National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo)

October 31, 2020 Posted by scottkandh Blogging, Grow a blog No Comments

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Last Updated on November 2, 2020 by scottkandh

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When is NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month)?

Originally, NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) was only during the month of November. Then NaBloPoMo grew, and every month had a new NaBloPoMo challenge. November was still considered the “big” month and often had prizes and giveaways, but you could start a NaBloPoMo challenge on the first of any month.

What do I have to do to join/participate in NaBloPoMo?

Post in your blog every day for a full month. – That’s it! There’s nothing else to join and nothing else to do!

If you want to participate and aren’t interested in prizes or if no prizes are offered that month, or if you don’t want to list your blog for some other reason, just post every day for a month. That’s all you have to do!

Is there a daily or monthly word count requirement?
Nope. The only goal is one post (of any length) each day for a full month. You can even post a picture. That counts too.

Since it’s called “National” Blog Posting Month, do I have to live in the USA to participate?

What’s a “Daily Writing Prompt?”

Where do I find them? And do my posts HAVE to be about them?

Sites hosting NaBloPloMo sometimes offer writing prompts. A writing prompt is a suggested theme or topic to blog about. Writing prompts are completely optional and are offered as tools to help motivate your daily writing. If you want to write about something different, you may. You can write on anything at all. It all counts! You can even write about past writing prompts!

Do my posts HAVE to be about the monthly theme?

No. Monthly themes (and writing prompts, and Blogrolls, and badges…) are there to help motivate you and facilitate your reaching your goal, but you’re not required to use any of them. You can write about anything at all.

What are NaBloPoMo Badges? Do I have to use them?

NaBloPoMo Badges are little signs for your blog that say you’re participating in NaBloPoMo. They’re completely optional. Some people like to put one in the sidebar of their blog to let visitors know they’re participating in the monthly challenge.

Where can I get a NaBloPoMo Badge? Can I make my own? Do I need permission to use one?

Near the end of the month they’re be several badges for you to select from and post on your blog to indicate that you’ve completed the NaBloPoMo Challenge.

Any badge at all (or none!) can be used, including one you make. In the past, people would share badges that they made for themselves and participants.

What if I miss a day?/Can I schedule posts ahead of time?

To the best of my knowledge, no one is going to be policing NaBloPoMo to ensure that you post once a day. My philosophy is that NaBloPoMo is going to help build your web traffic. It’s very tempting to publish your posts ahead of time. What I did was make a notice that a particular scheduled blog was available a few days later ahead of schedule. That allows you to publish the post and make some changes to the post before it’s scheduled date to add some Pinterest pins to let people know it’s there.

What I liked to do (for when I wrote posts for Blogtober) is to write as many as I could ahead of time to get an idea for what I want to write about so that I’m not hurrying at the last minute. Then once the post was ready I used the schedule feature to schedule it shortly after midnight.

I missed a day/started late. Now what?

Publish your post as soon as you can. Some people like the concept of writing a blog every day but are reluctant to publish a blog every day. Ultimately, the decision rests in your hands.

Where can I read posts written by other NaBloPoMo members?

You can look at a NaBloPloMo Blogroll and pick blogs at random, or search online for NaBloPloMo plus the year and month you’re interested in.

This is my 1^st year of doing the NaBloPoMo Challenge. You can search online for NaBloPoMo blogs or the easiest thing to do is do look at the NaBloPloMo Blogroll for participating bloggers.

Who’s in charge of NaBloPoMo?

NaBloPoMo no longer exists in an official form and nobody is in charge, but individual bloggers sometimes host their own mini-NaBloPoMo. One way to find these bloggers is to do a search online for NaBloPloMo and the current month and year.

PinArtwork this year (2020) is hosting its own version of a NaBloPoMo. There will be no prizes, and the internal reward lies in getting traffic to your blog.

When I did the Blogtober Challenge last month, I asked people to indicate if they were participating in the Blogtober Challenge so I could add the participating blogs that are partaking in the challenge. There was only one person that indicated they were doing the Blogtober Challenge, so in November, PinArtwork is going to take a highly active approach in finding blogs that are taking part to update the Blogroll.

