Cleaning Out the Drafts
I’ve not done it so much of late, but occasionally I will put a post idea into drafts for later completion. Generally, it’s little more than a possible title of the post. It might contain a link, particularly if it was another post that triggered the thought that I wanted to bounce off. If I was being particularly ambitious, I may have even written myself a small paragraph to outline what direction I was thinking of at the time.
A somewhat universal truth though, I’ve found, is that drafts have a use-by date. A fairly brief one.
Let them sit in the drafts area too long and they go stale.
Unfortunately for the purposes of this post, I have on occasion opened some of these drafts to take a look at what I was thinking. ‘Unfortunately’, because in some cases this has saved a later date than when I first created them and now I want to know just how old they are!
The currently listed oldest ones I think are giving a true reflection of their date — August 2021, Blaugust a couple of years ago. Um, definitely well past the point where had I been going to write anything substantial about them… I would have.
But before I delete and bid them adieu, here we go — a look behind the curtain at good ideas that nonetheless got away.
Sanderson Fan
Some form of bounce off of https://dragonsandwhimsy.wordpress.com/2021/08/05/maybe-im-not-as-big-a-brandon-sanderson-fan-as-i-thought
That’s all I wrote for that one. Here’s an actual link to the post in question, it was one from Hannah reflecting on the fact that… Well, maybe she just didn’t like Sanderson’s writing as much as she thought she did.
And I remember thinking clearly it was an idea I could relate to.
I enjoy reading Sanderson for the most part. But… I think that he writes a mile a minute and is by far one of the more prolific authors out there sometimes… shows.
He can write an amazing magic-infused fight scene to be sure. Kaladin’s showdown in the first Mistborn book? *chef kiss*
But as good as those moments are, his prose can also be quite clunky. Basic.
Not gonna stop me from hankering for the next Stormlight Archive entry though!
Pillar Posts and Profit
https://kaylriene.com/2021/08/06/on-blogging-pillar-posts-and-a-six-month-reflection-on-wordads/
Just the link is all that I included this time.
I don’t recall the context of bouncing off this one nearly as well as I do the one for Sanderson, but I suspect it was going to take a look at the ‘pillar posts’ I’ve inadvertently fallen into having for my site, and whether the ads had done anything at all to service the costs of running this place.
To the first question, those are really about it — at least without counting the Humble Choice posts that, for whatever reason, were so popular for a while.
As to the second question… Well, the short answer is no, not really. After I stopped said Humble Choice posts (and, to be fair, posting as much in general) viewership and impressions fell through the floor. There is a bit over $50NZD sitting in my AdSense account at the moment, but for NZD they won’t make a payout until at least $130. So, er, that’s probably not exactly close.
Look at Me!
Social stats? Oh yeah- bouncing off Sola’s ‘No social’ and Aywrens ‘All the social’ posts.
https://spotofmummery.com/2021/08/04/blaugust-4-explore-social-networking-options-as-a-blogger/
Unfortunately, Solarayo stopped blogging and her posts aren’t easily accessible now. But from the comment I included, it looked like we had two completely opposite ends of the spectrum there to look at. Someone who didn’t want anything to do with social media, and someone who had suggestions on how to make great use of it.
It actually looks like Aywren’s post there is no longer available either, darn!
Without those posts to jog my memory though, I have no clue what direction I was intending to take this post. I’m not a big social media user either, so I probably lean more in Solarayo’s direction… But then possibly Aywren had some insight which made me sit up and go, ‘Huh..’ for a moment too. No clue!
I have more drafts there, sitting… waiting to be culled… But I think the ones from Blaugust 2021 are a good place to start… And stop, for tonight.
Perhaps a few more later! :)
This was posted during Blaugust 2023, the annual blogging event hosted by Belghast. Blaugust is an event aiming to welcome new blogger blood into the fold and revitalise those who’ve been at it a little longer.
The Blaugust Discord is still available to join in, year-round!
