Poem: Twas the Night Before HubChallege | What I Learned From Accepting the 30 Day Hub Challenge

I wanted to dedicate the 30th hub to the experience itself and share some tips about what I learned in the experience as a new hub writer with deadlines as well as dedicate the following newly written poem for the momentous occasion.

As a new writer on HubPages, I picked up the gauntlet and accepted the 30 day challenge. Writing a new hub every day for thirty days was a tremendous learning experience. What did I learn? Much. Producing that much content in a short period of time was definitely a challenge. I seriously don't know how those of you with full time jobs do it without major sleep deficit. I'm not currently employed and I struggled with the time management aspect of the challenge and the upkeep of normal household duties I perform regularly. Having some personal experiences to write about that didn't require research helped to meet the daily requirement.

Twas The Night Before HubChallenge    by L Storck

Twas the night before HubChallenge, when all through Hub houses,

Not a writer was sleeping, while clicking of mouses.

With thirty hub topics hung by the desk chair

In hopes that great story lines soon would appear.

The candle shone dim as I snuggled in bed

While visions of keywords danced round in my head.

And Hub titles churning, round and round as I rested

The night would be short and soon time to be tested.

When out of the darkness, there arose a new title,

I sprang from the bed, to write it down while not idle.

Away to the study I flew with a flash,

Turned on the laptop and made a loud crash.

The moon on the breast of the thoughts written down,

Gave a thrill of HubChallenges soon to be found.

When, what to my wondering mind should allow,

But a leprechaun hub, beefalo and fake cow.

With my fingers on keyboard, so lively and quick.

I knew in a moment I just might be sick.

More rapid than eagles these brainstorms they came,

As I shouted, and whistled, and called them by name;

Now, Pet Hubs! now Bison! now, Surfing and Swimming;

On Balding!, on Poison! on, Mustangs! on, Grieving!

To the top of the Forums! With content galore!

Now fly away to Portland! Now fly to the shore.

As dry spells would come with the tiredness of wit,

And as each day passes and new comments were writ,

Persevere, persevere, time management too

With a pile of new stories, that Golfgal, she knew.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard my dog woof,

The cat began yawning and continued aloof,

As I drew in my breath and kept writing with care,

Day 15 approached, I was almost half there.

So far hubs written passed the standards I set,

And comments and feedback and votes I would get.

More piles grew from research upon the desk top,

My head was spinning, I thought it would pop.

My eyes, how they twinkled with tears as I tarried,

My cheeks were like roses, my nose always buried!

From the glass of wine poured to settle the score,

Came hubs upon hubs, there were many days more.

When Hubnugget contests gave added belief,

The pressure subsided, as I breathed relief.

The pages took form through a stream of good content,

I shook when I laughed as I wrote with a fervent.

It was time to produce good work under pressure,

Improvement in style, became what I would treasure

As that smirk I knew well became part of my chin

Of the sexy bald husband, I wrote with a grin.

With a wink in his eye, and a twist of his head,

My hubby let know I had nothing to dread.

I spoke no more words, but went straight back to write,

Filling hubs with great pictures and amazon sites.

Laying my pencil aside of my nose,

Giving a nod, to hub proofing and prose.

I sprang to attention when hoppers gave notice,

And searching away I would learn Google status.

I heard myself scream with THIRTY DAYS of great choice

Happy HubCallenge all, and here's to my voice.

Learning experiences were rampant over the 30 day HubChallenge. For me, one of the most difficult aspects of writing a hub each day was struggling with the decision of what to title the hub.

