It is now seven months since I started blogging about science fiction, so I thought I would jot down some of the things I have learnt in that time.
Firstly, I blog because I enjoy it. When I started penning my thoughts on sci-fi, I wasn't sure how long I would keep it up. I've been an avid sci-fi reader my whole life, but like a lot of genre readers, I was too shy to express myself publicly on the topic. Blogging is very public, and sometimes it's hard to put yourself out there. Seven months later, however, and I am blogging more often and confidently than I ever imagined.
Readership is something I didn't take much notice of at first. It's not that I wasn't chuffed when I hit milestones such as my first 1000 pageviews, because I was. As I wrote more, however, and became more confident I wanted to make sure that my thoughts were more widely received. Most of the growth in my readership has come through the various online communities I am a member of such as sci-fi forums, Reddit and Google +. In the past month, I have also started getting organic growth through google searches. It is a cliché, but the surest method I've found to attracting readers is to write interesting stuff.
One thing I have noticed is that a few big brands dominate science fiction, as far as the wider public is concerned. This bring's me to my next point. Star Wars.
I'm not a big Star Wars fan. It's not that I have a snobby disdain for it. I've watched and enjoyed all the movies, and even got into the fan hate of characters like Jar Jar. It is, however, only one story among a plethora of great sci-fi tales. I have noticed though that Star Wars content dwarfs all other subjects on sci-fi blogs. At times I've considered writing about Star Wars just to get a part of the conversation, but have mostly avoided it, because at the end of the day I blog for fun, and rehashing Stars Wars content is usually not fun.
The last thing I would like to talk about is reviews. Reviews are really hard to write. Sometimes writing reviews can make you feel like a bit of a phoney, especially when I mangle a paragraph or two.
My personal style in life is to focus on the good. To that end, I've started following a simple pattern for all my reviews - plot overview, what I liked, and what I learnt. In part, this is because structuring my reviews has helped me clarify my thoughts more carefully. The more important reason, however, is to find the good in the works I review. This isn't always easy, but I find it can work even if I really hate something.
With all that said. I will be blogging a lot less on this platform, and focusing on a new project which I will announce shortly. I still intend to keep Tornbranches as my low-key personal blog, but a larger platform is required if I want to grow any further.
Firstly, I blog because I enjoy it. When I started penning my thoughts on sci-fi, I wasn't sure how long I would keep it up. I've been an avid sci-fi reader my whole life, but like a lot of genre readers, I was too shy to express myself publicly on the topic. Blogging is very public, and sometimes it's hard to put yourself out there. Seven months later, however, and I am blogging more often and confidently than I ever imagined.
Readership is something I didn't take much notice of at first. It's not that I wasn't chuffed when I hit milestones such as my first 1000 pageviews, because I was. As I wrote more, however, and became more confident I wanted to make sure that my thoughts were more widely received. Most of the growth in my readership has come through the various online communities I am a member of such as sci-fi forums, Reddit and Google +. In the past month, I have also started getting organic growth through google searches. It is a cliché, but the surest method I've found to attracting readers is to write interesting stuff.
One thing I have noticed is that a few big brands dominate science fiction, as far as the wider public is concerned. This bring's me to my next point. Star Wars.
I'm not a big Star Wars fan. It's not that I have a snobby disdain for it. I've watched and enjoyed all the movies, and even got into the fan hate of characters like Jar Jar. It is, however, only one story among a plethora of great sci-fi tales. I have noticed though that Star Wars content dwarfs all other subjects on sci-fi blogs. At times I've considered writing about Star Wars just to get a part of the conversation, but have mostly avoided it, because at the end of the day I blog for fun, and rehashing Stars Wars content is usually not fun.
The last thing I would like to talk about is reviews. Reviews are really hard to write. Sometimes writing reviews can make you feel like a bit of a phoney, especially when I mangle a paragraph or two.
My personal style in life is to focus on the good. To that end, I've started following a simple pattern for all my reviews - plot overview, what I liked, and what I learnt. In part, this is because structuring my reviews has helped me clarify my thoughts more carefully. The more important reason, however, is to find the good in the works I review. This isn't always easy, but I find it can work even if I really hate something.
With all that said. I will be blogging a lot less on this platform, and focusing on a new project which I will announce shortly. I still intend to keep Tornbranches as my low-key personal blog, but a larger platform is required if I want to grow any further.
Keep it up Joe, I am enjoying it.
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