The number of hits I get on a post on my blog can vary quite a lot. Of course I like it when I get a large number of hits. What is it about my popular posts that makes them so popular?
In addition to my own blog, I post on Blogger and FaceBook. The popularity of my posts are quite different on each of these sites. I picked the top 10 based on my own site, and will mention some popular posts on the other sites.
- Return to Blogging
In this post I talked about restarting my blog. I had stopped because I had to help take care of my wife while she was sick. As such, this was a more personal post than I usually write. It was also the most popular post, by far, on FaceBook.
A closely related post: My Own Conflicts https://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/my-own-conflicts/ was the second most popular on FaceBook.
I don’t feel comfortable writing posts that are too personal, but it is also clear that those kinds of posts are usually more popular.
- I Finally Brought A Long Held Dream to Fruition
This is my post to promote my Doc Savage novella: “The 89th Key”. https://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/
The release of a major piece of work does attract more attention that a progress update. Of course, I need to have something to release in order to do a post like this.
- New Ideas for Transportation Planning Stories
I’ve worked on several projects that have transportation planning as a background. While my movie “The Barrier” is still at version 0.6, I wanted to start on a new project. I am glad to see that the topic does still attract some interest. As it was, I got side tracked onto other projects. Maybe I can get back to this next year.
- The Lester Dent Master Fiction Plot Test Drive
I first posted this in December of 2010, so despite being an old post, it still draws new visitors.
Lester Dent was a prolific pulp writer back in the 1930s and 1940s and is best known for writing most of the Doc Savage stories. I came across an article he wrote about what he called his master fiction plot. It is a formula for a action adventure pulp story. I found that it helped me improve my writing.
I’ve experimented with variations of the formula; mostly by trying to adapt it to other types of stories. Some people denigrate “formula writing”, but I find it a valuable tool. Certainly at some stages of writing, it can really get things going. I find that when I don’t follow this structure, it becomes very difficult to write.
The popularity of this post reflects the interest that writers have in tools they can use for writing. In the original post I included a link to the article, but the link went dead, so I added a copy of the article to the end of the post, so that it is available to people who find my post.
- My New Website Theme: As The Goals Change
Late last year I started to develop a new WordPress theme for my website. I’m not sure why it should be so popular. In the end I abandoned my new theme and picked one of the free themes that are available. I did make a few modifications, and would like to make some more, but this is a low priority for me.
- “2001: A Space Odyssey” and H. P. Lovecraft
2001 was and is my favourite movie. I’ve also had an interest in H.P. Lovecraft. One day I was struck by the idea that there was a connection between the two, so I wrote up my thoughts on it.
I posted this back in April of 2014, so this is another old post that keeps drawing in readers.
- My Film Equipment Repair Adventure
I have an old Sankyo Dualux 1000 super 8/ regular 8 projector that belonged to my parents. Unfortunately, the drive belt wore out and broke. I tried to find a replacement belt, but they are expensive. I experimented with using an O-ring and a rubber band.
It seems that a lot of other people have the same projector, and the same problem with the drive belt. I posted this in February 2012 and still get hits on this page frequently.
- and 3. Experiments With the Trial Version of nawmalMAKE and The New Nawmal: Good News for “The Barrier”
I wrote these two posts about NawmalMake. It is a rerelease of the old Xtranormal program that I used to make “The Barrier” and “Make ’ em Squirm: The Sharkbiter Way”.
I was quite glad to see it rereleased, so I could do a final version of “The Barrier”. Unfortunately, the timing isn’t good for me, so I haven’t been able to take advantage of the new release. I did some tests though.
The one big worry I have is that the new company will not be able to make a go of it and the program will no longer be available when I have time to use it. The fact that these two posts are attracting a lot of hits even months after it was posted tells me that there is some interest in the program. This is a positive sign for the future of the program.
- Conversational Films: A Small Genre
One of my favourite films is Linklater’s “Before Sunrise”. I’ve had the urge to make something similar. In this post I look at similar movies that would call conversational films. I only identified a few, but I suspect there are some more I am unaware of.
I’m not sure why this post should be so popular. Even though it was posted back in March 2012, it was still my most popular post this year. Maybe there is a desire out there for similar movies.
I wrote my story “The Crying Woman” as the basis for a movie like this, but I haven’t followed up on it yet. https://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-crying-woman/
Honourable Mention: Do Ancient Alien Probes Watch Earth?
While this post did not attract much attention on my site or FaceBook, it was very popular on Blogger. No one made any comments, but I think that may be a good thing. Many of the people who would be interested would be interested in the conspiracy theory aspects of the idea, and would not be very positively disposed to my more sceptical approach to the idea.