• Titling is key. Finding the right title for the hub is crucial for others to find it on search engines. A catchy title is good as long as it draws people to you and relates to the actual content.
• Good content writing will bring people back to your hubs over and over, not keyword stuffing. Keywords are important, but not at the expense of good content writing.
• Use lots of your own pictures to help tell real stories. People love it.
• Time management is very important to meeting goals and deadlines. Think in advance of topics by performing needed research in advance of your 30 day time frame thus providing more potential content within a tight time frame. It will be invaluable to you during the 30 day period and you will be so glad you did this.
• Doing research is great fun and sometimes you get lost in in it. While researching one topic, I found other topics that became some of what I deem my finest pieces of work, I call this finding jewels. Writing about what you want to learn is priceless. You will be learning subject matter that has been on your mind and will likely keep your interest. Also, make sure the content you are writing about can be backed up by two sources if not personal experiences. Following these couple procedures in advance allows for increased valuable time to edit and apply pictures: both time consuming activities.
• My writing style improved and the speed at which I can publish has increased by producing hubs over the 30 challenge.
• A daily regimen of writing and researching is a must. Not only does it help you overcome writing blocks, it will help you discipline your mind to write when you have to do so, not just when you feel like it. Sometimes it feels like you are forcing the flow, but the dedication to write comes from writing irregardless of how you're feeling, just do it. Sometimes in following this discipline, you will find yourself going into a completely different direction from where you thought you would be going at the start. I love this part of writing. I guess this would be defined as creative writing by allowing the mind to go somewhere unknown and uncontrolled while writing whatever comes to mind. Creatively writing random thoughts is so fun when you discover that you can actually do this on purpose and on topic after good research.
• The Hub traffic should increase exponentially on your hub site if you are producing quality hubs. Most of all I think taking a moment to enjoy writing during the process is a must do, give yourself a break and go for a walk, then come back with a fervent to publish.

1. The 30 Day HubChallenge Gauntlet Accepted for 30 Hubs in 30 Days | A Wonderland Experience
2. Animal Shelter Suggests a Scent Beacon | Find a Lost Cat
3. Bison, Beefalo, or Belgian Augus | Cattle Genetics Industry Evolves
4. Surf Lesson Waikiki at 40 Something | Kowabunga | Check off the Bucket List
5. Waikiki, Ohau The Birthplace of Surfing | Hang 10 in Hawaii
6. Pet Moving Preparation What Specific Records Must You Have For State Laws
7. Pound Puppies Love Adventure | Emily's Song
8. Pet Moving Safety: Car Travel Can Be Fun | Do Airbags Harm Pets?
9. Bald is Sexy: The Non-Hairstyle of the 21st Century
10. The Permanent Wave That Was Only Temporary | Achilles Hair
11. Facebook Flirts with Facts About Divorce Statistics
12. Secret of Reblooming Amaryllis Successfully
13. Mustangs of Las Colinas | World's Largest Eqestrian Sculpture in Irving Texas
14. Mother's Day Tribute | I Think My Grandmother's a Leprechaun
15. Poison Ivy Rash heals More with a Day at the Swimming Pool
16. Dogs Just Want to Have Fun | Daily Walking Avoids Boredom and Stress
17. Cleaning the Quad D.E. Cartridge Style Filter for Swimming Pool Maintenance
18. The Grieving Stages of Divorce Recovery
19. TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF AT THE DOOR, Honor Your Health and House by Keeping Bacterias Out
20. Tapped out in Texas: Tap Water Test Results from Brita Filtered Tested by Culligan
21. Pouring a Patio With Attached Sidewalk Around The House
22. Mad River Canoe Picnic on the Potomac River
23. Gift of Address Labels; An Interesting Proposition
24. Digging a New Bed in the Front Yard
25. Grandparents Class and Learning Infant CPR
26. 50 Ways to use WD-40, Home Remedies
27. Garden Gazing Bowling Ball Craft Project
28. Portland, Oregon Excursion | Japanese Gardens at Its' Finest
29. Seeking Susquatch in Sequoias, Seriously? | Giant California Redwoods | Portland Excursion Adventure
30. Poem

Copyright Notice

The text and all images on this page, unless otherwise indicated, are by Lisa Storck who hereby asserts her copyright on the material. Should you wish to use any of the text or images feel free to do so with proper attribution and, if possible, a link back to this page. Thank you.

© Lisa Storck 2011