Fine Tuning

I've been doing some fine tuning here at Splitting Eights, and would be interested in any suggestions anyone out there might have for me, be it for change of formatting, topic requests, or idea for a feature the blog is missing.

Thus far I've begun to update my sidebar blogroll and some other minor details, including the addition of the 'add this' widget to the blog to make it easier to share on social networking sites (thanks for the tip Ben!)

Thanks!

Blogging Momentum

I mentioned in my March 13th post that I was pleased with my recent blog output, but was unsure of the reasons behind it. Now that I have been maintaining an excellent blogging schedule for several weeks I've been giving some more thought to this topic.

Why I've started posting recently is fairly clear: in 2009 board games have established themselves as a significant part of my life. Games are one of the primary ways I enjoy relating to people, and thus are my favorite social setting. I've made more time to play games, which leads to a whole chain reaction culminating with blogging. Playing leads to wanting new games, which necessitates reading about games, then buying new ones, then thinking about them, and finally writing it all down.

What is perhaps not so evident is why I've kept up my posting so well since early march. Sure, part of this is that my reasons for blogging create a feedback loop. In the above list, each part of the process leads to the next, and finally writing about games on Splitting Eights leads to more playing and more board game thought. Bottom line is this: my blogging results in more thinking about games, and thus, more blogging.

This is not the whole story, however. I never really understood why, during my long absence from writing, I couldn't at least post several times a month on non-gaming topics. Certainly my life is interesting enough to have something to say! I've understood for a while that writing about games ultimately makes it easier to write more about games. What I just realized (and what any of you who blog yourselves already know) is that simply writing about anything leads to more writing. This is why I'm writing far more non-game related posts now in addition to the board game ones.

The important questions for me are these: why did I run out of steam in the first place, and how can I ensure that I keep up the blogging momentum this time around? I can't imagine I'll be able to maintain every day posting like I have recently, but will posting just three times per week still keep me engaged enough to continue blogging?

Thinking About Game Carnival

The Idea

The concept of the blog carnival rather interests me. For those of you not familiar with this phenomenon, a carnival is an online magazine published at a regular interval that demands participation from a blog community in two ways: authors submit posts from their blog that become the articles in the magazine, and then those same authors take turns hosting the carnival every time it is published.

This format increases the visibility of the entire community since readers stumbling upon the publication will be presented with a variety of interesting articles on the subject at hand and thus be introduced to blogs they may never have read before. Also, when an author hosts a well supported blog carnival on their site, many additional guests will visit the site and perhaps be exposed to much more of what that author has to offer even beyond what they've submitted to the carnival.

Game Carnival

A year or two ago when I was initially active on my blog, I followed the Game Carnival maintained by Gameguy, submitting some articles to it as well. Unfortunately, during my downtime (we'll call it 'the dark years') Game Carnival gradually lost its board game content and its support in general and was ultimately abandoned. This strikes me as odd since it seems like there are lots of interesting board game blogs out there, and the carnival is such a good way to increase exposure in the community. Why did it fail? Is there enough interest in this for me to pick it up and run with it? Are board game bloggers really not that interested in keeping such a project up and running?

A Final Thought...

Game Carnival was a broad gaming publication, meaning articles could be submitted on board games, card games, video games, role playing games, and anything remotely related to the hobby. This seemed at the time to be a positive feature--in theory a broader topic would garner more support from different kinds of bloggers. However, could the lack of focus and sense of purpose be what did it in?

What would be the first steps to building support for a new carnival? Is there any way to start small, perhaps some sort of a trial run to test the market, if you will? The fact that there doesn't seem to be any viable publication on board games makes me think one may simply not work, but then again perhaps the idea simply needs some tinkering.

Thoughts?

Commitment to blogging

As anyone reading this will have noticed, I have transitioned from a long dormancy to writing on at least a weekly basis. I am pleased to be writing again, but don't know that I could say exactly why I am. Work and life are both fairly busy, as they have been.

I have been very much involved in the hobby as of late, so I presume that is the key reason behind my posting regularity. I have purchased numerous board games since the new year. I have played all but one of my games (Fury of Dracula--the rules are read, and hopefully it will hit the table soon!). I have been taking notes down about the game I intend to one day design (maybe next decade...) Ultimately all this adds up to lots of thinking about board games, and therefore lots of things to write about them as well.

I'd like to think I could sustain this output into the distant future. I could make the commitment to write every day, or three times a week, or what have you. However, I want this blog to be fun and informative. If I force myself to write when I'm just not feeling it, chances are it will be a chore to write and to read.

For now, I will do my best to keep thinking. And writing.

Busiest Semester Evah!

I have only one legitimate excuse for not posting here since January--I have worked more this semester (I'm employed by a university) than I have over any four month period in my life. The workload has been such that other portions of my life have most certainly suffered as a result, one of which would be the time and energy I put into this blog. That time and energy this semester has been precisely none. I haven't had the time to play many games, much less write about them.



If next semester is as busy as this past one I will have no chance to write, of that I am certain. However, I'd like to make it a goal to 1) write consistently over the summer and 2) organize my blog and thoughts in such a way as to maximize the probability I will keep writing throughout my working year. #2 in part will mean updating the look & functionality of my blog and also only maintaining a single multi-topic site. Originally Splitting Eights was envisioned as a game blog, I had begun to post a food blog called Black Peppercorn, and have considered personal finance as a topic as well. Henceforth Splitting Eights will be my blog about games, food, finance, and the pursuit of happiness. Or what have you.



