Three months to the day this site went live and, although I’ve had a busy few months, it’s safe to say that I’ve spent many hours on it. Much of that has been spent on writing but most of it has been learning what the hell I’m doing. I was a complete novice, who’d once attempted this before only to make a single post (a bite-sized reflection on the end of Critical Role’s first campaign). Expecting to learn a few tricks here and there; I was surprised by just how many different areas I had to get to grips with. Now I feel as though I have a decent idea of my process, and with it comes the realisation of just how far I’ve still got to go.

1. Making content takes time

Only seeing the finished product, in this case an article of a thousand words, I was surprised by just how much time I spent on each piece. Even relatively short pieces were taking many hours behind the scenes. One of these days, I’m going to do an article looking at exactly how long it takes me, from booting up a game to publishing the review, but for now I’ll give you a rough break down.

The time I spend playing the game can vary, but so far I’ve found that at least fifteen hours are needed to get a good feel for the game. Writing a first draft takes a couple more. Redrafting is the most nebulous task. If my first draft is good then I need an hour to clean it up. With rewrites to focus on a specific angle or idea, it can take several more hours. Then I need to give it a proper proof read, which is something that cannot be rushed. Lets call it half an hour, at the very minimum. To collect images, I review my footage for interesting moments, this can take a couple hours, depending on how much I have to comb through. If I’m missing a specific image I want, it takes more time to capture more. Finally, wrangling with WordPress can take far longer than it needs to, but that is getting easier with experience.

Obviously, the process will get more efficient over time, but I reckon right now the process takes at least twenty hours. That’s a lot of time for something that WordPress assures me takes only six minutes to read.

2. Consistency is the hardest part

This discovery is not about work but about life. September was a busy month for me, with work, a trip to Rome and family commitments all eating into my time. Since this is just a hobby, it’s the first thing to fall by the wayside. As I’ve established, each of these projects takes a fair amount of time, and trying to piece together these hours has meant that I spend weeks working on something.

There have been times when I lacked the energy or motivation to concentrate for an extended period. Finding a balance between writing and taking time to relax has been a lesson in self-care that has taken adjustment.

3. Gaming for review is not the same

This one became more relevant with the recent release of Starfield (keep your eyes peeled for my thoughts). When sitting down to review a game, it’s borderline impossible to truly immerse myself in the experience, as a small part of my brain is continually evaluating and processing what I’m seeing and feeling. I still enjoy the time spent with each game (provided the game is good) but it’s still that extra bit of work. It is the difference between going out for a meal with friends versus that same meal with your partner’s parents.

4. Technical knowledge can only be learn the hard way

There have been a couple of new pieces of software that I’ve had to grips with, like GIMP (because I can’t afford to use Photoshop). Image editing was another area that I had little to no experience in prior to starting the site. I may be using the simplest of techniques, this week I learnt how to use the blur function, but I’m proud of the goofy little images that I’ve concocted.

The biggest challenge has been wrestling with WordPress. Learning the difference between pages and posts, what the different blocks do, and how to incorporate a template sounds simple, but knowing where to look to change something wasn’t immediately obvious. Learning all these details was a process of faffing around with the nuts and bolts until it worked. I only have to look compare my reviews of ‘High on Life’ and ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ to see the difference that this knowledge has made.

5. Developing a strong writing style

Wanting to develop my skill-set, it was inevitable that I look to established critics for a guide. Those with a name for themselves, like Yatzhee and Ross Scott, all have an immediately identifiable style. It likely helps that these critics both use an audio-visual medium, but even written down, their pen is clearly visible. I know that I’m not there yet; it would be incredibly egotistical for me to say that I was, considering that both Zero Punctuation and Ross’s Game Dungeon have been going for years. How my style is going to develop I have know idea, but it is something I’m excited to explore in the next few months.

Looking Forward

Three months is not a very long time and during this period, I have noticed the improvements, a trend I hope will continue in the months to come. With that in mind, I have a few things that I’d like to work on. Namely, the visuals of the site, including exciting things like a navigation bar! I’d also like to try my hand at delving into some other mediums, maybe I’ll give video editing a shot. It goes without saying that any of these new ventures will also come alongside more review, opinions, and general blog posts.

If you’re in any way interested in keeping up with this project, please consider subscribing to the site. You’ll get a handy little email every time I post and it means that I don’t have to spam my Instagram with as much shameless self-promotion. I’m hoping to continue averaging one post a month, so don’t worry about getting spammed.

As for more content, I have a few projects in the works that I’m looking forward to releasing. As a reward for sticking with me this long, here is a hint as to the project I’m most looking forward to releasing.

Thanks,

Ewan