Did the Crazy Pace Prove Its Worth?
On June 29th, carolscash issued a challenge to all of us here at Persona Paper: write 100 articles in a week. The idea was to stir up some activity on the site, and to get people earning a bit more. She suggested the tag 100-Challenge , and let us know that even she didn't think she'd get nearly that many posts written. She just wanted to encourage everyone to get writing.
I read the post later in the day on June 30th, and decided to take it up. I knew I would not write the 14-15 posts a day necessary to complete the challenge in a week. But I thought perhaps I might be able to write 100 posts in a month if I pushed myself. So I decided I would keep that goal in mind when I wrote.
A Week Later
I wrote a couple of posts on June 30th, including my introductory post for the challenge , in which I explored the question of how feasible this amount of writing would be for me. But really dug in on July 1st. That day I managed to write 8 posts, which so far has been the largest amount I've posted on any day since starting the challenge – and possibly the most I've published on a single day since starting at Persona Paper over a year ago.
Then the heat wave came back. And I had to get my second daughter off to camp. And I had several other real-life things that took me away from writing.
I ended up slowing down after a few days, because I wasn't getting enough time to read comments left by other users, let alone to respond and visit with them. So I devoted more time to reading and commenting, the last few days.
Did I Earn?
All told, I ended up publishing 19 posts over 6 days (one of the seven days I didn't post, but just interacted.) The week before I'd published 9 posts, so I increased my input by just a bit more than 100%. over the previous week's activity.
And yes, that did also increase my earnings by about the same percentage. I had been concerned that if I posted more often, some of my posts would go unseen. I also had concerns about the impact of my writing more on interacting – both in terms of me earning less from leaving comments, and in terms of drawing fewer internal views.
But it looks like that was OK. That tells me that for now, traffic on Persona Paper is fairly reliable, whether I'm writing a little or a lot. It also tells me that I can afford to take a short break from interacting, should I need to.
Will I carry on with the challenge, aiming to get to that 100-post mark by the end of the month? No. I don't need to keep up that kind of pace, and I want to have more time to interact.
| WritingGoals | Earnings | Interaction | 100-Challenge | FOPP |
Image credit: Thought by Gerd Altmann/Pixabay ( CC0 1.0 )
Image Credit » https://pixabay.com/en/thoughts-think-psyche-psychology-551344/ by geralt
Comments
bestwriter wrote on July 7, 2015, 10:21 PM
While I did throw up a challenge -remember the category challenge? I per se do not need challenges. I have over a thousand posts and these I did without anyone breathing down my neck.
wolfgirl569 wrote on July 7, 2015, 10:44 PM
For some people a challenge is what gets them motivated to do better. I just fit in posting and reading as I have the time so it does not help me
1CoralLevang wrote on July 7, 2015, 11:54 PM
It's always nice to take a look at a challenge, and find some patterns, whether we reach the goal or not.
1CalmGemini wrote on July 8, 2015, 2:35 AM
As it is you are doing good.So your decision regarding the challenge Is right.Is your daughter back from the camp?
MegL wrote on July 8, 2015, 3:34 AM
Sometimes I feel like writing and other times not. I go with the flow, as long as I am on here every day.
AliCanary wrote on July 8, 2015, 9:39 AM
It's very enlightening to read this review of the results! I would have thought that writing so many posts would oversaturate the market, as it were, or at least be a little self-defeating, as posts on the front page replace each other after three, but it seems your readership kept up with you. I have also found that publishing a lot of posts makes it hard to respond to the comments I get, which makes me feel like a slacker, although of course "properly" responding to 10 or 12 comments (which includes, for me, reciprocal visits to 10 or 12 posts and leaving my own comments) can be pretty time-consuming!
AudreyHowitt wrote on July 8, 2015, 10:02 PM
Congratulations! That is quite an accomplishment! It is often helpful to rise to a challenge I think!
1ViperGirl85 wrote on July 12, 2015, 1:04 AM
I need to try that one month. I haven't had the time but I wouldn't mind giving it a whirl. Maybe I'll plan it out in advance; like when I get my babysitting schedule and see that I don't have many evenings or something. August will have to be out because I'm going on vacation.
1I'm glad it's working for you so far, and I do hope you hit 100 posts within a month!
Ruby3881 wrote on July 13, 2015, 5:53 PM
I have never seen a writing challenge as an external pressure. It may be someone else's suggestion, but I participate to please only myself and to test my own abilities.
Ruby3881 wrote on July 13, 2015, 6:15 PM
Ah! Says the girl who is doing the 30-day book challenge!
Ruby3881 wrote on July 13, 2015, 6:26 PM
Daughters 1 and 2 are both gone until mid-August. MamaOzzy3881 is up working security at the cadet camp in Whitehorse for seven weeks. We have just started week three, and I'm dying to catch up on her news! She's very busy this summer, and hasn't had time for any of our long phone calls like last summer. Last we spoke, she was preparing to teach snare drumming lessons to the youngest course cadets, as an additional duty on some of her days off.
The Banana is taking intensive bagpipe training in Alberta, about an hour outside Banff. She is just starting week two of six there, but then she has to fly back to the Okanagan for several days' of expedition training afterwards. Still not sure what the travel arrangements are, or when she's coming home. We have to trust that the military will get her all sorted out and return her in one piece! It's been six years, all told between the two girls, and they always come back safely
Ruby3881 wrote on July 13, 2015, 6:33 PM
I don't even worry about it being every day now. I tend to visit the site in bursts, and I kind of enjoy it that way. I do sometimes get on a roll, where I post daily or even several times daily. But like many, I tend to go with the flow. It depends what I feel like, and what I have time for.
Ruby3881 wrote on July 13, 2015, 6:41 PM
I tend to look at a proper response the same way you do. Yes, it is time-consuming! That was my biggest issue with posting all-out over a period of several days. I missed the interaction
I'm actually surprised that I didn't lose traffic because I was posting too frequently. Mind you, there were only a couple of really heavy days, but I think this tells me that readers tend to be coming to my profile to choose a post to read, or finding it in their notifications feed.
bestwriter wrote on July 13, 2015, 8:24 PM
You are right. No one pressurises us here.
wolfgirl569 wrote on July 13, 2015, 11:27 PM
That one is easy for me to do as I read a lot in the winter lol
1Shellyann36 wrote on July 14, 2015, 1:42 AM
I don't have any idea how someone can keep up with that kind of pace. I am unable to get even five posts per day done.