Crazy Kinux has finally become active after a long absence for the better part of a year and announced that he has decided to revamp the his Blog Pack. He announced that he was seeking submissions on who should be added to his blog pack and he would hold a vote.  He would then select the top 20 from that voting process and add his own blog to the mix for a total of 21 blogs.

I’ve read the comments and I want to thank everyone who has listed my blog as a potential inclusion for CK’s blog pack.  It’s gratifying to see that many people like my blog’s content and I am truly touched.

However, I am a bit torn by some of the discussion I am seeing on this topic and I too want to chime in here.

Roc of Roc’s Ramblings voiced some personal opinions concerning the elitist concept around the formation of a blog pack.  I posted my comments on his blog, but I have more to say and I didn’t want to cloud up the discussion.

I feel the need to point out that Casiella Truza posted a good response asking everyone to stop being all emo about this situation.  I need to quote my friend here because he has a great point:

But you know what really gets me madder than a sack of hornets? When a sense of ownership turns into a sense of entitlement. “The list is popular and therefore we should get to decide what’s in it, because otherwise I will be sad and left out and the community will die.” As much as I appreciate CK’s hard work, the EVE community won’t die based on what one single person does or doesn’t do. We’ve grown past that. I’ll keep writing what I write (and so will many of you) because of the people that read it, not because I want some badge of approval from one single person.

People feel like they are being excluded because they are not in CK’s blog pack not listed in Capsuleer and that’s why they are all acting emo.  I agree with Casiella and this is why.

You should really take a look at the many other things the community has down on it’s own without  CK taking the lead to help us all grow.  A few of them are listed here:

• I created an OPML file of EVE blogs well before I ever met CK, however he was one of the many bloggers who suggested make it public for everyone to use.
• 00sage00 created the tweetfleet.
• Alexia Morgan created The EVE Online Portal (evebloggers.com) for all EVE blogs to have a fair shot of exposure to the world.
• Eddie Gordo created PodLogs to provide a place for anyone who wanted to blog about EVE to be able to do so easily.
• Mandril created the “streamlined OPML download” based on my original work years before meeting CK.  Mandril is also working on a categorized directory for all the EVE blogs.

All these endeavors have done very well under the guidance of the EVE Blogging Community in general.  We all build and contribute to our community in such a way that is inclusive of everyone.  We don’t isolate those few from obtaining the traffic that they should be able to obtain.  We keep things fair and we have done so very well.  We always have and we always will.

And for a final note, no, you don’t have to be listed in CK’s Blog Pack to be in Capsuleer.  This discussion has come up before and it’s mentioned on their forums.  Head over  and simply ask to be included in the application.  Work Roc and Pyjamasam and see what your options are.  There is a lot of love that goes into developing Capsuleer, you should share in that effort and respect their time, an offer of  compensation for their work would be most welcome.

What would a post about our community discussing an issue without yet another shared Google Items page.  Yes, I am a Google Reader shared items whore and I am proud of it.

You can catch all the content I am aware on this issue at:  http://www.eve-druid.com/ckbpd.  If I’ve missed anyone, comment here and I will get you added into the page.

Tags: Blog Pack, Casiella Truza, Eddie Gordo, EVEbloggers.com, Google Reader, OPML Download, Podlogs, Response to other blog, Roc's Ramblings, The EVE Online Portal, Tweetfleet, Twitter

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I was catching up on my reading this evening when I came across an interesting post.  Casiella Truza over at Ecliptic Rift posed the question, How does one go about writing in someone else’s world?

It’s a good question.  CCP has created a in depth universe, one filled with history and culture.  With so much already laid out before you, how would you write fiction for that world?

For me, it takes the same kind of work if you are going to attempt to write in a particular genre.  You need to first, read.  If you are going to write stories in the Superhero genre, you first should read what others have written.  It helps you to build a background of what people are reading and writing.  It also helps you to avoid the pitfall of writing the same story that has been written time and time again.  In order to write well, you need to be able to read well first.

The same thing goes for EVE Online or any other fan fiction that you want to write.  You need to do some research first.  There are the Chronicles, the many pieces of fiction in the EVE Fiction section on the forums as well as a great section for EVE Fiction on the EVElopedia.  Some corporations and/or alliances have their own player fiction sections on their respective forums.  These resources are invaluable for the potential EVE Fiction writer.

So, what do you do if you start writing before you do the research?  What happens if you seems to “violate” the prime fiction?  What if the prime fiction changes?

Well, you stop and take a look at what happened.  Can you keep going with your story?  Can you slightly change the focus on an item to work past it?  What about a re-write?

Editing work that you have already created is not a sin, it’s the sign of a good writer.  A good writer looks at the mistakes they make and learns from the experience.  So what if you have to rewrite something to make it fit.  Improving a story that you have already written is a service to your readers.

If you don’t think that is the case, then I would direct your attention to the various movies that have been “re-mastered” or had a later release of a “Director’s Cut” edition.  Some of these “re-released” films add elements to the stories that fill in the gaps from a previously released version.

If you are writing single short stories that are not going to continue with additional episodes, you would be okay.  It’s a small bump in the road.  If you are like me, where you have a loosely continuing storyline with a set of regular characters, it can make things a bit dicey.

Take The Bleeding Rose stories that I have been writing.  Originally they were fiction inspired on PvP engagements I had when I was a pirate.  Over time, I found that the stories were becoming repetitive and honestly, they were becoming boring.  It was time to take a step away from dramatized combat reports and to create something new.  I changed the focus of my stories from combat experiences to interactions with people.

I took some prime fiction and used it as a base.  I picked things like the planet Oris in the Amarr system to be the place of birth for Ga’len.  I didn’t make him a direct heir to the emperor or anything, I made him a son of a land owner. I picked things that you know are very unlikely to change.  Shuttles, stations, travle through stargates, etc…

Doing things like that will help you.  You have to learn to create those “specifically vague” details so that your story can flow when things do change.  Once you have that ground work completed, start writing.

