Can You Write Every Single Day for a Whole Year?

That’s the challenge that has been extended to bloggers. As if NaNoWriMo weren’t intense enough (and so much so that I could not, due to my other commitments, participate this year), now comes Blog 365.

The description of the program queries, “Are you ready to keep the NaPloPoMo spirit going?” (Apparently, NaPloPoMo stands for “National Blog Posting Month” and there was a prior challenge to post every day during a single month.) Undaunted, the same folks who organized that campaign are now running Blog 365 which officially begins on January 1, 2008. At this writing, the group has 45 members. There are also smaller groups and members are welcome to establish their own special-interest team. For instance, there is one group for folks who utilize the WordPress platform, one comprised of folks determined to stop smoking in 2008, and the “Crazy Cat People.”

If you have multiple blogs, posting to any of them counts. In other words, you do not have to publish an entry to the same blog on each day of the year.

Sound impossible? Sound intriguing? Think you might participate?

Although there is no explanation as to why members would want to make such an onerous commitment and join in, the obvious reasons seem to be the sense of accomplishment, i.e., successfully demonstrating the discipline to live up to such a commitment.

Additionally, if you are working on a large writing project such as a novel, this might be a more manageable solution than NaNoWriMo because there are no rules or guidelines established beyond “blog for 365 days straight!” So long as you write something each day, you will be deemed to have succeeded. There is no pressure to write a specific number of words or focus on a particular topic, and there is no prohibition on editing as you go.

I will have to give this latest challenge some serious thought before committing. Frankly, I think that joining such a program would be counter-productive for me. Given my rebellious spirit, I can envision myself not wanting to publish a post merely because I have given in to the pressure to write on a regular basis. For bloggers who publish sponsored content and post every single day anyway, Blog 365 might serve as an extra incentive to be productive. But for folks like me who blog strictly as a hobby …?

Will you be participating? Why or why not? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!