105 Ways to Give a Book

Comment Challenge End

With twenty-one days of commenting awareness under our belts, we have reached the end of the Comment Challenge. With the morning off work, I have only five comments to go to reach the one hundred mark, so I'm feeling good. In other years the daily routine was most helpful, but this time I found myself reading and commenting in blocks of time. It may have a lot to do with when I was keeping Teen company as she worked through her endless amounts of homework. Either way it got me more connected to blogging and responding, and that's what I love most about doing this Comment Challenge.

My takeaway is the idea that there are two types of comments. In one we offer a connection to the topic, adding opinions and contributing to the dialogue. In the other we offer a connection to the writer, adding support and contributing to a community feeling. I think our hesitation comes often from our fear of not doing the first adequately, when in truth any comment is adequate in the second because it lets the writer feel heard. Okay maybe not any comment, if it say advertises products of dubious nature. But still, I'd like to worry less about what I'm saying when much of the value in commenting is saying anything.

Thanks to all of you who have commented here this week. I didn't respond individually, but I was especially grateful for your comments on my daughter's video of Crazy Dreams. The song itself has been so meaningful to me as a crossover from my theatre kid world to the community of writers: "Hello, you wild magnolias just waiting to bloom, there's a little bit of all that inside of me and you." Of course, I love her performance and I know how well she sells those words, so I appreciate knowing it was heard in the world.

Okay, so back to the bigger picture of Comment Challenge 2013. By the end of the day, please comment with your totals, experience, etc so that Lee Wind and I can give out some prizes. Don't worry if you didn't meet the one hundred goal, or even your own goal. We would like to know who was along for the ride and how you found the journey. Thanks for playing!

12 comments:

Anamaria (bookstogether) said...

Thanks again to you and Lee for organizing the Comment Challenge--it's always a great way to start the year. I didn't comment as much as I would have liked, but I definitely did more than I was used to doing and hope to keep up the habit! It also prompted me to post more, because really, comments are so nice.

And Erin had me at "bloom." Thanks again!

Mrs. Silverstein said...

Thanks for organizing this again! Last year I really went for five comments a day, but this year I found myself much more up and down. I think the difference is that this year it didn't feel like as much of a stretch, since last year's challenge really helped me get over my commenting-phobia. Now I have a fairly decent number of blogs I try to comment on regularly anyway, so I knew I could relax when I was traveling on the weekend and make it up during the week (when more people post anyway.) I did meet and follow at least a few new bloggers this year, though, and I love the reminder to just go ahead and say something already!

My total: 100 (maybe more by the end of the day!)

The Pen and Ink Blogspot said...

Last year I sat by my brother in hospice as he slept.To keep myself occupied I set a goal of 10 comments a day and exceded it. It's a bittersweet memory.
This year I kept my comments around 5 a day. I discovered I could do it an around 45 minutes. I found it was a reachable goal. I usually did it before turning the computer off for the night.
I've made 113 comments as Pen and Ink. I visited everyone who signed up.
I've got some new boos to read and found some wonderful posts. A very enjoyable journey. I'll post this same comment at Lee's so I'm not counting that. Thanks for the fun.
Susan at Pen and Ink.

Ali said...

I totally failed in that I kept forgetting to keep track of my comments. But, I did well in spirit--definitely back on board, as far as commenting and exploring new blogs. Thanks for hosting the challenge!

Melissa said...

I hit 70, which surprised me. I didn't expect to get that high at all! And I enjoyed reminding myself why I was part of this community. Thanks!

Karoline said...

This was great! I learned a lot, found some great new blogs to follow, and was reinspired to continue my own blog. I failed to meet my commenting goal though, which was a bummer. My total was about 54. We have a lot going on right now, which made it harder to find the time. Thanks so much for organizing this!

Sondy said...

Darn! I missed it! I may have to give myself a personal challenge to get commenting again....

Unknown said...

I didn't hit 100, but I use the CC to improve my commenting habits, and it worked. :) Thanks again to you and Lee for encouraging community in this way!

Beth said...

I did a minimum of five comments a day, and sometimes went over but I didn't try to count those, just started over with five for the next day.

One effect was that I didn't have much time for my own blog, so I'm glad that everyone else kept posting during this challenge.

Madigan Mirza said...

Ah! I really fell off the wagon towards the end - the end of the month is such a busy time for me.

But thank you for hosting this again this year. It's always great to get a kick in the pants to comment and read blogs more widely. I've discovered some new favorites.

CS Perryess said...

Greetings,
Thanks for the comment challenge. I must say I'm more of a gestalt kind of guy than one who tallies, so I have no idea how many comments I've left in this time. What I can say is that it has compelled me to check out more folks' blogs & learn more about my fellow writers & readers. I've had a few rewarding digital conversations that I wouldn't have had otherwise, & several new people have stopped by Wordmonger, my blog. I've bounced around other writers' blogs before, but hadn't really realized the incredibly high percentage that are primarily book review sites. My hopes are to use this resource more in the following year as I choose what to read (given the huge number of stunningly wonderful YA/MG books available). Thanks again to you & Lee for organizing.

GatheringBooks said...

Hi there Pam, thanks for hosting this once again. We had over 100 comments in all at GatheringBooks, around 140 thereabouts for the entire period. We had a different approach though as there were several days when we had over 20 comments made or even 40 at a time, and an entire week where we were not quite as diligent when it comes to leaving comments. Kind of like binge-commenting after a period of fasting. Haha. Here's our final update: http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/comment-challenge-2013-a-running-update/