurred to me that the answer is different for everyone, so I posed the question to my readers as well and did a 3 part series on the topic. I thorough enjoyed reading everyone else's thoughts on it.
I did find myself double posting again quite a few days, but because I only had one post a day scheduled, and the others where just when inspiration hit, the pressure was off and it felt good and much less forced than when I planned two posts per day.
There were two posts I had scheduled which in the end I decided against posting. I planned to write them because they were both about something I feel quite strongly about, but when I thought about it, I was worried people would think I had posted them just to be controversial. Although I do write some posts that may be controversial, I don't write them for that reason, and with these, I felt like it would come across that I had.

Here's this month's round up:

My most viewed posts (Excluding linkys):
1. Why Are STDs Still Seen As Taboo?
2. Gender Roles In Relationships
3. The Importance Of Teaching Consent

My Least Viewed Posts (Excluding guest posts):
1. Book Review: Toys by James Patterson
2. Mesothelioma Awareness Day
3. What True Love Means To Me - Blogger's Edition 2 (I think the reason for this was I had used the same image across this post and part 1, and I think with that and the very similar link, people seeing my tweets who had read part 1, may have thought this was the same post.)

If you have a minute (and a cuppa!), why not check out my most popular posts, or show some of the less popular ones a little love!

What were your best and worst posts this month?

 

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

My Monthly Reflections - August

 

What a month! My theme this month was "Blogging - anything and everything blog related". I started with a list of some of my favourite blogs, and I contacted several of those bloggers from the list to ask if they would take part in an interview series. I had a really positive response. Thank you again to everyone who took part! I also posted lots of blogging tips, mostly the things I wish I had known when I first started out, and things I have learned along the way that I have found useful. I thoroughly enjoyed writing these posts and they were well received.
At the start of the month, I like to note down what I plan to write about for the month's theme. When I did this, I realised I had enough posts for two months, but as I had already (publicly) set a topic for September, I decided to double post each day of August. It was always going to be tight time wise, but I figured I could squeeze it in.
Of course, like a red rag to a bull, this was a trigger for everything to happen at once! My manager at work went on the sick for two weeks, meaning I had a lot of overtime at work, plus my Grandmother went into hospital (she has now been in coming up to four weeks!). I suddenly didn't have the time to do a double post a day, but I figured I'd committed to do it, and I was dam well going to do it!
Cue, a lot of posts being written at 4 and 5am on the day they were due to go live! I managed to just about keep up on the surface, but I know my social media presence slipped massively and I got quite behind on linking up to linkys. I apologise for my lack of tweets etc!
I can't see this improving until she is out of hospital, so apologies in advance. I will still respond to tweets, comments, emails etc, but it may take a bit longer than usual.
Anyway, that's enough of me banging on about how hard I have it, at the end of the day, no one forces me to blog, so I really only have myself to blame!
On a positive note, with everything going on, I'm pretty happy that I managed to get 2 posts a day out! It's shown me that if I apply myself (and accept that sleeping isn't really an option!) I can get posts written a lot quicker than I anticipated.
September, I will be mostly back to one post a day, although no doubt there will be some cheeky little extras, but I think I will do double posts again at some point in the future, as I did kind of enjoy it.

Here's this month's round-up:

My most viewed posts (excluding linkys):
1. My top 30 all time favourite blogs
2. How to write a killer guest post
3. 3 top tips for beating blogger's block

My least viewed posts (excluding guest posts):
1. Even morre things you didn't know about me
2. Hashtags and promo accounts on Twitter
3. My weekly schedule

I think number two on the worst viewed list may have done much better if I had called it something like "Using hashtags and promo accounts to boost traffic", but hindsight is a wonderful thing!

If you have a minute (and a cuppa!), why not check out my most popular posts, or show some of the less popular ones a little love!

 

What where your best and worst posts this month?

 

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

My Monthly Reflections - July

 

 

This month saw the Over To You theme, where readers were invited to put forward topics they would like to see me write about and also submit any questions they wanted to ask me. This had an overwhelming response and I would like to thank everyone who took part.

This theme forced me to go outside my comfort zone - I found myself writing travel posts and beauty posts amongst others, something I have enjoyed reading but never thought I would write! I thoroughly enjoyed both and there may be more to come in the future.