Right now, the Blogroll hasn’t been created. However, I sincerely hope to find several by blogs in the next few days that I can have the Blogroll created by Friday, November 6^th.

November Prompts

These are prompts from Eliza David, Lady Writer. This month, I didn’t want to rack my brain by the posts that I would need to create so I’m going to give it a try and use these questions for my NaBloPoMo posts.

She owns the Empowering Questions deck for a couple of years now, using it as the occasional journal prompt or as a center card in a tarot spread whenever she needs divination inspiration.

To that accord, during the month of November, the two of us will be using her cards to prompt thirty consecutive days of blog entries.

Day 1: If I didn’t feel shame or fear, what would I do now?
Day 2: If this was my last day, would I be satisfied with my life?
Day 3: How would I like people to remember me when I am no longer here?
Day 4: What if everything is as it should be? How would that make me feel?
Day 5: What kinds of situations do I avoid?
Day 6: What is my worst fear?
Day 7: How would I want to be encouraged right now?
Day 8: Why am I doing the things I am doing right now?
Day 9: What gives me great joy?
Day 10: What are my most important values?
Day 11: What is my biggest dream?
Day 12: What am I thankful for today?
Day 13: What or who am I beneath all my roles?
Day 14: What kinds of feelings am I feeling right now?
Day 15: What is the worst that could happen if I let go of things that no longer serve me?
Day 16: What have been the most defining moments that have helped shape my life?
Day 17: What does ‘being’ mean to me?
Day 18: What fascinates me so much that the thought of it won’t leave me alone?
Day 19: What are my best qualities?
Day 20: Where am I going and why?
Day 21: What does happiness mean to me?
Day 22: What is my life like when it is in balance?
Day 23: How or in what way do I experience myself when I’m alone?
Day 24: What kind of advice on life would I give my younger self?
Day 25: What kinds of routines/habits limit my experience of everyday life?
Day 26: What is my instinct telling me to do?
Day 27: What is my gift to the world?
Day 28: Am I focusing more on what my life looks like than on what it feels like?
Day 29: What kinds of recurring situations or people do I attract?
Day 30: Is there something in my life that makes me forget time while I’m doing it?

The items below are some additional pointers if you run into a stumbling block on one of the suggestions listed above

Some helpful tips and reminders for those who want to bring blogging back:

A blog (noun) is series of entries, called blog posts, often primarily presented in reverse chronological order. A blog post (noun) or simply a post is a single entry in a blog, usually consisting of a title, a date, and some content in either text or some other media. To blog (verb) is to write one or more posts on a blog.
Blog posts can be anything you want them to be. They can be short or long. They can be focused on a particular topic, or discuss multiple topics, or be about no one topic in particular. They can have a title or have no title. They can be posted in the past, in the present or in the future. The sky’s the limit.
Just write. Some may struggle with putting their thoughts into words because they’re always looking for the perfect words or structure. Your posts don’t have to be the best, impeccable writing. They can be written first and then improved upon. The goal of an exercise like this one is to force you into the habit of writing freely and without filter, to learn to embrace the imperfect. So just write.
Struggling to find something to write about? Here are some prompts, choose one:
What have you been watching/reading lately?
What’s something you tried recently?
What recent accomplishments are you proud of?
What’s a recent failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?
When was the last time a friend asked you for advice, and what did you tell him?
When was the last time someone exceeded your expectations?
What happened the last time you went to a government office to get something done?
What’s something you do or enjoy that none of your friends do?
What always annoys you when people ask about it?
What recent unexpected find made you happy?
Try to draw a horse. then, mock your drawing
What recent article did you read that really impressed you?
What new blogs or social media accounts have you recently discovered and found interesting?
What’s your strategy for saving money?
What’s a recent restaurant meal you really liked? write a review!
What’s a recent government decision you think was really good or really bad? discuss!

Are you still running out of ideas? Not to worry. These blog prompts/ideas from Lady Marielle (who did the challenge in 2017) are perfect for those days when writer’s blocks rear its ugly head. Now you are provided with a suggested list of nearly 100 topics. What are you waiting for? This will help explode your blog’s traffic.