Well, the little clock on the wall says we're just about out of time. Happy painting and God bless.

Finding Blogging Time In My So Called Life

Wow, I can't believe I haven't managed to blog in over two weeks! Apparently I just don't have the time to do it right now. Of course, I do have enough time in theory, but the few hours of downtime I have right now when I'm not at work, playing with the kids, or getting things done around the house are used simply relaxing and not much else. Now you might thing that those moments of relaxation would be the perfect time to get a few thoughts down on my blog, but as it turns out it doesn't work that way!

The reason I was so effective at blogging when I had time off from my job this summer is that I had so much free time that I could devote quite a bit to creative thinking and writing time. When I'm working as much as I have been these last few weeks (both at work and at home), I don't have the creative energy to blog. Sure, I could write a quick update now and then on the latest happenings in my life or maybe a few thoughts on food or kids, but without that extra bit of creative energy necessary to be thoughtful or clever or particularly interesting, I just don't see the point. I've enjoyed writing here a great deal, so I hope I can find the balance necessary in my life to start posting more, or find a way to spark my creativity a bit more often to allow me to write despite a hectic schedule.

Stay tuned!

Topic Diversity: Strength or Weakness?

As I've been posting this past week, it has occurred to me that my blog has become quite topically diverse. Looking back over my week of entries, I've noted the following broad categories: Monday, travel; Tuesday, kids' games; Wednesday, gambling, online board games; Thursday, food & wine, board game session report; Friday, goal setting; Saturday, classic video games; Sunday, blogging. This is only a glimpse of what is to come since I will certainly cover much more ground in the coming months than I have to this point.

Obviously the major reoccurring theme here is games, so I suppose you could say I write a blog about gaming. Over the long haul, however, if half of my posts discuss the gaming hobby and half cover my numerous other interests, is that really a 'gaming blog?'

Many blogs out there display much more of a singular purpose, acting like a magazine or newsletter covering one topic in depth. There are cooking blogs, sports blogs, personal finance blogs, and many many more. These strongly themed blogs may have occasional side notes on other aspects of life but tend to be fairly focused. Can a blog gain heavy readership and survive with such scattered themes as mine? Obviously not everyone who might stumble on a particular post will enjoy all of the topics I discuss, but what are the chances that enough of it is interesting to the point that they become a regular reader?

Comments from the Mrs. just recently led me down another train of thought:

There are many sites that cover a wide range of issues, events and thoughts. Although this type of blog tackles many different issues, usually it has a strong sense of perspective to tie the whole affair together. For instance, an economic blog might discuss almost anything happening in the world today yet approach each point from the perspective of an economist. This in itself becomes the theme of the blog despite the topics of discussion varying to a great extent. Another of this type of blog would be a feminist one. The events, thoughts, and stories related by the blog's author, though covering lots of ground thematically, would all be presented from the feminist perspective. These strong viewpoints give like minded readers plenty of opportunity to connect with the site and keep coming back for more.

Though I do have my own perspectives on life none are so recognizable, marketable, or thematically consistent as those I mentioned above, and thus probably aren't enough to hold a blog together on their own.

Thus I'm left with a little perspective, a partial theme (games), my writing style, a wide variety of topics that may or may not interest readers, and (thus far) a remarkably consistent posting frequency. Is this enough for a blog to gain a loyal following and a little visibility, or must I change my focus to achieve those results? Should I simply quit caring if people are reading and be satisfied that my blog is fulfilling its primary task of giving me an outlet to practice my writing and explore my own thoughts and interests? Might a wide variety of topics even be a strength, perhaps attracting many different types of readers, each finding Splitting Eights via a post closely related to their individual interests?

Please reply. I would love to hear some of your thoughts on this.

Welcome To My Blog!

And So It Begins...

I start writing here with lots of unresolved questions about this new venture. Will I actually ever post anything here? Do I really have anything at all to say, much less anything interesting? Will people visit my blog even if by complete accident I say something interesting or relevant or funny? Can a blog survive without having any theme or direction? Who am I anyway? And most importantly (and I think Douglas Adams would agree): When is lunch?

I guess my primary objective in starting a blog is to have a chance to write a bit and hopefully along the way find a primary objective for my blog. I suppose I'll probably write a little about my family, a little about food &/or wine, lots about gambling, board games, classic video games, and the Boston Red Sox, maybe a thing or two about my friends (if I ever get any), some commentary on politics (if I ever learn anything about it), share my musical interests, and generally babble on incessantly until someone tells me that I really should just shut up and spare the world the aggravation of reading such inane drivel. If I really get on a roll I might even grace you with a 'that's what she said' line or even practice the time honored tradition of sexual innuendo. It is probably to the benefit of any hapless soul that happens upon this blog that I never get on a roll. Now where was I? Ah, yes, wandering aimlessly.

If you are familiar with the novels by Douglas Adams or the films by Monty Python you may suspect from my writing style and sense of humor that I am obsessed with both. Of course if you are such a person you would also be stunned at how I could be influenced by such sources and yet not be the slightest bit funny. This is a conundrum even I cannot answer.

Anyway, my name is Nathaniel and I have a blog. Please give me your feedback or simply shout profanities in my general direction. I can take it. In fact, it would probably make me feel pretty special to know that somebody hates me.