It’s update time here at Plot and Theme, and I plan to run through a whole heap of news and plans going forward. Those of you who read the blog regularly have certainly noticed the reduction of posts over the past few months, as well as a few things that I am behind on delivering. There’s reasons for each of those things, and hopefully by the end of this piece it will be much more clear how I am going to maintain an update Plot and Theme as it approaches its third birthday.
First off – I don’t believe that a monthly “State of the Blog” post like this one is either necessary or useful. It’s great to look back on the month that was and get excited about the movies and posts that are on the way. My recent issue has been with the frequency of these posts, and how they can kind of bleed together since each post isn’t really too difference. Hence, I’ve decided to re-organize the State of the Blog posts to cover one quarter of each year:
Q1: End of March
Q2: End of June
Q3: End of September
Q4: End of Year
This schedule has a hidden benefit: the ability to discuss the seasons of film releases, usually organized around a specific event. The end of March allows us to review the awards season and look forward to the start of Blockbusters. The end of June is a perfect halfway point, plus right in the middle of the summer. The end of September allows us to look forward to Christmas season and the more awards-focused releases. And, obviously, the end of year lets us look back at how that final quarter went and what to look forward to. This post can be considered the Q4 post for 2017!
I’ll likely still post single pieces on big news events – Oscars, Best of Lists, etc, but for the most part these four posts will cover announcements related to the blog.
As for the kinds of posts you can expect, nothing will really change there. I am still going to review new films, drop some old movie reviews, and write lengthier essays. Occasionally, I’ll review trailers (but I am souring on this – there’s rarely much of importance to say).
As for the other social media sites and such things connected to Plot and Theme, I have decided that I need to focus on a few specific sites. Once I am working on Twitter, Facebook, Patreon, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, etc., it stretches my attention too thin, and the promotion of the blog suffers.
As such, I have decided to focus on Twitter and Facebook, with occasional posts to Reddit. I will be suspending my Patreon site, and encourage all of my current patrons to withdraw their support before the end of the month.
In the coming days, look for my Top 10 Films of 2017, as I am looking check out a few flicks this week to catch as many of the year-end releases as possible. My Stanley Kubrick pieces are developing, and the reason they are taking so long is that I have decided to polish them a little more in preparation for collecting them into a book for self-publication. I hope to have a first draft of this by mid-year, so watch this space for announcements related to this.
I am looking forward to getting back into the habit of writing, and of delivering some interesting and innovative pieces that will be informative and fun to read. Thanks for sticking with me all this time, and I hope to interact with you more over the coming year!