People and Progress

12 Years a Slave is a movie that'll stick with you. It's one of those rare film that I constantly revisit in my mind, and it only grows greater in esteem the more I think about it. The last movie that did this to me was Inglorious Basterds, and I consider that to be Tarantino's masterpiece. 

Watching 12 Years a Slave in theaters was an interesting experience. There was a woman beside me who found it  difficult to watch and she visibly squirmed at some of the harsher sequences. A steady diet of horror films has numbed me to such on-screen atrocities, but what I found more horrifying was the thought behind the act. I've seen torture plenty of times but this was in an era when such acts were not only legal, but institutionalized. The true horror was how such depravity was accepted because it was simply the way they lived. If that's the rationalization for every injustice in this world, can you imagine how fucked up we can get? It's a surprise we haven't succumbed to the depths of despair yet. Either that's a credit to "progress" or maybe our civilization really does operate on inherent "goodness."

Those views have changed and culturally, we see everybody as human now. But there are those who sadly cling to ideals rooted in prejudice and hate for no other reason than because that was how they were raised. I still remember the first time I learned about Martin Luther King in third grade. I had  no concept of how far we've gone because his "dream" seemed like the most obvious thing in the world. It made no sense, but that's the innocence of childhood at work. Just as how the concept of a racially diverse world seemed totally obvious, the opposite could also be true for another kid growing up--and that's the unknown tragedy.

I consider myself a fairly progressive guy. I think gay marriage should be legalized because denying them that right makes them second-class citizens, which is a totally foreign idea in a supposedly "modern" world. I take issue with laws where its intended purpose has been perverted for the sake of suppressing minorities (or that was the original intent all along). There are many injustices in this society, and I'd like to think that I recognize them, but I can't help but wonder if progress would soon outdate my ideas. 

What if, one day, the future looks back on the views I held and find me culpable for holding back progress in some issue I couldn't even conceive of at the time? What if it turned out that plants are conscious living beings and all those times we mowed our lawns amounted to massacre? It's a ridiculous example, but it's not without precedent. There was a time when it was accepted that the world was flat. Science is not absolute, it's only goes as far as we can prove it. This is a particularly salient point since "science" has been used to justify certain views, such as homosexuality as an "aberration." The point is that issues exist even when we can't see them, and even when we do, we can't pretend not to. 

Even in gaming, a hobby I hold dear to my heart, there are issues dealing with sex. Announcing yourself as female in certain gaming communities is akin to painting a big red target on your back for harassment. And I need not mention the prevalence of sexist remarks or racial slurs in not only online gaming, but even on things like Twitch chat. The standard excuse is that the "internet is going to internet" but that's fucking goddamned cop-out.

Funnily enough, I see Google and Facebook moving towards a more personally-identifiable future (probably because it's more profitable to market to actual people instead of online personalities), but as a side effect, it might introduce accountability for the things people say online. If Facebook and Twitter is tied to every account, it's much easier to track who said what in the seemingly anonymous web space. With kids growing up with social networking as a fact of life, I think we will see a greater acceptance and integration between real and digital life, and I sincerely hope this will change the way we interface with each other. Maybe one day, the kid who screams insults online will be held accountable when players can click his name, go straight to his Facebook page, and flag his parents. Maybe. 

We still have a long way to go, and there will always be people who wish to say controversial things. On the flip side, we may even accept that people have ugly sides to them, sides that seek to scream and yell out terrible things if only because that's all it'll amount to. Maybe the things we say aren't a part of who we really are, and that by stating them, we can better find ourselves. It's a strange idea, but I think there's merit to it. There's a reason why so many people continue to misrepresent themselves online, why they roleplay, and become entirely different entities. Like with the rest of humanity, you gotta take the good with the bad. 

I can't believe I just wrote a whole freakin' essay. All I wanted to say is that 12 Years a Slave is a movie that everybody should watch. 

Mornings: 1/11/14

It only seems fitting that I write something right after waking up if I do so right before sleeping. I won't do something as lavish as a dream diary, but a record of how I feel each morning might be pretty funny.

