Tag Archives: blogging

September 18, 2017 · 11:33 pm

Don’t Go Out with A Whimper

Do you blog? I bet you do, and you know blogging is hard work. Sometimes you feel inspired and write well, and sometimes you sit down and stare at a white screen or page that taunts you. The unbearable brightness of the page sears your eyes, forcing you to look away. Bloggers must overcome these types of stumbling blocks to write well.

Writing well requires a balance between putting words on a page and everything else. One cannot spend forever on a post, forsaking life and love. A good balance allows a blogger to keep publishing posts, to feel proud of their work and not miss what’s happening in the world around them.

Some video game bloggers might find this balance difficult to achieve. Not only do they blog and live life to the fullest, but they also love to play video games. Should video game bloggers play for an hour and write for two? They might feel tempted to stop blogging and only play, or maybe they have the willpower and ability to do both and more.

If you decide to stop blogging, say goodbye before you leave. Too many video game bloggers disappear from the “blogosphere” without a trace. They’re like a once stunning star that dies, crumbles and leaves behind mere fragments of its awesomeness. The whole process is sad and a waste of energy.  If you’re leaving, please tell us about your plans for the future and maybe stop by for a visit.

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September 4, 2017 · 8:34 pm

How Do You Come up with Posts about Video Games?

Is it enough to simply play video games, or do you also need deep reflection?

Do you find yourself inspired to write about video games without even playing them?

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October 17, 2016 · 11:19 pm

This Blog Post Is Now Loading

You might need to update your graphics card if the video game doesn’t start. The update will cost you $50. Enjoy your day.

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August 15, 2016 · 8:49 pm

I’m Wondering about Video Games

Too often life tries to extinguish my sense of wonder. By wonder, I mean a desire — which never ceases — to know more about a puzzling topic, a desire that sometimes isn’t sated with mere information. Life throws dishes, pots, and dirty laundry at me in an attempt to keep me off this path of wonder. I suppose one can cultivate a sense of wonder while cleaning pots and pans, but this rarely happens to me. Many of my interests, pursuits and activities, though, do allow me to keep my sense of wonder burning brightly even on the darkest of nights.

I love to read, write, talk and reflect about topics such as life and death, beautiful things in nature, history, people, ideas, music, culture, food, entertainment and others. I have so many questions about these topics and will never stop asking because there’s so much I don’t know. Sometimes I just stop and stare, slack-jawed and all, at a beautiful vista in a foreign country. I wonder how that vista was created, how something so beautiful could exist and why it exists. I also wonder about how to live my life, how to treat and help others, and things that are greater than myself. There remains one topic, though, that I didn’t mention — video games.

I wonder, when I play video games, how such a beautiful, imaginary world could exist and why I bother to explore it. I stare in awe at the beautiful digital mountains and valleys, puddles and oceans, seemingly borderless terrain and the limitless skies of fictional planets. Why do we spend time creating digital worlds that mirror our own instead of going out and seeing them first hand? What’s the point of it all — I mean a life spent playing video games?

Who or what put this digital world together and what inspired it? I mean, maybe I could know a bit about the developers of the game by learning about their personalities and experiences, and how that shaped their product. But would I truly get to know the developers and their thoughts about their games, or why their game has heavy trolls who can crush anything but also hurtle thousands of feet in the air after a tiny stick taps their shoulder? Maybe I’m asking too much.

I wonder if these developers took the time to craft a good story. I wonder if the story and characters can tell me something about my life and how I should live it? Or is this a game without a story? Does this game have goals, and what is a goal?

Why do I play video games anyway: is it because I chose to do so or because some external force has pushed me toward them? Why should I continue playing games when I have a kitchen sink full of dirty dishes? I wonder. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that video games keep me wondering.

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April 17, 2016 · 10:23 pm

Why Blogging Brings Me Joy

I love making strangers happy. Who’s a stranger? The authors of blogs I follow and the blogs who follow me; I don’t know the authors personally. Yet we’ve come to know  each other, without ever meeting, through words alone.

I’m content knowing that my posts make these strangers smile, make them think, and even when my writing makes them sleep. But sometimes I’m more than content; I can be downright happy writing for strangers.  I’m happy to set off a spark in others that ignites into a burning passion to share their love with the world.  In other words, I’m joyous when my post inspires people to write about something they love.That love might be video games, or some very different subject.

