While I only changed the name of this site to Step One: Make Fun last month, I’ve been making fun on this site since it went live in August. In almost eight months, I’ve added forty-three posts; a rough average of one a week.
(Thankfully, the rough bit is on the “over” side, not the “under”.)
But it’s so easy to fill this blog with the stuff that grabs my interest – my tastes, my likes, my pet peeves – that I’ve overlooked something very important:
You.
Thankfully, I’ve got one good way of finding out about what you like: the WordPress Popular Posts plug-in. It’s been tracking the amount of page views on each post since not long after I started this site, and one of its features is a list of the ten most viewed posts since installation.
So what are these ten posts? What can they tell me about you? And just how close to you is it?
The List!
Let’s crank up what I reckon is the perfect backing music to an action-packed Top Ten List: Miracle of Sound’s “Big Ten” (available on BandCamp, iTunes and Spotify).
At #10: What Spider Robinson and Miracle of Sound Taught Me About Music In Books. I think a lot of you found this post while Googling lyrics to Miracle of Sound songs. It still floats around in Popular Posts’ weekly and monthly top tens, though, so you’re finding it worthwhile or it’s just tracking high in “Miracle of Sound” searches.
#9? Why The Hunger Games is a Damned Good Spy Thriller. Posting this right before the movie premiered was a good move for attracting you Hunger Games fans. I’m glad you came along; The Hunger Games was a very well-written, satisfying book. I want to read Catching Fire and Mockingjay soon.
#8 is The Prequel and the Anti-Payoff. This started off as a response to an article on the Extra Credits web site and developed into a vent about two lots of prequels: the Star Wars movies and the Halo novels.
Speaking of movies, #7 is Part 5 of Bug Hunt: A Practical Example of the Hollywood Formula, wherein I dissected the functioning of the plot of the movie Aliens. In this part, I looked at the ending of the movie and how it still played with expectations right until the end.
It was the chance to go over an action-SF classic scene by scene and talk about what made it awesome, and it looks like you still dig it, because you keep coming back to it!
Moving, on, #6 is – hang on…
#6: Bug Hunt, Part 4 (Act 2, Twist to Low Point), another Aliens post, the bit where everything goes to hell.
#5: Part 1 (Introduction and Act 1). Another one!
#4: Part 3 (Act 2 to Low Point, Part 2)!
#3: Part 2 (Act 2 to Low Point, Part 1)! This actually has over twice the view count of Part 5 – seems to indicate people don’t like endings all that much!
But that’s almost one whole posting series dominating the top ten! Holy crap, folks! You must love your Aliens!
With #2, we go back to books, with Why Cryptum Is The First Halo Novel I’m Glad To Have Read. Another popular SF franchise covered and a lot of hits, especially given that I go against prevailing fan opinion and call the early Halo books dull. Yet none of you seemed willing to argue with me.
So now we come inexorably to #1, which is…
Drum roll, please…
Ten Things Miracle of Sound Can Teach You About Making Fun.
This one is a huge spike. It’s earned close on three times the volume of page views of #2, and all within the week since I posted it. Hell, I posted it at something like close on midnight, went to bed, got up for work the next morning and checked the stats to find over five hundred views!
It undoubtedly helped that Mr. Miracle of Sound himself, Gavin Dunne, retweeted me and shared my link on Facebook.
Quietly Popular
One thing I noticed about these top ten is that only a couple of them had comments, and even then none more than two responses apiece. Even the Miracle of Sound post attracted nought but a trackback. In fact, the most commented post on robf.com.au is an almost-two-year-old import from the old IMAGinES web log about my PC woes.
So you’re definitely a quiet bunch – I must be telling you what you like to hear, not capturing your imaginations or engaging your emotions.
Should I tread on your toes a little more? Hmm.
Maybe I need to tell people that some of Gavin’s songs suck. Maybe I need to call him a mother… Naah. That’s just overkill. Mad Irishman’s too weak. Maybe…
Maybe I ought to blog about the secret shrine to Bono in his basement! Yeah! That’ll do it! Hey, everybody! Gavin Dunne is a cheap knock off of no, that just doesn’t work either.
Something else: I mentioned above that almost all of the Bug Hunt series dominated the list. Part 6, the postmortem after the scene-by-scene analysis, doesn’t even chart. Seems you folks dig a more commentary style!
So Just Who Are You?
Well, if these ten posts are anything to go by, you:
- enjoy action science fiction across multiple media (books, games, movies),
- dig works that take inspiration from the things you love (like Miracle of Sound),
- like reading different perspectives on your favourite works,
- like moment-by-moment commentary over deeper analysis,
- reserve your opinions.
Which of those bullet points describe you? To what degree? Which don’t?
What would it take to get you talking, commenting, discussing?
What in the above ten posts do you want to read more of? Less of?
- Would you like another movie commentary? Maybe of, say, District 9?
- Would you like me to blog about reading Catching Fire and Mockingjay? How about other Halo novels, like Primordium or Glasslands?
- Do you want me to seek out more makers of fun based on those things you dig? Other muse-os? Artists? Cosplayers?
Do you have a favourite posting that isn’t one of those top ten? If so, what makes it your favourite?
(Thanks and hopes of forgiveness to Gavin Dunne for my swiping of his “Big Ten” single cover as this post’s featured image.)
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