This morning, I woke up at around 1:00PM and I feel particularly devastated, especially after a strange dream about a two-player version of Killzone where I narrowly escaped a giant tidal wave by hanging onto a rope attached to an aircraft. It was an exhilarating ride and I have no idea what prompted it.

I credit my fatigue to working out before going to sleep last night. Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays are my exercise days. My friend's birthday yesterday interrupted my routine, so I had to go through it right before sleeping. Now my body is paying the price.

One of the first things I do when I wake up is check my phone. I've garnered an additional follower on tumblr, which is always good. It seems my work is paying off. Consistent updates and great topic selection has gotten the ball rolling for me lately.

With the Event Log and Morning series for this blog, I'm steadily beginning to narrow my topics better. Hopefully, I can manage to sustain momentum.

Event Log: 1/10/14

I'm going to assert total dominance over the term: Event Log. It is presently under jurisdiction of Windows, so here's hoping I can change that, even by just a little. And if you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about, it's just a little SEO thing. Never you mind.

For my first Event Log, I would like to explain how I'm going to run things. I won't start my event logs until the day after. Although I'm writing this on the eleventh, it's going to be about the tenth. I can't write about a day until I've completed it. I'm still going to refer to "today" as "yesterday" because it might as well be. It ain't tomorrow until I sleep. With that said, here are the sordid details of my day:

Today was a friend's birthday. Let's call him P. We went out to watch The Wolf of Wall Street and ate at Oggi's. My friend expressed mock disgust at the scene in the movie when Belfort describes how to screw people out of their money. Having watched Wall Street and Boiler Room, I was not surprised at the exceptional level of sleaze present in the 80's era of excess. The movie entertaining through to the end. Not the most important film I've seen (that honor goes to 12 Years a Slave), but certainly one of the most fun.

At Oggi's, we conversed about how awesome it is to live in Orange County and how people throughout the world know of our reputation. My friend's anecdotal support of this global reputation is gleaned from their online interaction with gaming buddies, and birthday boy used the same argument for Orange County's prestige to shit on Texas. "I have not heard good things about Texas."

Then we talked about places we would like to visit. My friend R commented that there's a "smell" in NYC. The topic of conversation went to cabs and we remarked on the differences between California and New York. R brought up an interesting app that connects drivers with people who need rides, and called the whole enterprise "sketchy." Apparently, taxi companies are pushing for regulation because they don't need more competitors.

Since we were on the subject of traveling, I brought up the idea of Vegas like I always do. Even though we've been 21 and older for the last three years, we still have not, to this day, gone to Vegas together, which I find to be a total travesty. There's really no excuse for this state of present affairs. Okay, so some of us have been in school, broke, with no job, or a combination of all three, but that's no excuse! We still haven't had our definitive Vegas trip.

P easily gets addicted to gambling and he talked about some of the losses his bad habit sustained. They numbered in the thousands. I'm risk adverse, and I feel more pain than pleasure gambling, so it's not really a concern for me. R has never gone to Vegas with friends, so he has to give gambling a shot just because that's what you do when you're in Vegas. For me, I just want to visit the Mandarin Bar, which is quite possibly the classiest bar on this side of the country.

This might be the year. I'm feeling it. It could be the set-up for the most legendary weekend of our lives.

Maybe.

But before R and I went out with the birthday boy to watch Wolf of Wall Street, I witnessed an amazing blindfolded run of Mike Tyson's Punchout and Super Punchout on Awesome Games Done Quick 2014. Definitely a highlight of an amazing charity run. Watch it, people. It's for a great cause. They've already raised over $500,000 for the prevention of cancer, and they did this by just playing games. Who says you can't achieve anything by playing games all day?

There's a little more that happened today but anything I do online might as well be grouped under the umbrella of "doing shit on the computer." I don't need to tell you that I made a post on tumblr because you probably already read it. I originally intended to make another post, but this one seized me because I remember reading a writer say in his author's notes how hard it was to write a character smarter than himself, which I call absolute bullshit on because that's impossible for reasons stated in my tumblr post. Have some faith in yourself, son.