I also wrote a follow up to a short story which I had been meaning to do for a while.

Overall, I really enjoyed this month. I thought it would be hard writing to order, and while I wouldn't say it was easy, I didn't feel the posts were forced, which was my main worry.

While this theme is now officially over, I always welcome suggestions, so if there's anything else you want me to write about, feel free to let me know!

 

Without further ado, here is my monthly roundup:

 

My most viewed posts (excluding linkys):

1. The Pressures On Today's Young People

2. Pro-Life VS Pro-Choice: Where I Stand

3. Benidorm: Something For Everyone

 

My least viewed posts (excluding guest posts):

1. July Reading List

2. Why I Blog Anonymously

3. The Love/Hate Challenge

 

If you have a minute (and a cuppa!), why not check out my most popular posts, or show some of the less popular ones a little love!

 

What where your best and worst posts this month?

 

You can find me here: Twitter Bloglovin Pinterest and Instagram Please do stop by and say hi!

 

 

 

 



My Monthly Reflections - June

June was a blogging month I really enjoyed. I read some good books and reviewed them, I wrote some short stories and had some fab guest posts too!
As most of you will by now know, two weeks into June I decided the themed linky wasn't going to work. I think by limiting the linky to a niche topic, it excluded too many people from taking part. I decided to change it to a more general one, and #AnythingGoes was born. For more details, look here: http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page_9.html
The linky runs Monday to Monday. Also on a Monday, I will still be running my regular Thought of the Day post. Following on from feedback from June, I have also decided to keep my book reviews as a permanent feature. They will run on Thursdays, starting with my months reading list and then a review of some of the books off the list.

Here is my monthly round up!

My most viewed posts (excluding the linky posts):
1. My Favourite Linkys
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/my-favourite-linkys.html

2. The Serial Husband
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-serial-husband-short-story.html
3. Done Deal: Part Two - Darkness
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/done-deal-part-two-darkness.html

The posts I most enjoyed writing
1. The Serial Husband
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-serial-husband-short-story.html

2. Done Deal - All four parts
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/done-deal-part-four-judgement.html (This link is for the final part, but the links to parts 1, 2 and 3 are at the top of this one)

3. Why I Prefer Books To Movies
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/why-i-prefer-books-to-movies.html

I enjoyed the first two because I love writing fiction. The third one I really enjoyed writing because it's something that I really agree with!

My least viewed posts (not including any guest posts)
1. Sumo Me - A Brilliant Toll For Bloggers
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/sumo-me-brilliant-tool-for-bloggers.html

2. Genres of Fiction: Best and Worst
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/genres-of-fiction-best-and-worst.html

3. Book Review: The Ritual by Adam Nevill
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/book-review-ritual-by-adam-nevill.html

If you have a few minutes, why not check out my best posts, or show the least popular ones a little love!
What where your best and worst posts this month?

Follow me on Twitter @randommusings29 and feel free to comment :)

My Monthly Reflections - May

This has been a really good month for me. It's been the month where I've sat down and really reflected on what I want to do with my blog. I've got loads of ideas about what is going to be happening over the next couple of months and beyond, but this is a post on looking back, not forward, so I won't go into that here (stayed tuned though, tomorrow will be the official reveal of June's themes and what to expect!)
May saw the second half of the A-Z challenge, followed by the Desert Island Favourites mini theme, with a fair few bonus posts thrown in for good measure. It's the month for me when everything clicked into place. I hit my 10,000 page views, which I am so excited about! My readership per post more than trebled since last month, with a lot of readers returning several times over the course of the month. It also brought a lot of comments, which I love reading and replying to. So thank you to each every one of you who has read my posts, commented on them, shared them - it means so much to me that people visit my little corner of the internet world.
Before I get too slushy, here's my monthly round up:

My most viewed posts:
1. Election: The results and the fallout http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/election-results-and-fallout.html
2. V is for Victim Blaming http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/v-is-for-victim-blaming.html
3. T is for Twitter
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/t-is-for-twitter.html

