Well, here I am, 30 days later, after I set myself the original challenge of writing a blog post every day for the entire month of November. It’s funny to think that when I started doing this Halloween had only just finished and Donald Trump was still campaigning for a position which, it was widely assumed, he’d never win. Yet look where we are now. Christmas decorations are out, Donald Trump has been elected President and Judge Rinder is still on Strictly after beating Ed Balls in a dance off. What a time it is to be alive.

The main thing which has surprised both myself and assorted members of family is that I have, indeed, been able to consistently write a new blog post every single day for 30 days. Given prior to this month two posts a week was considered an achievement, I’d say that’s pretty good going. Even when I’ve had tough days in the office, or visited friends I’ve somehow managed to stick myself in front of a laptop for at least five minutes to quickly belt out a blog post before rushing back to the task at hand.

In terms of content I think I’ve actually faired better than expected. There were only a handful of days where I had to rack my brains for an idea of what to write. But that said, I never at the point of absolute point of writers’ block that I sat behind a screen staring blankly into the abyss. 30 days and able to write on some incredibly varied topics from Hershey’s to hats, Trump to trains, I can honestly say being forced to write on something everyday has, through necessity, expanded my creative mind. One of my blog posts (The 12:37 Train from Swindon to Bath Spa) even made it to into the paper I write for (and that was only written in 30 minutes). If I can write a blog post on Tuna and a dog on a trampoline then I can write about anything.

Would I do it all again? Now there’s the million dollar question. In all honestly, no I wouldn’t. Purely because to fit in doing a blog post every single day alongside other commitments is just too much pressure to put on myself. Avid readers of my blog will know that this isn’t my only hobby and switching from this to book mode whilst keeping to my journalist deadlines has, at times, been challenging. Add to mix the 9-5 job, running the 18-30 group, commuting, gyming and general life stuff and you can quickly picture how manic my life is without the additional pressure of Nablopomo. That said, would I recommend it to anyone looking for a challenge? Something to help reenergise creative minds? Most certainly. It’s a mental challenge like no other and I’m so glad to say I’ve been able to do it. It’s a mini accomplishment by itself.

And on that note, I’m going into blog hibernation. Wake me up in a few weeks’ time!