At night, I watched the latest of Chris Smoove's NBA 2K14 videos. They were entertaining as always. It reminded me to check in on the NBA 2K14 app. I haven't played the game on the PS4 for a while, so I've built up about 13K in VC. I don't know where I'm going to allocate those points, but it doesn't really matter since my character, Jo Matto, is easily the best player in the game having scored 80+ points in back-to-back games. I'd like to see you break that record, Kobe.

I'll finish out this day by watching some more AGDQ2014. Right now, it's four guys playing some GoldeneEye multiplayer.

/eventlog

The Run

A couple years ago, I was able to manage a great run of consecutive posts titled, "Event Log." I made detailed journal entries about what I did for every day from October 5th to November 11th. It probably remains, to this day, the most comprehensive record of personal activities in my life. I can read any entry from that period and relive each day in its full glory, and re-experience every emotion and thought in that  moment of time.

I don't have any particular attachment to the past. What I remember is what I remember. But there's something special about knowing, without a single doubt, exactly what happened on a specific date. If everybody kept such detailed records about their lives, can you imagine what insights we, as a civilization, can unearth? Underneath the gargantuan task of living has to be some profound universal thread that ties us all together, and if not, at least I know what I had for breakfast that day.

I always wondered if I should do it again. It definitely consumed a lot of energy to produce every night, but because of that, I'm able to look back on it today and say: Yup, that's what I did.

The hell with it, it's to herald the return of Event Logs!

The run starts now.

Anywhere

When I look at where I am, I realize that I can pretty much go wherever I want. I have no debts, no lingering attachments, and if I really wanted to, I can leave everything behind in a heartbeat. I have enough money to survive and if I don't, I have faith in my skills. I live light and I'm by no means a hoarder. Give me a phone, my wallet, and laptop, and I'm good. So what's preventing me from going nomad?

Easy: me. It's just not in my personality. I'm afraid to roam too far from known territory. I'm a creature of habit, and if I don't get my three square meals a day or go to sleep in my bed, I won't be in rhythm. When I'm out in the world, I feel trepidation. I hate that feeling of being lost, of being unable to return to what's familiar. I recognize that I've been shackled by this feeling as many times as I've been saved by it. Being able to find your way back is just as important as being able to lose yourself.

Chances in life don't line up easily. They often wander in no set pattern and appear random, which makes that one opportunity feel almost...predestined. Fate is only coincidence, but when we can defy the odds, it makes risks worth taking, even if it means straying far from the beaten path. What awaits us outside our comfort zone? That's an answer that can only be found by searching.

Something New

It's challenging to keep coming up with new ideas every day. It's an unsustainable venture. The mind will eventually buckle and demand rest. Imagination works in cycles. There are times when you rule the world and there are times when you're stuck in the desert. The key is to take advantage of peak creative activity.

When inspiration strikes, that's the best time to start planning. The ideas flow easily and you should ride it all the way to the end. If you don't, you will inevitably reach a stopping point, and you'll be wracking your head over a problem you could've solved from the start. You'll also never know when a new strike of inspiration will come, which can render your old strikes useless if you come up with something better. Basically, there should never be a situation in which you don't know what happens next.

Always be ready to ride the thunder. You'll never know when it'll strike.

JomattoStyle: A Market Approach

In It for the Glory

Alright, let's push aside all that fancy fluff about improving your writing. At this point, you know whether or not you've got it. You're not looking to transcend your limits or some other new-age bullshit, you just want one thing: the glory.

Fortunately, the marketplace determines success not by quality, but by popularity. You don't have to be the best; you just have to be good enough. If you're looking for a shortcut to the top, I present to you: A Market Approach to Writing.

I'd imagine most writers these days try their hands at fanfiction before blossoming into original authors. I can hardly think of any site broader and more inclusive, which makes it an ideal representation of the marketplace.

FF.net's low barrier to entry, large readership, and feedback system form a somewhat competitive environment for writers. There are winners and there are losers. Money may not be involved, but time is—which is equally as valuable. The promise of validation, praise, and reviews is reward enough to lure in aspiring writers. For them, there's nothing more important than finding an audience.

Unfortunately, without the pressures of the market to weed out the trash, a lot of garbage remains on the shelf. That's why competition breeds quality. If there's an incentive to be better, then everybody would step up their game.

