On a Trope page revamp for 2500 unique page views, and Naked Lunch/Lazy River aftermath. · 5:24pm Aug 21st, 2014
Let's go with the second part first, because it allows me to say this with (more or less) a straight face.
We are in full compliance with William Goldman's first rule of Hollywood.
Nobody knows anything.
Both in the Box. Although LZ was pretty much darting in and out, plus if I was the sort of person to question the workings of the Box, I'd really wonder how it got in there on a much weaker reception, but I'm not because y'know, at least one person might consider my banning to be bad, and there's a slight chance of that being me.
(Note for Group members: I posted a new thread with some NK worldbuilder bits, plus ones from Princesses Can't Cook. LZ may come later.)
So what happened?
I think with NK, we ran into the old Hollywood High Concept issue -- and for once, it was in a positive way. You can sum up the story very quickly for any presentation. 'Canterlot gets a butcher shop: results ensue'. (The last two words are optional.) In that sense, there's more of a hook for the tale: people feel they know more about what they're getting into before they start, some are probably already picturing consequences and wondering if I'll agree with them... a few readers probably had half the thing written in their heads before ever clicking the link. It's an easy foundation to build on, and that's just for the audience.
So I feel it pretty much picked up the initial non-follower readers from the short summary. And once it reached the Box on that initial and assisted surge, it snowballed, managing to hang in there for a while and even pick up a referral link, which likely remains mostly dumb luck. The base concept was strong enough to overcome a degree of 'verse resistance (as in 'this is part of how many?)., get past the fact that it's all OCs plus Luna, and I don't think there's any real feeling of continuity lockout.
For LZ... continuity lockout can be part of it. I tried to make it work as a stand-alone and I'd like to think I had some small degree of success, but that one really does mean more to those who've been around for a while. It's a Sad-themed story as opposed to NK's Comedy, and that took out a few people. The AJ/Pinkie focus (and non-shipping) combo may not have been the most natural bait, plus anyone new who showed up had to work through my concepts for earth pony magic and quite a bit about their funeral traditions. Definitely the harder of the stories to get into and in that sense, I feel it wound up almost being a Followers Only piece. Those are going to come along no matter what I do, and... this turned out to be one of them.
With LZ, I think it got into the Box and stumbled around for a while based on the loyalists: those who've been around for a while and are trying to put the pieces together.
And in both cases... thankee.
Okay: the Tropes page.
At this point, I think things may be a little too jumbled, at least in that we are now dealing with a good number of stories in there and sorting through the thing to find individual ones may be a hassle. So I'm going to try something major. I'm going to break the main page down by story, place their tropes into folders, and see how that looks. It's a major project, it's going to take a while, and I will save a copy of the current version before I start because I'd better.
(Subpages will be left alone. No need to touch YMMV: it's one entry...)
I will keep the 'Tropes present across the Continuum' section outside a folder and leave it at the top. Some things have to be moved there -- anything which shows up in three or more stories should now arguably be in that section -- and other bits will have to be edited, since they won't need to mention their relevant story in the text. I also have to add tropes for various stories, and part of that is because I'm still discovering new ones. (Cue The Rain was a natural addition -- and I didn't know it existed until just recently.)
For the moment, I'm considering putting the folders in publication order, as that may help show how ideas developed along the way.
The work on this will begin tomorrow. If you think it's a horrible idea, you have that long to talk me out of it. Also, suggestions on refinements are welcome. Plus new tropes. Always tropes. Labor of love? Just plain labor? For the next few days, it'll be some of both...
2500 people. I'm guessing at least a dozen were search engine spelling errors.
Told you!
Admittedly, I expected LZ to get in there more easily than NK, and I was surprised at how little reception LZ got. I actually missed that it had gotten in the box at all. But if it did, well, I'm happy to claim vindication for my prediction
Oh you...
Say what you will, Estee, you're actually a good author. Granted, that seems to have little to no bearing on whether or not something sees the featured box, but still.
Sorry I haven't been helping with the tropes; life is kind of intruding on what would be wiki time.
Well, looks like you failed at at your task of not getting the stories in the FB (most authors would love to have that problem though
). Out of curiosity, why did you originally not want them there? Was it some kind of amusing experiment?
2388631
If I remember correctly, it didn't get into the featured box with mature stories turned on.
And heh, the results are pretty much what i expected.
After studying the featured box for a while, I have come to the conclution that, and I think John Perry also mentioned this in a blog, the number one thing that gets you into the box is a good description.
Not the picture(although it helps).
Not being fimfic-famous(although it helps).
But a description that draws as much attention as possible.
...and sex. Sex is also really good at getting you into the featured box.
2388857
Sex? In the feature box? You shock me, sir. Surely the discerning, refined population of FIMFiction would never stoop to rewarding such crude materials with their time and attention. The very thought of it steams my monocle.