The posts I most enjoyed writing:
1. S is for Signs you are addicted to blogging - This post was very light hearted and a lot of fun to write
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/s-is-for-signs-you-are-addicted-to.html
2. When blogging goes bad - There's nothing like sharing your own stupidity and tantrums with the world! http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/when-blogging-goes-bad.html
3. Ireland: Leading the way into equality for all - I was so happy to learn that the "Yes" vote went through, and writing this post was such a positive experience. Even though I'm not Irish, I felt strangely proud writing it http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/ireland-leading-way-into-equality-for.html

My least viewed posts:
1. U is For Uncle Sam
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/u-is-for-uncle-sam.html
2. Z is for Zealot
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/z-is-for-zealot.html
3. My One Lovely Blog Award part 2 http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/the-one-lovely-blog-award-part-2.html
Technically, mu least viewed post was My New Blog Button http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/my-new-blog-button.html but that one doesn't really count as I didn't promote it at all, it was more just an experiment to see how the button looked in a post!

The post I least enjoyed writing:
X is for the X factor of writing
http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/x-is-for-x-factor-of-writing.html I would love to say none of them. I write because I love it, and usually I wouldn't write about something that held no interest for me. However, as part of the A to Z Challenge, the rule is to do a post for each letter of the alphabet. X didn't have a lot of options, and this post felt "forced". It got pretty well read though, so hopefully that didn't come across in the way it was written.

I'm not going to get too hung up on the less popular posts - after all if you have 10 readers or 10 million readers, something has to come last, and I'm trying to convince myself this is the case here rather than the posts being terrible! It could also be that the titles didn't sound as interesting as some of the others.

If you have a spare few minutes, why not check out my best posts - or show a little love to less popular ones!

What were your best and worst posts this month?

Follow me on Twitter @randommusings29 and feel free to comment :)

Reflections Of The A to Z Challenge

That's it, my A to Z Challenge is complete! What a journey it's been! I would like to share that journey with you. To start, here is a recap of which topics I chose for the letters:

A is for Awesome
B is for Bar Etiquette
C is for Cringe
D is for Diary
E is for eBay
F is for Faking It
G is for Getting Motivated
H is for Harry Potter
I is for Inspirational Songs
J is for Jodi Picoult
K is for Killer Blogs
L is for Lessons Blogging Has Taught Me
M is for My A-Z Of Me
N is for Need Vs Want
O is for Obsessions Of Mine
P is for Phobias
Q is for Quotes To Live By
R is for Reasons I'm Happy
S is for Signs You Are Addicted To Blogging
T is for Twitter
U is for Uncle Sam
V is for Victim Blaming
W is for Writing For Yourself
X Is For X Factor Of Writing
Y is for You Decide
Z is for Zealot

Best post in terms of readership: A dead heat between Quotes To Live By and Killer Blogs

The post I most enjoyed writing: I've got to cheat here and have two! Victim Blaming, because it's such an important issue that I feel needs to be addressed, and Signs You Are Addicted To Blogging, because it was such a fun, light hearted post to write.

Worst post in terms of readership: Uncle Sam

The post I least enjoyed writing: X Factor Of Writing, because X is such a tricky letter, there really wasn't much to go on. Consequently, this post felt forced, which I really didn't like, but I guess that's the nature of the challenge!

I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this challenge - it has pushed me to think about topics I may never have covered, and getting out of your writing comfort zone is definitely an experience I would recommend!
I think I will feel a little lost now it's finished. Being totally honest, the challenge has been like my blogging safety net - I knew I had to come up with something everyday! It has pushed me to get into the routine of posting everyday which I have every intention of keeping up.
I can't wait to do it next year! Next year, I will be signing up officially. By the time I joined Twitter this year, which is where I learned about the challenge, it was already underway, but it appealed to me enough that I chose to do it unofficially, hence why it's half way through May and I have just finished it! I hope you have all enjoyed reading the posts as much as I have enjoyed writing them!
Now I'm off on the A-Z Road Trip, where anyone who has complete the challenge and wants to take part adds themselves to the challenge and visits other blogs who have also taken part. I think it will be really interesting to see what other bloggers chose for the letters each day.
Which posts were your favourite? Your least favourite?

Follow me on Twitter @randommusings29 and feel free to comment :)