Blogging Curiosities · 9:19pm Dec 11th, 2016
Blogging is a curious thing. Or perhaps it's better to say that the reactions to blogs are curious things. We write them with a certain expectation regarding how many are going to read them and whatnot, but how many really do? On a whim, I went through a few of my more recent blogs to check their view counts. Only one of the ten I checked breached 200 views, and I'm reasonably certain that had to do with the cute Rarity-themed comic it sported. If we go for an even 150 as an estimate of viewing averages, that means that less than 1/5 of the people following me actually bother to look at my blogs.
But y'know, I think that makes sense? How many times have I outright ignored a blog by someone else? Because I was busy, or distracted, or looking for something specific that wasn't related, or any of a hundred other reasons?
There's no epiphany here. It's only a mild curiosity. I find myself wondering what motivates people to create blogs, especially considering how small the receptive audience is. For my part, it has to do with letting people know that I am doing something, even if at times it doesn't seem like it. Let people know I'm alive, that I'm still trying to write, or what the progress of my writing is now. I want people to see a routine. It's a routine not just for them, but also for me; as long as I have a routine, I haven't burned out. So what makes you blog, assuming you do?
Speaking of burning out, I'm really starting to think that I need a proper vacation from reading for reviews. I'm seriously considering taking a two-three week one once I've caught back up with my schedule and/or finished with Project Horizons.
And speaking of Project Horizons, Derpibooru and DeviantArt have failed me. I decided to go looking for fanart of the character Boo, because I think she's adorable (in a kind of sad way, but still adorable), and I think some good Boo art is in order. Alas, the pickings out there are slim, so much so that I didn't feel any of the images I did find were good enough to be put on this blog, which was my original plan. The few featuring her that were good enough for that also featured other characters, and I wanted one of just her. It's a damn shame; it seems to me that most people latch on to cute characters like white on rice, so where is the plethora of Booabetes? Is it because she's attached to such a dark story, or that her origins are controversial/depressing/nightmare fuel?
Eh, whatevs. I've got a story to struggle to get through and a space plane design to perfect. Until next Sunday!
Stats
Total Word Count: 1,885,000 over 37 stories
Average Words Written Per Week (2016): 6,590
Follower Rank: 247th (+1)
Overall Ratings Average: 94.55% (+.01%)
Highest-Rated Story (Not Counting Stories at 100%): Of Angels @ 285/3 or 98.96%
Story with the Most Votes: Tyrant @ 2260/67 (Year+)
Story with the Fewest Votes: Paul's Peculiarly Puny Pony Pieces @ 20/1
Longest Story: Order of Shadows @ 283,000 words
I usually just blog in order to update about stories... so nothing exciting.
I actually hate blogging, because talking is faster and I'm a better speaker than writer about the general day-to-day stuff. I find that when I sit down to write, I whimsically and sometimes erratically jump from subject to subject, and usually come across as an impatient asshole. Not that that's ever really stopped me before.
Boo doesn't really strike me one way or the other, but then she's more or less only just been introduced where I left off. <.<
Consider a two-staged return for said space plane (engines and crew). Engines can do just fine with a heat shield and parachute, but people take a little more TLC (which requires dough rey me).
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As long as it serves a purpose, right?
4336227
I'm exactly the opposite. While I'm a decent conversationalist, I'm crummy when there is more than one person to talk to at a time, so I clam up in groups, and I'm not very good at all at thinking before I speak. I feel much more comfortable in a textual environment where I can look at what I'm saying before I actually say it.
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She strikes me as particularly cute. Again, it's all kind of sad, but at the same time I just can't help smiling at her antics. I'm somewhat hoping she'll grow a bit as the story progresses.
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Well, I'm trying to design a hauler to supply fuel to my fueling station I've got orbiting the planet, but I'm running into a lot of problems. While I can make a regular aircraft just fine, all my designs for a plane that can exit the atmosphere tend to fail at launch, usually for reasons I can't figure out, such as the plane randomly trying to turn right or that frustrating back-and-forth wobble. I have no idea why this design is any harder than a regular plane, but for some reason it has been.
But I wanted one that could get into space, resupply the satellite, then come back and land on the runway without having to break the plane apart with staging on the way back. I didn't expect getting the dang thing off the ground to be the part that stopped me.
Does "expand view" in the events tracker count as a view?
I ask because if a blog is short enough, I typically read it there, only going to the actual page if it's long or very I depth.
I read every blog posted by anyone I'm following, because they are often informative (eg TNAB's military/ technology ones), contain updates or schedule info for WIP stories, or are just interesting, like Cynewulf's.
Boo is awesome and just gets more awesome as the story goes on. Her and Blackjack against the core for the big end-of-story action scene! Or so I assume, not having gotten quite that far.
I blog when I've got something to say that isn't a story. I'm not the best at getting out and being social around various groups (except the Writeoff), so for me it's a way of reaching out when the need strikes me.
For what it's worth, I could only wish to have 150-200 views.
I'm also sure I've been on both the giving and receiving end of what 4336810 mentions.
The other thing is that maybe people sometimes get behind on their feeds and gloss over things during catch-up attempts... I seem to do that every few weeks.
Aww, no! Twilight status bars!
If I'm following someone, I'll at least look at the blog's opening in my feed to see if it's something of interest, and if so I'll open the page so I can at least skim for the good bits.
I find blogs much harder to write than fiction (original or otherwise). As a result I only blog when I'm particularly in the mood too, or when I feel I need to (usually to announce a new story or some other update of great personal import).
I create a blog when i actually have something worth sharing.
Similarly I look at a blog if is of interest to me, otherwise its taking up valuable reading/gaming time
Even if I were a famous fanfiction author (Shudup. I can dream can't I?
) I doubt that I would write many blogs. I'm almost (almost) non-existent on social media and I don't see myself changing that for anything.
I only read blogs that catch my attention in the first couple of lines. (I've learned to open all yours since the preview is a just picture and a sentence and you often have interesting things to say anyway.)
As for taking a 2-3 week break? I say; go for it! We all need a break every once in a while and you are kind of treating the reviews as your job (schedules and deadlines and what-have-you), so take a vacation and get away from everything for a bit. You'll thank yourself later.
And when I say get away I mean; turn off the internet and go do something else. I just got back from a 2 week 'no internet access' break myself (work-related, out in the boonies, didn't really have a choice, but still).
Responding to a blog 1 week late because I have a sort of unusual habit with it, being that I blog with the intent that maybe one or two people see it. Not because I'm unpopular, although I suppose that is true, but because I put it on the discussion page of someones youtube channel that is not very popular, and I do this intentionally because I don't really want anybody to see it, but still want to put it out there. It's usually just me saying some kinda depressing things in order to organised my own thoughts, which could be done in a journal, but if I'm just going to write something to immediately throw it away it seems more like a waste of time, even though the results are pretty much identical.
So I guess I blog because I feel like I need to be heard in some capacity even if it's a small one, and for my own benefit more than anything else. Kinda sounds a little bit more greedy when I put it that way huh, but hey it's pretty much the same thing here, I expect less than 3 people to read this, but I'm saying it anyways because I want to.