Keep in mind that what I say are assumptions derived from personal experience. Take it all with a grain of salt.

Measures of Success

What makes an activity worth doing? Recognition, and on FF.net, recognition comes in reviews. The goal is to get as many reviews as possible. It feels good to have dozens of people tell you how great your story is, but you’d be remiss to see that as the sole determinant of success. It’s the total feedback that counts, the combination of reviews, favorites, and follows, against the amount of effort you put in, the total number of words or chapters you publish. A 1000 chapter story with 1000 reviews is an embarrassment compared to a 10 chapter story with 100 reviews. You want legitimate glory, not fake glory. So forget about those inflationary tactics, writing “drabbles” so you can update with paltry word counts, holding chapters ransom, or threatening readers unless they “pay up.”

But you’re better than that. You know you got the stuff; it’s just a matter of luck, skill, and strategy.

Identifying Your Market

You have to determine your target audience. FF.net has broad categories and it falls on you, the writer, to narrow it down as much as you can. The natural choice is to choose the property you're most familiar with. Alternatively, you can choose one with the most potential, based on the number of total stories and how successful the top ones are.

I wanted to write character-based and relationship-driven stories aimed at teenagers and young adults, so I chose Kingdom Hearts because it was the best match for my material, and it was the most popular section under Games. My goals and target demographic were a solid match.

Popularity is not without its perils though. KH is crowded. A newly posted story will stay on the front page for an hour at most. Further division is necessary. I needed to target a specific niche. In non-yaoi, the most popular pairing was Sora and Kairi. Thus, my two principal characters were selected.

Try not to gauge your success against the entirety of a fandom, but against competitors within your niche. The next step is to examine market conditions: the size of the market, the competition, and the pace.

Size of the Market

Each category is limited by the size of its readership. One category might max out at 100 reviews while another can go as high as 1000. You want to know just how high you could go. Having identified Sora-Kairi as my main segment, the ceiling I was looking at was well past the 1k mark.

Competition

Before I wrote a single word, I had determined the best category and pairing for my stories and how much success was achievable given the limits of my segment's readership. It was time for a little research.

Since reviews are the golden commodity, I looked at many of them, analyzed their contents, and the writers who wrote them. Reviewers ranged from 12 to 20 years old, and gender was skewed depending on the genre. The two most popular genres are adventure and romance. Male authors tend to read and write adventure, while females do the same for romance. The market had been neatly divided into two distinct categories: adventure and romance.

There are two options here: do something different from the norm or execute the norm better than anyone else.

Once you've started your story, I'd suggest using the competition as benchmarks for your own success. It might put your success (or lack thereof) in better context.

Market Pace

Kingdom Hearts has dozens of stories being published and updated daily. Front page status does not last very long, and for most stories, it may be their only source of exposure. Depending on how rapid a fandom moves, you must adjust your pace accordingly. Speed, perhaps second to quality, is one of the most crucial determinants of success. You'll want to keep feeding the fire until it's able to sustain itself. Writers who can regularly publish updates with little to no loss in quality inspire confidence in readers who want a regular drip-feed of content. This is how a following is created. You'll make fans, and these are the people who, more than anyone, will validate your ventures as an author.

The Cool Kid's Corner

Although not necessary, a little networking never hurt anyone. Try to become friends with authors who are already successful, listen to their advice, and ride off their coattails. If you write something good enough, they'll give you an endorsement, and that could mean all the difference in the world. Never throw away free marketing. But networking requires effort. It's not just a simple "pls read my story and review, thnx," You need to show genuine eagerness and a desire to improve. You gotta put in that work and impress the ones you look up to. Everything is earned and rarely given.

Know When to Give Up

If this is truly a market approach, then you must know when to exit as well. Sometimes, the best laid plans get laid to waste. Nothing you can do about it. Either the market has changed beyond expectations or the competition is just too tough. There's no shame in admitting defeat. The important thing is that you recognize this and bail out while you still have your dignity. Don't continue to invest more time into a project with no return. You're better off allocating your resources elsewhere. If you're really that adamant about it, you can always try again later, but with a newer strategy. Cut your losses and start over. Hopefully, you'll be more experienced and wiser this time.