If you want to include things like real in game characters in your stories, ask those people before you use them in your story.  This can help to ensure that what you write is true to form.  Inviting real in game characters into your story can also lead to those people providing useful feedback on your writing project, thus helping the creative process along.

One thing that will help you with your stories as far as EVE Online is that our game is not restricted to what CCP provides for us.  Most of the in game history is created by the day to day events in game.  Such an open ended experience allows you a lot of room for your stories.  You can always write about some people taking a transport ship on one of those NPC hauler convoys that travel between stations in empire.  You can write a story about some maintenance technician who works on a stargate and how he hates those bubbles from Heavy Interdictors camping the gate in nullsec as they obscure the view of a nearby moon.  The possibilities may not seem endless with a world that has already been created but the “reality” is that most of the stories in EVE Online have yet to be written.

Be creative, test the waters and create!

Tags: Casiella Truza, EVE Fiction, EVElopedia, Prime Fiction, Response to other blog, The Bleeding Rose

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Casiella Truza over at Ecliptic Rift wrote a great post on how to publicize your blog (http://rift.chromebits.net/2009/12/29/8-ways-to-publicize-your-eve-online-blog).  I started to write a comment and it turned into something rather lengthy.  So, rather than clutter up his blog with a TL;DR comment, I decided to write a post.

That brings me to one of his points be discusses, point number 8, comment on other people’s blogs.  This is a great way to hold a discussion or in my case here, create inspiration for a blog post.

Some more tips to consider in no specific order:

• I have to point out Mynxee’s comment, then point to it again and again and again…It takes time to grow a following.  Well written posts on a fairly consistent schedule will keep readers coming back.  Many bloggers start out trying to write a post every day.  Protip, don’t.  Write at least two posts a week max when starting out.  Don’t overdo it, you will burn out.
• Write posts in advance.  I take time every Sunday to sit down and read.  I read the EVE forums, I read blog posts from other bloggers that I have starred in Google Reader and I decide what I am going to write.  I write out a few different draft posts and touch them up over the following week.
• Mur Lafferty has a wonderful writing podcast, I Should Be Writing.  She has a great quote and I can’t remember it verbatim, but this is the sentiment, “It’s okay to suck.  Write and suck at writing.  The only way you will get better is to write, suck at it and write some more.”  Write that piece of fan fiction and let it bomb horribly.  Need some examples of bad fan fiction, read my stories.  They totally suck when compared to many of our talented fiction writers like Roc and Shae Tiann.  It’s okay that my fiction sucks, it will get better in time and more importantly, I enjoy writing the stories.
• Don’t topic spam.  This is a very hard one to do.  With 500 blogs listed in our OPML file, the potential for posts that are on the same topic is very high.  There is nothing wrong with people talking about the same topic, say an upcoming expansion, but when there are several posts with identical content, the general reader base may tend to skip over your post.  Sometimes it’s better to keep that post as a draft and use it later, perhaps revise it with a different perspective after a day or two.
• In reference to point number 7, I found it useful state at the top of my bio about having auto-reject turned on and to in game mail me so that I don’t encounter an ill timed chat request.  I also turned off my in game email charge so that people can contact me without having to pay isk.  When someone does contact you in game, do try to respond to them.
• Tags.  Use tags for your posts and try to use similar tags for similar topics.  Search engines love organization and if you are consistently using tags and categories in your blog, you will increase traffic to older posts.  Just because a post is not on the first page does not mean that someone will not read it.  Remember, people add blogs to their RSS readers all the time.  Your first post from 2 years ago may be brand new to people today.
• Spell check.  Do it, your readers will thank you.
• Read your post aloud before you publish it.  Things you write always seem to look fine when you read them in your mind, hearing the words in your ears helps to smooth out language.  Again, your readers will thank you.
• Revisit old posts and write new ones.  It’s funny, your perspective on something in game can change over time.  You may have really hated warp bubbles in nullsec when you were trying to take a shortcut a year ago but you may really love them now as you may be a HIC pilot.  Write a new post about how your perspective has changed and why.
• Publish your blog to the Kindle.  I know, it sounds silly.  Why subscribe to a blog on a Kindle when you can read it in a RSS reader or web browser.  Well, some people like to subscribe to blogs and read them while traveling and while they are NOT connected to the online world.  It’s another way to expand your reader base and best of all, it’s free!
• That’s all I can think of for right now.  If you have some tips or tricks on blogging, do contribute to the discussion over on Casiella’s blog!

Tags: Blogging, Casiella Truza, Discussion, EVE Blogging, Kindle, Mynxee, opml, publicize, Response to other blog

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This happens to me every now and again.  I begin to comment on a fellow blogger’s post, then comment on a comment and suddenly I have well over a page and a slew of ideas to talk about.  Rather than make a huge comment storm on someone’s blog,  I end up writing a post on my own.

Godlesswanderer over at Articulated Sky engaged in a little research project on pirates and ransoming in his wonderful blog post, Do You Honor Ransoms (http://articulatedsky.com/2009/02/26/forum-poll-do-you-honour-ransoms)?  I suggest that you read his post and the comments that are already there as well as really look at the research he conducted.

Click here to read more.. »

Tags: Discussion, Ransoms, Response to other blog

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Bad Bunny over at EVE Mag spent some time with the Neo Spartans, learning about our fine group and what it is we do.   He has a multiple part series that he ended up writing about us, the first article is up for your reading pleasure.

http://www.eve-mag.com/wordpress/archives/a-pirates-life-for-me-part-1

Tags: Neo Spartans, Response to other blog

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