Even if these other bloggers don’t love video games, I’m happy when they learn more about playing video games from reading my blog. At the very least, I hope my writing forces some people to face and overcome any prejudices they may have about video games and gamers. Perhaps they’ll apply that lesson about overcoming prejudice elsewhere in life. And, maybe on top of that deep reflecting, my writing might just add a pinch of fun to their otherwise sleepy lives.

How great it is to have a positive impact in people’s lives!

 

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March 10, 2016 · 9:28 pm

Take Me to Video Game Land

I finished all that boring work that made me feel like I was trapped. And I’m over a nasty case of bronchitis. I’m thrilled all of that is behind me, but I’m even more thrilled about the prospects awaiting me. Onward I will go to Video Game Land¹ and all the joy that comes with play!

Oh, and my first act upon returning to the throne of Video Game Land shall be to address age old blog comments. Sorry for the delay.

¹ Note: not an actual land.

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July 6, 2015 · 12:03 am

Thank You Spammers

Comment spam is the bane of my blog’s existence all year round. The spam is gobbledygook that seems flattering at first glance but never amounts to a coherent thought. So, like most others, I’m annoyed to find this spam clogging up my site.

Upon entering my WordPress Dashboard, I spot a medical report warning that the heart of my blog is full of plaque-like globs. It’s spam. My blog, I fear, might suffer a heart attack from this clog, and my blogging day seems ruined by this news. After all, there’s no redeeming feature to this plaque.

Well, the spam might be somewhat welcome if it was clever or humorous for once. Perhaps a spammer could share an amusing anecdote to entice me to stop and read their entire comment. Perhaps they could leave an insulting–and witty– note about the amateurish quality of my writing. Perhaps they could link to a humorous review of a video game or at least something related to video games. This clever spam would be like a dangerously high fat dessert: it seems good and easy to consume but it’s bad for a blog’s health. Alas, clever writing is too much to ask from a spammer. However, despite their poor writing, the spammers might have a purpose after all.

Spam on my blog has cheered me up in the past. See, I hoped to get my total blog views to a certain level by this summer, and I was far from that goal just a while ago. Then one magical night, as the snow flakes swayed and fell to earth and as the moon looked like a ball of Swiss cheese in the sky, I wished for more blog views.

One day the wish came true. I woke up and I had reached a record-setting number of daily blog views! In less than a month, I had also exceeded my expected views for the year. The spammers, while bombarding me with comments, had helped me surpass my blogging goal.

The spammers thought they would choke my blog’s heart with their junk, but they were wrong. They tried to annoy me, but they couldn’t force me to feel annoyed; instead they helped me. Thank you spammers.

P.S. I’ve updated my about page, and you might want to check it out. Thanks.

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March 8, 2015 · 11:55 am

Your Blog is a Video Game

Ok not quite. But WordPress.com and video games do have one thing in common: they each have a fun awards system.

Blog awards smell a lot like game achievements. To be clear, I’m talking about the awards under your profile in the “trophy case”. WordPress automatically presents these to bloggers who, say, reach 10 likes, 10 follows, and more. Let’s not forget about the romantic “anniversary award” for your blog.

If you haven’t touched a new video game in the last 10 years or so, you should know video games have achievements too. Did you fry 100 mutant winged aliens in game? Congratulations! You have earned the fly zapper achievement.

And game achievements are a diverse bunch that depend on the whim, sometimes practically sadistic, of the game developer. I mean I can’t stand those rare achievements that ask you to beat some death-defying feat in under minute. But that’s just me.

In both video games and WordPress, unlocking these awards is fun—for some. It adds an optional set of goals as you play or write, and it feels rewarding to accomplish a goal. It makes me, and I’m sure some others, want to earn more awards and encourages me to keep going. And if the overall game is good and the achievements aren’t sadistic, then I’m going to have plenty of fun.

However, there are a couple of differences between video game achievements and blog awards. I can’t go into all the obvious aspects here. But one difference is that bloggers can create and nominate others for awards. Check out the many awards floating out there in the WordPress community for example. But, no, you can’t nominate a fellow gamer for a trophy or achievement on Xbox 360 or PS3. Gamers also cannot create their own achievements for games. This is one difference that video games could adapt for their own purposes.

