An End of the Year Reflection: Thank
You
Though the middle of the week (and it's
already Friday anyways) is reserved for short stories, anyone whose
been reading the last month or two knows short stories haven't
happened, and the schedule remains both fitful and variable.
Instead, (just for today) this space hosts a reflection on the first
year of the complete Awkward Mixture (A review of the video game
articles was posted yesterday).
Goal: three, one-thousand word articles
a week. One-hundred and fifty six, for the exceptionally fastidious.
Actual: Awkward Mixture of 2016 included 45 video game reviews, 36
political posts, 24 short fiction stories, and an 15 additional
articles. One-hundred and twenty, 2.3 per week. Not a triumphant
performance, but a sufficient start.
As of this moment, (12/29/2016 – 3:47
EST), there are a few stats worth highlighting.
Readers Choice Awards: The top ten
article on Awkward Mixture determined to page-views:
Star
Wars Episode VII: The Final Death Star, the
third of three articles condemning the opening act of the sequel
trilogy. The reason behind the article's rise is part mystery, and
part absurdity. Within an hour of its publication, the post
surpassed every previous article. The next day it doubled in volume.
It preceded to achieve an unprecedented (for me) quantity of
pageviews. Five days after its reveal, the flow of visitors ceased.
With a bit of investigating, Google Blogger revealed the source of
the traffic: I could see the countries visitors were viewing from.
The United States is the norm, but the Star Wars article was very
popular in Poland! The mystery remains unresolved, the reason
undiscovered for this aberration. For someone who still believes the
internet is magic, I posit this: maybe the image I chose through
Creative Commons led viewers to Awkward Mixture? If anyone with
actual understanding has a real theory, I'd be glad to hear it.
Unlike Star Wars, which has a massive
fanbase, some Awkward Mixture articles appear in google if one
searches with the perfect combination of terms. The article in which
I compared Europa
Universalis 3 and 4, achieved second place on
the blog and is still receiving pageviews. The reason: anyone
looking to buy Europa 3 or 4 search for advise on Google. Typing “eu
3 versus 4” into google bring my article up fifth. But “eu 3 or
4” won't. One has to accept silly, tiny, trivial successes where
one can.
The articles holding positions three
and four
of Awkward Mixture's most viewed also can be found on the first page
of google (with specific search terms). While Mount and Blade:
Warband was released in 2010, its “overwhelmingly positive”
reviews on Steam confirm its classic status. Players new and old,
are still invested in the eternal question: what is the best army
composition? Even though I wrote the pair of articles in April, the
analysis still continues to receive regular hits.
Human
Resource Machine was a tough game I never beat,
but even attempting the challenge was a reward. Problem: people who
already know how to program will find it too easy, while those who
don't will need to research beyond the scope of the game to win.
Almost
a True Story is the first short-story on
Awkward Mixture's top ten, and was written after reflecting on some
experiences that may or may not have occurred teaching middle school
in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Returning to video games, two articles
debating the merits of Shadow of Mordor secured spots seven
and eight.
That the article with slightly more views expresses approval, bests
the one conveying disgust, sums up my overall view of Shadow of
Mordor.
A second short story manages to fill
the ninth spot. Cotton
Candy Castles was inspired by my time in
Eastham on the Cape. Driving down route 6, tree line the road, and
suddenly, isolated from any other buildings appears two brightly
colored buildings facing each other across the two-lane road. They
appear to be selling identical beach products, and I always wondered
what might occur if the owners argued.
Number ten suffers a thirty percent
drop from the ninth, has half the pageviews of the third place
article, one fifth of the second place, and one tenth of the first.
So it barely deserves a spot. But it is the tenth highest. Life
is Strange is an interesting game full of
brilliance, but also overused and underdeveloped plot points. Play
it yourself, or watch my Youtube
Channel.
Best Three You Might Have Missed:
If you joined the blog halfway through
the year, you might have missed something worthwhile. It can be
difficult to look back through previous articles, as I haven't
devised a method for easy access of the archives. Something to work
on for 2017.
But I'd like to reissue three short
stories I wrote early on.
The
Connector (better title anyone?), is, a short story that I
could turn into a novel. The idea is there, but alas, many ideas and
maybe lacking in motivation. Even though it has no connection, this
story feels a bit like a Le Guin idea, and has a bit of The
Dispossessed in it. Maybe it will make an extended appearance in
2017.
Another short story that has a little
Le Guin in it, (The Lathe of Heaven?), Fish,
a Phone, or Paradise was enjoyable to write, but like much of
my stuff becomes too bogged down in an unwieldy ending.
I was mulling PKD when writing Is
It Worth Remembering? Something about the word tinny (as in:
having a dis-pleasingly thin, metallic sound) always reminds me of
Horselover
Fat. Not that book per say, but Ubik and A Scanner Darkly,
if one's generous.
If you had a favorite article, I'd be
glad to hear about it. Feel free to post in the comments.
Finally, as was said in the video game
review yesterday, I want to than everyone whose been reading this
year. I've not kept up 100% with my goal, but I'm looking to
continue forward for the next year and see how it goes.
Short Stories return next Year.
Comments
Post a Comment