Well, Blapril is over.
And if you want a quick "lessons learned" response to Blapril, then it's this: Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
I posted 18 times in April, by far my largest individual output in any month for PC. At the same time, the sheer volume of posts wore me out because I spent more time writing than enjoying myself. And when writing ceases to be enjoyable, that means the quality of output inevitably declines.
What also declined were the number of pageviews to PC for individual posts.
Sure, the total pageviews to PC went up, but the number of eyeballs on a specific post went down as the month wore on. Given that most of PC's regular readers are also bloggers, it only goes to show that the grind was getting to them too.
***
And, I have to admit, that Blapril pretty much didn't make a blip outside of the merry band of MMO/Gamer bloggers out there. It's not like I logged into WoW or LOTRO and found people talking about Blapril at all. It was pretty much an exercise in posting among a small group of people, no more no less.
A good portion of why it didn't make much of a blip outside the blogger community is that, well, blogs are pretty much on the outs these days as far as social media is concerned. It used to be that you'd go to blogs to get info that you can now find better at other locations. But blogs are also about telling stories --fictional or not-- and in a Tik-Tok world we're writing manuscripts on vellum.
This pretty much leaves that doing Blapril for reasons other than your own is that you're setting yourself up for a letdown.
***
Was I let down by this?
Not really. I mean, I knew going in that I was trying to see if I could do it. And, for the most part, I was able to get reasonably close to a goal of posting once a day. Well, I came twice as close as my closest month of output, and I'm not including last month's fiction boosted output. After a certain point I decided it was best if I just posted every other day, as otherwise I'd have no time for any actual gaming. And no gaming means Red isn't a happy person.
Additionally, I don't have people randomly coming up to me in-game and saying "Hey, are you that Redbeard guy, the blogger?" Which would be mildly embarrassing, to say the least. After all, I think Ancient is the only other blogger I know who is on Myzrael-US, and while I still do have toons on the SWTOR server that Shintar plays on I'm rarely on that particular server.
But I do believe that --for personal reasons-- pushing myself harder at blogging was a good thing. It makes me respect published authors that much more, because they frequently hold down another job (at least) in addition to writing. That doesn't mean that I think I'm as good or any better than they are, because there's a reason why they're published and I'm not*, but I can see how dedicated they were toward realizing their dream of being published while managing job, family, and other time commitments.
So, thank you, Blapril, for the motivation. And thank you, other bloggers (and other authors), for showing what the end result can be.
And thank you, readers, for hanging in there. (You know who you are!!)
#Blapril2020
*Hint: the quality of writing plays a large part in that.
And if you want a quick "lessons learned" response to Blapril, then it's this: Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
I posted 18 times in April, by far my largest individual output in any month for PC. At the same time, the sheer volume of posts wore me out because I spent more time writing than enjoying myself. And when writing ceases to be enjoyable, that means the quality of output inevitably declines.
What also declined were the number of pageviews to PC for individual posts.
Sure, the total pageviews to PC went up, but the number of eyeballs on a specific post went down as the month wore on. Given that most of PC's regular readers are also bloggers, it only goes to show that the grind was getting to them too.
***
And, I have to admit, that Blapril pretty much didn't make a blip outside of the merry band of MMO/Gamer bloggers out there. It's not like I logged into WoW or LOTRO and found people talking about Blapril at all. It was pretty much an exercise in posting among a small group of people, no more no less.
A good portion of why it didn't make much of a blip outside the blogger community is that, well, blogs are pretty much on the outs these days as far as social media is concerned. It used to be that you'd go to blogs to get info that you can now find better at other locations. But blogs are also about telling stories --fictional or not-- and in a Tik-Tok world we're writing manuscripts on vellum.
At times like this, grabbing an ale at a local
tavern with friends sounds like a good idea.
This pretty much leaves that doing Blapril for reasons other than your own is that you're setting yourself up for a letdown.
***
Was I let down by this?
Not really. I mean, I knew going in that I was trying to see if I could do it. And, for the most part, I was able to get reasonably close to a goal of posting once a day. Well, I came twice as close as my closest month of output, and I'm not including last month's fiction boosted output. After a certain point I decided it was best if I just posted every other day, as otherwise I'd have no time for any actual gaming. And no gaming means Red isn't a happy person.
Additionally, I don't have people randomly coming up to me in-game and saying "Hey, are you that Redbeard guy, the blogger?" Which would be mildly embarrassing, to say the least. After all, I think Ancient is the only other blogger I know who is on Myzrael-US, and while I still do have toons on the SWTOR server that Shintar plays on I'm rarely on that particular server.
But I do believe that --for personal reasons-- pushing myself harder at blogging was a good thing. It makes me respect published authors that much more, because they frequently hold down another job (at least) in addition to writing. That doesn't mean that I think I'm as good or any better than they are, because there's a reason why they're published and I'm not*, but I can see how dedicated they were toward realizing their dream of being published while managing job, family, and other time commitments.
So, thank you, Blapril, for the motivation. And thank you, other bloggers (and other authors), for showing what the end result can be.
And thank you, readers, for hanging in there. (You know who you are!!)
#Blapril2020
*Hint: the quality of writing plays a large part in that.
I'm glad you made the effort for Blapril. Yours has been one of the blogs I've made an effort not to miss. And yes, you're right, views on individual posts always drop during Blaugust-like events. I can't keep up with reading this level of output and obviously neither can many people.
ReplyDeleteI gamed a lot less during Blapril and wrote a lot more but that has far more to do with being off work than with Blapril itself.
I game a lot more when I'm working because then I only blog on my days off. Also, Mrs Bhagpuss and I spend less time doing stuff together when we're both working. Under lockdown we have been eating meals together, going for a long walk together every day, watching quiz shows on YouTube together and sitting in the garden doing quizzes on the Kindle when it's been sunny. We've developed a whole set of daily lockdown routines and rituals.
When I'm not doing that I am mainly writing or researching things to write for the blog. My gaming consists of doing dailies in three MMORPGs and I'm at the stage of having to make an effort to remember to log in to do those. If I didn't need games as fuel for blogging I might have stopped altogether during this odd time.
When we go back to work I expect gaming to move back up the order but for now blogging is way, way above it.
Thanks for the general upvote on the blog, Bhagpuss!
DeleteDo you game to destress after work, or is it just a routine?
But in general, doing things together with your spouse are always to be valued, and my wife would approve as well.