Hello everyone. Welcome. Today I am seeking the opinions of folks who regularly visit this website, so once you have made it to the end of this post, I really would like to hear from you.
I started this website earlier this year. It is probably my most successful attempt at blogging in my life. I have made various previous attempts that have all been less successful for one reason or another. I have treated this website as a niche blog focusing on gaming, because that is a hobby of mine that I am passionate enough to write about. I should also say that I am passionate about writing itself, and when I started this site I did it as a way to get some name recognition and establish a presence on the web. I believe I have managed that, albeit a very small one though I expect a continual upward trend. However as I near the end of my first year I have really been thinking about my purpose in having a website.
So, here it is. I am a writer. I write fiction, and I write blogs. And I have been known to edit other peoples’ work on request. I have recently been writing fantasy fiction, though it is on hiatus as I am in the process of writing an RPG sourcebook for a community content portal. All of which I suspect you will think is cool, or at the very least, is fine but you might be wondering why I am telling you this. And the answer to that is, I had an idea for a change and I wanted to know how the folks that regularly read my stuff would view it. The folks that stumble on individual blogs on one off occasions, am pretty sure they will not even be affected.
The idea I had was to change the layout and purpose of the site. The Purpose would change to be my Author/Writer website, rather than a niche blog. It would change format to have a static front page announcing that you have arrived at It’s More than Just Gaming, the Author Website of me. It would have a blog button at the top (or somewhere) which would allow folks to navigate to the blogroll, and I would split up by tags or category to allow easier navigation. I have tried merging my passion for games and writing before, unsuccessfully, however I believe I can do a better job of it this time and the solution is around purpose. Previously when I combined the two, I simply had a blog. That is not to demean blog writing – I obviously don’t as you know how prolific I am. However, if I change the purpose of my site to be that of an Author site, which would incorporate a blog then I think I can rationalise it all in my head. After all, writers are encouraged to write daily and write what they know. So, it is only natural to include all of my public writing on an author site. So, that would the gaming stuff. However, it would also start to include writing and book stuff too.
You are probably still wondering why you are here. So, let me try and take my previous paragraph and bullet point it. These points are if I decide to go ahead.
- This site would have a static front page. It would basically replace my about page, and would talk about writing and gaming as well as me
- All of my gaming posts would still be here. They are basically unaffected, though you would need to click a button, if you land on the front page, to get to them
- I would have creative writing/book themed posts too.
- The different subject matters would be findable by use of menu navigation or if I can figure out a more graphic solution, I will do that.
My question to you is basically – what do you think?
I’ll break that down. Would it bother you at all? Would it appear weird, talking about games, books and writing all on one site? Would you be interested in the other content? Would you be put off? Is this more or less interesting to you?
Ok. I have said enough. Thanks for reading, in general and today, and now it is over to you. Your thoughts, please.
Have an awesome day!