Oversoul
The Tentacled One
Remember how I said I started a backlog last year for articles, so that I could edit them a bit, then submit them if I didn't have time to write new ones later on? Well, I went through that whole backlog and I've been writing articles generally off the cuff for a while, but there's still one article that I started last year, and that I never finished. I quickly learned that I'd need to revise my approach to the kind of article that I was writing, but I'd already started this first one, so now it's too long. How long? I've got over 20,000 words and it's not even close to done. This thing is a novel. Well, not really. Anyway, it's too much...
But how much is the right amount? Obviously the amount of time I might be able to dedicate per week is a constraining factor here, but I've been toying with varying article lengths in the past and I'm trying to get an idea of what I should shoot for. Some articles will, by their nature, run long. Others will be relatively brief. But if I had a standard, what would it be?
Some estimates from my content so far...
Article 1, Introducing the Comboist Manifesto: 1,111 words.
Article 2, Explanation: 1,402 words.
Article 3, Combo Elements in Deckbuilding: 5,527 words.
Article 4, Combo is a Part of This Complete Breakfast: 3,735 words.
Article 5, Theorycrafting the ABC's of Combo: 5,076 words.
Article 6, A Comboist Review of Born of the Gods: 4,928 words.
Article 7, Oops, All Spells!: 3,838 words.
Article 8, A Comboist Review of Heroes vs. Monsters: 4,404 words.
Article 9, Ad Nauseam Card Spotlight: 4,521 words.
Article 10, The Storm Count: 3,869 words.
I deliberately made the first two articles short, because I didn't want to start out giving the impression that these articles would be "Feel the might of my verbosity, peons." But I was worried that some of them, especially some of the drier early ones like Article 3, may have run too long. But what do other people like? Would you prefer content with more depth, but that might sometimes be rather lengthy, or is brevity the soul of wit? If I let them go too long, at some point, I know my articles would be so long that I wouldn't want to read them either, and I don't want them to reach that point, not that I think they will...
I'm mainly contemplating the length thing, but any other feedback would be appreciated too. I'm not quite finished developing my style here. Some of the overall quality of the prose has suffered when I've been a bit rushed, but I think that's actually improving with practice. Also, I'm trying to find some balance in the content because I want my articles to be relevant to a casual audience, but I'm not attending FNM or playing "kitchen table Magic" or anything like that, and my personal Magic interests have mainly been focused on Legacy tournament play, despite my not playing in tournaments either. I think so far that I've avoided going off a deep end of material that is completely lost on a casual audience, but I might be pushing it.
Also, what sort of articles would people like to see more of? Are set/product reviews of interest? Would you like to see more card spotlights? More off-the-wall stuff like "The Storm Count"? Was my theorycrafting interesting or did it put you to sleep? Should I be taking some other approach that I haven't tried yet? Let me know!
But how much is the right amount? Obviously the amount of time I might be able to dedicate per week is a constraining factor here, but I've been toying with varying article lengths in the past and I'm trying to get an idea of what I should shoot for. Some articles will, by their nature, run long. Others will be relatively brief. But if I had a standard, what would it be?
Some estimates from my content so far...
Article 1, Introducing the Comboist Manifesto: 1,111 words.
Article 2, Explanation: 1,402 words.
Article 3, Combo Elements in Deckbuilding: 5,527 words.
Article 4, Combo is a Part of This Complete Breakfast: 3,735 words.
Article 5, Theorycrafting the ABC's of Combo: 5,076 words.
Article 6, A Comboist Review of Born of the Gods: 4,928 words.
Article 7, Oops, All Spells!: 3,838 words.
Article 8, A Comboist Review of Heroes vs. Monsters: 4,404 words.
Article 9, Ad Nauseam Card Spotlight: 4,521 words.
Article 10, The Storm Count: 3,869 words.
I deliberately made the first two articles short, because I didn't want to start out giving the impression that these articles would be "Feel the might of my verbosity, peons." But I was worried that some of them, especially some of the drier early ones like Article 3, may have run too long. But what do other people like? Would you prefer content with more depth, but that might sometimes be rather lengthy, or is brevity the soul of wit? If I let them go too long, at some point, I know my articles would be so long that I wouldn't want to read them either, and I don't want them to reach that point, not that I think they will...
I'm mainly contemplating the length thing, but any other feedback would be appreciated too. I'm not quite finished developing my style here. Some of the overall quality of the prose has suffered when I've been a bit rushed, but I think that's actually improving with practice. Also, I'm trying to find some balance in the content because I want my articles to be relevant to a casual audience, but I'm not attending FNM or playing "kitchen table Magic" or anything like that, and my personal Magic interests have mainly been focused on Legacy tournament play, despite my not playing in tournaments either. I think so far that I've avoided going off a deep end of material that is completely lost on a casual audience, but I might be pushing it.
Also, what sort of articles would people like to see more of? Are set/product reviews of interest? Would you like to see more card spotlights? More off-the-wall stuff like "The Storm Count"? Was my theorycrafting interesting or did it put you to sleep? Should I be taking some other approach that I haven't tried yet? Let me know!
