My 10 Most Popular Posts

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.

10. Return to Blogging

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/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 http://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.

9. I Finally Brought A Long Held Dream to Fruition

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/i-finally-brought-a-long-held-dream-to-fruition/

This is my post to promote my Doc Savage novella: "The 89th Key". http://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.

8. New Ideas for Transportation Planning Stories

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/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.

7. The Lester Dent Master Fiction Plot Test Drive

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/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.

6. My New Website Theme: As The Goals Change

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/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.

5. "2001: A Space Odyssey"  and H. P. Lovecraft

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/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.

4. My Film Equipment Repair Adventure

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/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.

2. and 3. Experiments With the Trial Version of nawmalMAKE and The New Nawmal: Good News for "The Barrier"

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/experiments-with-the-trial-version-of-nawmalmake/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/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".

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/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.

1. Conversational Films: A Small Genre

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/conversational-stories/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. http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-crying-woman/

Honourable Mention: Do Ancient Alien Probes Watch Earth?

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/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.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Return to Blogging

My wife was in the hospital from mid December until a week ago. I dropped all of my other activities to help her. Now that she is home, I think I can get back to my creative projects.

Wife's Health

When my wife went into the hospital last December, my top priority was to help take care of her. I dropped all work on this blog, my films and my writing projects. While she is home now and things are stable, we still have a way to go before she is healthy again.

While she was in the hospital, I visited her every day. I took her home cooked food; the hospital food was not to her taste. I know I am fortunate to be able to drop every thing else and just focus on her. Many other people don't have that luxury.

Now that my wife is home and more capable of taking care of herself, I feel I can start to work on my creative projects again.

Normally at the start of the year, I write a blog post about my plans. It is well past new years, but it is time for me to do that again.

Blog

I want to get back to my blog with a post every week. Until last December I had only missed a few times since the beginning of 2010. I hope to keep to that schedule again.

My Most Difficult Case

http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/my-most-difficult-case

This project has been on my to-do list since the early 1990s, and I finished it last year. It is nice to be done with it. I do need to try to promote it. I have it posted on a pay per view site. I think that is the way to go with my films. This is an experiment to gain some understanding of the process.

Website Theme

In December I started to work on a new theme for my website. The old one was not mobile friendly and a bit clunky. It was a version of the Core theme that I had fiddled around with. I set up a test site using Bitnami. I did some preliminary work, but didn't get far with it.

A few weeks ago I discovered that someone was injecting a spam link into my main page. I didn't have time to fix it, so I tried a different theme: Candour. It took care of the mobile friendliness and the injection problem. It doesn't look exactly the way I would like, but I don't see a need to do anything with it for a while.

Summer is Too Short (and the Rabbits Ate All the Seeds)

This is a short movie I worked on last year. Everything is shot, but it will take a lot of post production to get it ready. It will be finicky work.

Felix

I had started a rewrite of this story, but have left it for a long time. I had planned to do that anyway. It is time to get back to work on it.

The Barrier

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/

I have a version of this movie done (version 0.6), but I want to do some more work on it. There are some changes I'd like to make to some of the dialogue, but the big change is to replace the "robot" voices with actors. Xtranormal can do that, but the status of the program is still up in the air, so I'm reluctant to start.

I don't think a movie about transportation planning will find a large audience, so I don't want to spend too much money on it.

Pete's Plan

I'd written this short short story a couple of years ago and submitted it to a few Science Fiction magazines. I had rejections from all of them. I had planned to submit to some others, but got side tracked onto other projects. The main comment I got was that it read like a treatment for a story rather than a story. While I like what I did do, I think I should try a rewrite in first person. I'm inclined to post it on my website rather than try to submit it to magazines again.

Bright Freedom

I'd done this as a movie script, but then decided to redo it as a novelette. I got a 17,600 word draft done and started to make revisions to it, but put it on hold. I'd like to get back to it and get it into shape to have some other people read it.

Another Story

When I reviewed where I left off on my projects I came across a post: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/another-story/. I talked about a new story idea, but didn't say anything about the story itself. I could not remember anything about it. I managed to find the material I wrote up. It is a short detective story.

A New Transportation Planning Story

About a year ago I did some work on the outline for another transportation planning story. I'd forgotten about this one too. I had a look at the outline this week and developed it a bit further. It still needs work, but I think it has potential. For a story like this, I think I should spend much more time on the outline than I do on the story itself.

Ancient Astronauts

When I first heard of this idea I was convinced it was true. Later, as I learnt more about it, it all seemed to evaporate in smoke. There was nothing there.

I still find the idea intriguing, but there seems to be very little serious study of the idea, even though it is plausible that aliens visited Earth in the distant past. The field has been taken over by people who recycle old claims that have been debunked.

I would like to do something with the concept. Initially I want to write an article that takes a serious look at the idea. Then maybe I can develop a story.

My Priorities

My wife, of course, is my top priority.

I find it hard to pick one of these projects to work on first. As a start I think I will do some work on Summer is Too Short and then work on Felix. Then we'll see where that goes.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog