Unbearably HoT

Just a reminder that the 5-7-5 Summer Haiku Contest will be ending tomorrow, and the last submissions will be taken at 11:59, EST on Friday the 13th! Get your submissions in soon so you can be eligible for the prize! 

When I was first convinced to start writing a druid-themed blog, it was with the intention of creating an audience interested in both druids and high-end raid content. I don’t ever recall reading many other blogs geared in a similar fashion until recently, and it’s (dare I say) refreshing reading the trials and tribulations of others riding the progression bandwagon in the writings of folks such as Lume the Mad or Chick GM. But before I totally digress, I’d like to just take a minute to step back from Warcraft here and address what I mentioned in the very first sentence: creating an audience.

Here, I am making a few assumptions:

1. While bloggers must be writing in some fashion for themselves, they are also writing in a public venue in which they want to be seen.
2. You, as a blogger, do not want to alienate a potential audience and you, as a reader, do not want to feel alienated by a particular blog. Here, I’m talking about a potential audience within a topic itself; for example, I wouldn’t want to discourage druid readers. Generating interest from anyone else is an added bonus.
3. You, as a blogger, want to allow open discourse, in some capacity, and you, as a reader, do not want to be ignored.

Keeping the above items in mind, here are a few suggestions that I try to follow for anyone who’s curious or struggling with a fledgling site:

1. Update Frequently: I admittedly have a hard time doing this, especially when my schedule lately looks a little something like Go to Work, Come Home, Cook Dinner, Raid, Sleep. But the more often you update, the better the chances are that people will frequently check out your work to see what’s new. Similarly, as a reader, I really enjoy following specific blogs and look forward to new content. I am not, however, part of the Twitter camp, nor do I think that “updating frequently” means interjecting with every stray thought I happen to have during the day—for the purposes of my blog, anyway. While that might be…interesting, I don’t think the people who read Unbearably HoT want that. If I’m wrong, please let me know.
2. Track Site Statistics: While this offers a work-procrastinating opportunity for every Type A, OCD individual out there, integrating some sort of tracker into your website, like StatCounter, allows you to view a comprehensive breakdown of the traffic your site is receiving: how many hits, unique hits, recent keyword activity, websites that people clicked through to get to yours, popular pages, exit pages, etc. I am generally most interested in the amount of daily traffic as it correlates to days-of-the-week (when most people tend to drop by), where people are coming from (who’s linking to me) and what folks typed into Google to get them to my blog (keyword activity). This shows me when it’s most opportune to post in order to “please” the greatest numbers of stoppers-by. This kind of information might also surprise you—a post you might have viewed as silly, inconsequential or difficult to read may end up being the most popular thing you ever wrote. Go figure.
3. Comment: Don’t be afraid to comment elsewhere. Discuss. But more importantly, respond. While there are certainly blogs out there with entries generating 40+ comments a day, I’m going out on a limb and postulating that most, or at least many, WoW bloggers don’t usually get more than 20 and often less than 10. If folks bothered to leave you some kind of feedback, even if it’s something to the tune of HI I LIKE YOUR LAYOUT ALSO O’DOYLE RULES!, it’s just common courtesy to respond in some way, even if it’s simply a “Thank you”. Similarly, if someone comments with a correction or a controversial opinion, before you dismiss him or her outright or call him or her “rude”, take a minute, recheck your facts, math, whatever, and respond graciously and thoughtfully. We all make mistakes, and we all tend to make incorrect assumptions at one point or another. Additionally, while most theorycrafting is standard, take a minute and ascertain where this person is coming from—are they raiding Karazhan and you’re working on Illidan? Different specs, gear levels and levels of raiding might necessitate different rules or ideas. Meet halfway.
4. Determine Readability: This goes beyond the basics of good grammar, structure and spelling. I come from a background of writing dense scientific papers, rather erudite literary critcism and, to balance it all out, humorous nonfiction. It’s pretty easy to figure out which of those most people would probably read, and I try to recognize my tendency to write obscenely long sentences and make everything a little bit more conversational. To get an idea of how your writing compares to known standards, the intrepid writer can perform a Flesch/Kincaide test. Flesch Tests are statistical analyses of a selected body of work that utilizes this formula:

   206.835 – 1.015(total words/total sentences) – 84.6(total syllables/total words) .

   High scores indicate an easier to read document, while lower scores generally indicate denser, more difficult prose. For reference, Reader’s Digest scores around 65, a basic insurance policy scores around 45 and Nature would probably score in the mid-twenties. The Kincaid portion of the test scores your writing and calculates the basic grade level of your work (10 being a sophomore level). This post, for example, scores a 43.2 with a 12.0 reading level and definitely isn’t hard to read. Most public media caters to a sophomore or lower reading level. It’s interesting to see where you end up on the spectrum.

   Don’t let the math scare you—if you use WP, you can download a plug-in called FD Word Stats. Additionally, going to Tools>Options>Spelling & Grammar>Check Show Readability Statistics will allow you to perform the same tests in Microsoft Word. Just run a standard Spelling & Grammar check, and the stats will display at the end.

So even when you’re supposedly writing for yourself, take a moment to reflect on your personal motivations and slip yourself into the shoes of the reader—what do you like to see as a member of the “audience”?

I have some rather ridiculous WoW related news to report on later, but that’s it for now. In the meantime—what do you want to hear from me that I don’t already discuss?

In the very near future, you might notice that certain boxes on the sidebar are disappearing. Why’s that? You don’t want to link to anything else anymore?


YES I HATE EVERYONE.


Not really. I’m moving all major links to other WoW Bloggers (previously titled “Reads”) and References to the Blogroll page you can find at the top of the screen. This will hopefully streamline things a little more, clutter the mainpage less, and organize outgoing links in a more readily accessible format.


Comments are always appreciated.

Haiku are Japanese poems, composed syllabically, that were often created and recited on the spot to record a moment in very simple words. In groups of people, they were also recited as opening verses to long chains of poems (haikai no renga) in a sort of who-can-trump-who game, fashionable largely during Japan’s Edo Period. Matou Basho is one of the infamous poets of that period, and many people have probably heard the familiar:

Old pond (furuike ya)
A frog jumps (kawazu tobikomu)
The sound of water (mizu no oto)

Traditionally, as Basho’s poem exemplifies above, a haiku often captured scenes in nature (and contained at least one “season” word—a reference to spring or perhaps a mention of turning leaves) or a single upswelling of emotion, but the form has corrupted itself so much these days that you can end up with something like this:

If you were not a
raging bitch—I probably
would have banged you hard.

I love haiku. I love short bursts of trying to find the perfect word to describe an entire feeling, which was obviously easier to do in Japanese than it is in English. Starting Sunday, June 1st and ending June 15th, Unbearably HoT will be accepting some “nature” themed haikus of your own to kick off the start of summer—and they’ve got to be druid related.

The Rules:

1. No more than three submissions per individual. Make them good, yo, and please try to submit them all on the same form.
2. Each haiku must be druid themed in some fashion. Can you reference whatever the hell else you want? Absolutely.
3. Please spellcheck.
4. Each haiku must follow the traditional format of 5 syllables per line 1, 7 syllables per line 2 and another 5 syllables for line 3.
5. You must leave a valid e-mail address, player name and realm to be considered. Be aware that if you win and you’d like the prize, you’ll also have to drop your address.

How to Submit:

It’s not hard! Go to the Contact page. Use Summer Contest as the subject line, fill out the pertinent information as detailed in “The Rules”, and type your haikus into the “Your Message” box. Additionally, make sure you check off the “I allow the contents of this message to be disclosed” box.

What you Win:

The top five haiku will be published on Unbearably HoT along with your name and realm—if they’re especially awesome, I might throw up a few more. The best haiku will receive a surprise Gift Card and a sweet banner to throw up as a forum sig.

As a final note, remember that by checking the disclosure box on the Contact page, you relinquish some rights to your work and allow it to be published on www.unbearably.net. In the event that you would like your entry removed from the site, however, contact me and it will be removed immediately. While I’d love to feature it, your intellectual property ultimately belongs to you, and your wishes will be respected.

Rustle some leaves, stir some paws and start writing! I totally look forward to reading some clever wordsmithing.

It seems that, naturally, after I was introduced to the data-mined information that I posted about earlier, a vast array of other goodies have surfaced for all of us curious cats. For now, check this out! More soon.