In spite of all of that, I've enjoyed doing this and I still want to. I'm serious about wanting to improve in Starcraft 2, even if some people feel that I'm not actually putting in the effort needed to be serious about it. Eventually I'll have more time to devote, and, when I do, I'll improve even more. But, for now, I'll work with what I have.
Some Things I've Noticed
After the initial posts, interest waned a bit. It's to be expected, people sort of look at the new thing, realize they don't really care and just move on. It's not something to take too seriously, and, ultimately, viewership isn't a major deal right now since I'm not doing this for a living or anything. However, I'm thinking a daily journal isn't likely to get people terribly interested.
Writing daily does end up taking a game or two aware that I could potentially be playing as well, all of these are factors I have to consider in all of this. So, what should I do? I've been told that I'm fairly well-versed in writing. I have a strong voice and that contributes to creating prose which is easy to read and often gets people continuing even if they disagree, or aren't particularly interested in the subject matter. Unfortunately, on the flip side, people's attention for reading is degenerating rapidly, even in a community like this where you have to read to communicate. People want to post in short bursts and read in short bursts rather than be faced with a large amount of text formed around singular ideas. Eventually their attention just tapers off.
First Change: Weekly
The first thing to do though is just to make the main posts weekly. At the end of the week, at some point, analyze a handful of games more closely, post them up with their replays and that's it for the main, analyzing post. Of course, I could still post other, side stuff whenever I wanted, as often as I wanted. Articles about frustration and the pains of getting better. Articles about specific triumphs and celebrations. Those would still happen whenever, but the actual analysis blog would be less frequent. I think I'm going to do this, but it begs the question...
How Can I Make It Better?
I'm sort of confident that when I push out one of my first side articles, that you guys will like it. I'm definitely proud of my ability to write and I'm certain I can get you hooked in and have you read the whole thing, feeling my emotions as I've felt them, experiencing them with your own memories of Starcraft 2. I hope to have you laugh and feel inspired, all of those things. But then we'll also have the weekly updates on the games I've won and lost, as well as a few specific games to highlight areas where I'm improving and areas where I can do better. Those posts might not be as exciting, so, what can I do to make them better? I'm curious. What information would make them more intriguing? Should I had more of my own writing to them in order to color with a bit more flavor? Should I get the aroma rolling in there?
We'll Continue On From Here...
I'm tired, so this is where I'll wrap it up for now. Probably no Weekly update this weekend, but, on the upside, I'll probably get some decent Starcraft 2 games in there somewhere, and then I'll play as I can next week as well, and by the time next weekend rolls around, I'll have a rich trove of replays to pick and choose from and make a great article out of.
In the mean time, what would you like to see more of? What can I do better? Are any of you waiting for that first side blog I mentioned a bit ago but keep forgetting to do?