danceswithcats

I got a reply from Syndication House That Shall Not Be Named. The reply was very complimentary to the column, said the writing was great and very entertaining … and that if they had room for me in their roster of columnists they’d snap me up in a heartbeat. Alas, there was no room at their inn, but the writer of the letter said not to give up. :-)

Just before Christmas 2006 I sent a query packet to Syndication House That Shall Not Be Named. I expect to hear back sometime in February. We’ll see.

Preparation
Make sure your computer, modem/ethernet, whatever you’re using to connect, is working properly before the Blogathon begins. I almost had a heart attack when I came to my office half an hour before the ‘thon started and found that my Ethernet cable was broken so it wouldn’t stay affixed in my modem. Fortunately, I found some duct tape and used it to keep the cable in there and keep my connection stable. So give yourself time to test everything before the start hour.
Have a theme (or at least, a plan of what you want to write about). I can’t tell you how much it helped me to know exactly what I was going to do, during those hours where it was hard to function and before I got my second-and third, and fourth-wind. It seems to me, from monitoring the Blogathon chatroom for most of the night, that the people who had the hardest time completing the Blogathon were those who didn’t know what they were going to write about for their next entry. Remember, you’re making a post at least every 30 minuts for 24 hours, and that’s tough for even the most creative soul unless they’ve got a plan.
If possible, have an interactive element. By answering readers’ questions as I went (because occasionally readers would comment on my original posts with further questions or comments that I could take as a direction in my next post), I felt more connected to the whole Blogathon experience, and, well, it just made it fun for me.
Eat, Drink and Be Merry
Stay hydrated! Really. Drink lots of water. Not only will this help you feel physically better, but the resulting trips to the bathroom will help keep you from falling asleep. I drank at least a gallon of water during my Blogathon. I wouldn’t recommend drinking lots of soda or sugar-laden juices, because sugar in particular tends to cause a rush and then a crash…and that sugar crash is the last think you need.
While we’re on the liquid theme, it’s fine to consume caffeine in moderation-I drank maybe 4 cups over the 24-hour period-but again, if you overdo the caffeine, you’re going to get the jitters and you’re going to feel sick to your stomach.
Further elaboration on the liquid theme: Avoid alcohol. It might seem like a fun idea to do a “drink-a-thon,” but alcohol dehydrates you and, as a sedative, it’s not what you want to consume while you’re trying to stay awake. Sure, you could drink alcohol and coffee, I suppose, but your stomach (and the rest of your body) won’t thank you for it.
Have a variety of tasty, nutritious food available to you. Again, you can do junk food if you want, but your body will thank you more for providing it with fresh fruits, salads, veggies, and proteins (to keep you going through the long haul). I didn’t ace this—I ate my fair share of potato chips and did consume a chocolate-chip scone at some point. But I ate enough “real food” to keep me going.
If you can’t have someone else helping you with the blog (group blogs are allowed, but maybe you can’t get one together), it helps to have someone around who is willing to serve as “support staff” (cooking food and the like).
Staying Awake
Get up and walk around, stretch, and get your blood moving. If you can manage to do a little stretch and exercise once an hour or so, it will really help your endurance. And when you’re stretching, do stretches for your wrists to prevent repetitive stress injury. (I wish I’d done more wrist stretches, because gods, my wrists and hands are sore today!)
Some veteran Blogathonners recommend occasional cool showers for staying awake. I didn’t take advantage of the shower cure because I went outside and smoked cigarettes breathed in the fresh, cool night air instead.
Try not to overdo any non-liquid stimulants, too. If you end up chain-smoking for 24 hours, you’re really going to regret it the next day! Fortunately the place where I was blogging was a place I couldn’t (and wouldn’t even if I could) smoke indoors, so chain-smoking was not an option. :-)
And speaking of cool: Climate control is a good thing. The end of July is frickin’ hot in most of the US, and if you can keep your blogathonning room just a little on the cool side, it will reduce fatigue and help you stay awake. Remember, though, that air conditioning dehydrates you, so make sure you drink LOTS of water!
Ergonomics: It’s Not Just for Office Jobs
Make sure your computer setup is ergonomically correct. If your chair, desk, monitor, etc., are adjusted properly, your endurance will benefit, and so will your body. Improperly adjusted desks and crappy chairs lead to backaches, sore shoulders and neck, sore wrists, and fatigue. Again, I fell a bit short in the ergo department this year, hence the wrist pain and my dreadfully sore back and shoulders.
And speaking of ergonomics, if you can possible get or borrow an LCD monitor, you will suffer from a lot less “monitor fatigue.” I’ve done long stretches with CRT monitors (at a newspaper job) and an LCD monitor (for Blogathon), and the flat-screen seriously reduces the amount of eyestrain and “monitor fatigue” you suffer.
And speaking of eyestrain, make sure your space is adequately lit. Poor lighting contributes to eyestrain—and it makes you sleepy!
Interaction: Be Part of the Community
Read other people’s blogs and respond to them. You’ll have the chance to meet new people, and you can even cross-promote each other’s blogs—which could benefit both of you.
Don’t forget to put your sponsor link in a visible place. People can continue to sponsor you throughout the Blogathon period and up to 2 days afterwards, so make it easy for them to do so!
Check in with the blogathon.org homepage regularly. I actually had blogathon.org as a tab in my Firefox so I could just click over to it and hit Refresh whenever I wasn’t busy with the Paws and Effect blog. They do games every hour that, if you win, could net you a sponsorship ranging from $5 to $20. Plus, the games are fun. In addition, they highlight various blogs and what the bloggers are doing.
Make at least one of your posts a description of the charity you’re blogging for.
If you want, make another post about why you’ve chosen this charity above any others.
Don’t forget to have fun. If you’re not having fun-no matter how good a cause you’re blogging for-it’s really not worth it.