Video game achievements also tend to be more prominent than WordPress awards. Usually, unless you turn this feature off, you see game achievements pop up on your TV or computer screen. Sometimes there’s even a trademark “bleep” to warn you about the award. The WordPress trophy case, though, are like buried treasure: you have to go on journey just to find them. It’s always moving to different places and now they’re under your “profile.”

Of course, there are some who despise achievements in writing and some who hate unlocking them in games, and I think these complaints are valid. Again, I’m sure there are more well-reasoned complaints from both gamers and writers than I can cover. One blogger I read said something like blog awards were immature and weren’t important. I have also seen similar sentiments expressed by gamers about achievements. I can understand that they might find these awards or achievements to be distracting. Perhaps they do believes themselves to be more mature than your average person. Perhaps they just find them distasteful. So I think these people, including some game developers, might best be served if they could turn off achievements and/or blog awards. However, I still love both game achievements and blog awards and would always have them enabled.

So both WordPress and video games share some kind of achievement system with some similarities, differences, and weaknesses. WordPress’ use of awards isn’t surprising because we know that some businesses apply game features to their products. I guess they might want to make their product fun and keep you interested in returning, like a game developer would. What elements from video games, I wonder, will influence blogging next? Will it be virtual reality? How could blogging influence the way we play the next big game, if at all?

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February 1, 2015 · 1:27 pm

“What Should I Blog About?”

Blog about one of your minor interests.

A minor interest is something that you don’t know much about, and it takes up little of your free time. For example, video games were once a small part of my life, and then I made a blog about them.

You too could blog about a minor interest and have an advantage: it already engages you. Of course, you might not love the topic but you still have an interest to inspire your writing. Start to write, dig deeper and appreciate the topic in all its complexity.

You could learn new things about this minor interest as you research and write posts. You could synthesize different perspectives to a form a new and interesting angle on the topic. You could approach the topic with an outsider’s insight and have a unique blog, if you do a little research.

As part of your research, you could read others’ WordPress blogs. Read their posts, leave comments and you will meet new people online with different perspectives. Even if you don’t like to write, surely you’re refined enough to read and act amiably. You are, after all, reading this post. Thanks for that by the way.

When you encounter new people, your old views might melt away like a snowman on a high UV day. Strangers might shake your beliefs and challenge you to consider new ideas. Reading and writing a video game blog, for example, might challenge any stereotypes of gamers that you have. So you might grow as a person as you blog about a minor interest.

Why not blog only about your passion? After all, two blogs could overwhelm a person. Well, I think practicing time management will make you a better writer. If you have two blogs, you will have to write and edit to meet strict deadlines. In addition, your minor interest could attract visitors to your main blog.

The easy – almost facile – answer is to write about what you love. I suggest that you  blog about one of your minor interests. You could learn new things, talk to people with different personalities and see things from a different perspective. You could even blog about your passion and squeeze in your minor topic on the side. All you need is the will to start.

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July 20, 2014 · 4:13 pm

Can Video Games Help Writers?

I think playing video games can benefit writers and help them learn discipline.

Writers who enjoy video games get to practice self-control. They do not need self-control because video games are an “addictive” drug. Instead they practice their self-control to balance their time spent playing with their time spent writing. They will have to put the controller down and pick up a quill, or a mouse, at some point. But the chance to practice discipline, by itself, is not a great reason for anyone to play games.

Perhaps a more persuasive reason is that video games can inspire writers to start writing. A person who plays video games can draft previews, reviews, news and anything related to games. These writers already know their audience: it is other video game players.

In addition, video game stories could inspire a person to write fiction. The fiction could be a novel based on a game. Or one could pen an original novel with influences from the story or themes of a game.

Working on video games could give writers a chance to do what they love. An established fiction author might pen the story for a blockbuster video game. Or maybe this author could offer some advice to a development team. So video games can inspire and even get writers paid. Is that it?

Video games offer everyone—not only writers—a chance to relax after a hard day with a fun hobby. Whenever you finish a post or piece of fiction, go for a walk and play a game. Use that time to clear your mind, and then tackle a fresh piece of paper or a blank computer page that taunts you.

Of course, writers still need to read and practice their craft. After all, you can’t finish a post when you are fending off waves of zombies with a machine gun. Or perhaps you have superhuman multitasking skills and a gift for writing without thinking. I did not think so.

I cannot guarantee video games will make you a better writer. However, they can inspire you. They can get you paid. They can help you relax, but don’t forget your discipline.

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