30 Hubs in 30 Days: Grand Finale

Hello fellow Hubbers and readers!

I am happy to announce that today marks day #31 of my "30 Hubs in 30 Days Challenge." I can proudly say that I did it! I reached my goal of writing 30 hubs within a 30 day period. Yea!

(cue "We Are the Champions" music)

Today, I'd like to take a few minutes to look back at my challenge. I'll begin with a "free write" and then move into a brief Q&A section.

As I look back on my 30/30 challenge, the following things stood out to me:

1. Variety is the spice of life. It's also a great way to defeat writer's block.

Over the past few weeks, I've tried a lot of new things (writing-wise). I wrote my first product review, wrote two hubs based upon questions asked on Hub Pages, and wrote my first movie review. The new types of articles forced me to move out of my comfort zone.

I've also followed my inspiration. As a result the topics of my 30 hubs have varied greatly. I've written about classic literature (while examining several excellent works). I've reminisced while writing about music and my great-grandmother's needle points. I've shared humorous stories about sharing my house with a bunch of cats. I've strayed outside of my area of expertise by writing about one of the greatest Super Bowl games ever played (while relying heavily on research articles).

During a few "downer" days, I wrote about my struggles with insomnia and the blues and offered advice to other people facing these same problems. I also wrote about getting out of debt and striving to live a "thrifty" life.

The feminist in me is most proud of my two part series "I am woman..." where I talked about some of the projects that I've tackled as the owner of an 80+ year old house, the skills I've gained, and the life lessons that I learned along the way.

2. It's hard to predict which hubs will do well.

During the past month, there were several hubs that I spent several days working on. Once they were published, I was sure that they would get a lot of views and comments. There were other days when I was short on time, so I wrote brief, fun hubs that I thought of as "fluff" pieces. I was surprised to discover that many of the fluff pieces (which I spent very little time on compared to the others) performed as well as my serious pieces.

While there are always "hot" topics-- you know, the things that people are talking about at the moment-- it's hard to predict which hubs will draw the most attention.

From the beginning, I planned on writing a summary hub after I'd posted my 30th hub for the challenge. I knew that I would want to take the time to look back at the hubs I'd written and take a moment to appreciate my accomplishments. However, I also wanted to address some deeper issues.

So, I jotted down the following questions:

What have I learned (during the challenge)?

Do I have any advice to offer other hubbers/hub challengers?

Are there things that I would do differently?

Will I do it again?

First of all, I'm a pretty informal type of person so rather than answer the questions directly, one at a time, in a formal fashion, I'm going to pretend that the two of us are sitting together enjoying a beverage and carrying on an engaging conversation.

Can you picture it? It's a cold, rainy day here on the west coast, so I'd like to imagine us sitting at the bar of one of those huts on a beach somewhere. You know the ones-- with the bamboo walls, straw roofs, and lots of views of the ocean. We're sitting there with the drink of our choice in front of each of us, and wearing comfortable beach-bum clothing when the topic of my writing challenge comes up.

"Well, it was harder than I thought it would be. I love writing and I usually have gobs of ideas, you know? But, knowing that I had to come up with an idea, write it out, and publish it-- every single day-- and all of this while holding down a day job? Let's just say that it was definitely a challenge."

There's a pause in our conversation while the bar tender offers us a refill (which we both accept gladly). Closing my eyes, I can hear the sound of the waves, seagulls, and the muffled conversation of the people sitting around us. You interrupt my thoughts by asking if I'll do it again.

"Another hub challenge?" I chuckle. "Time will tell... I usually like to simply follow the inspiration, you know? Some days I'm overflowing with ideas that I feel compelled to scribble on paper. Other days, I'm sort-of blank. I think my writing is better when I don't force it. Does that make sense?"

I pause to sip my drink and let my gaze wander toward the water. I can spot two people on brightly colored surf boards paddling away from the shore.

"I think the challenge was good for me because it made me work on a deadline. But, I wish I'd had more time to edit and refine the articles before publishing them... Yeah, you're right. I can still go back and edit them. But, since they've already been published a lot of people have already read them..."

Returning my gaze to the waves, I see that one of the surfers is attempting to stand up on her board. I feel a surge of joy when she succeeds and watch her ride the wave toward the shore.

"If I do it again, I'd like to do more advance planning. You know, jot down more ideas and notes beforehand. Then I won't be scrambling to find something to write about at the last minute. Plus it'll give me more time to chew on the topics and come up with better arguments. I would suggest that other writers do the same thing."

Our conversation is interrupted by the arrival of our food. My stomach growls as the scent of French fries drifts toward me. The veggie burger is huge and I wonder if I'll be able to eat the whole thing.

"Looks like another challenge..." I joke while gesturing toward our heaping plates. After savoring a few bites, I continue our conversation. "If there's one thing that I learned from my 30/30 challenge it's that if I set a goal, I'm just stubborn enough to meet it.... okay, you're right, make that 'bull headed' enough." I chuckle at your teasing.

"You were right though. Going out to celebrate was a great idea!" And, with that, we both lift our glasses in celebration of my accomplishment before turning our full attention on the excellent food.

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2. Introducing the "Cat House" series

3. Crater Lake National Park

4. Choose Your Own Death: Writing Challenge

5. Blast from the Past: Neil Diamond

6. I am woman... Part 1-- Projects

7. I am woman... Part 2-- Life Lessons

8. Cat House: Cats & Potato Chips

9. Product Review: Eggies-- As Seen on TV

10. Snow Day!

11. Witches: Prejudice and Misconceptions

12. Movie Review: "Soul Surfer"

13. Cat House: The Monster Under the Door

14. Needlepoint & Namesakes: Memories of my Great Grandmother

15. For those of you just tuning in...

16. Super Bowl XIII: Rematch! The Cowboys vs. the Steelers (part 1)

17. Super Bowl XIII: Rematch! The Cowboys vs. the Steelers (part 2)

18. Super Bowl XIII: Rematch! The Cowboys vs. the Steelers (part 3)

19. Tips for Conquering Insomnia

20. Beach Essentials (Response to a Question)

21. "Raindrops on Roses": 7 Tips for Overcoming the Blues

22. You might be a crazy cat lady if...

23. Finding the Middle Ground: An Answer to a Question

24. Narcissistic Malvolio in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

25. Gender Roles and Expectations in Akinaris's "Bewitched" Part 1

26. Gender Roles and Expectations in Akinaris's "Bewitched" Part 2

27. Financial Management and Frugal Living: A Few Recommended Books

28. Kitten Top 10

29. Internet Plagiarism: A Real Threat

30. Learning to Herb

Please feel free to visit any of these hubs and leave a comment!