Pump a Fist for August 7: Kicking Off the Year 8 Months Later

I promised at the end of 2022 that you, my fantastic readers, would be heading into a year where there would be something new to read daily. It was a fantastic fantasy up there with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings but turned out to be closer to the Gods of Egypt and Morbius. My great superpower has not been writing fresh and unique articles for the site but rather panicking over landing new clients and allowing my self-worth to prance around in the fiery garbage heaps.

It is easy to rummage through the sack of excuses, but the truth is I allowed my obsession and anxiety over landing more clients to bulldoze over everything else in my life including crafting personal writing projects like this site. I need to have regular paying clients and publishers, because Beyond the Balcony and The Movie Breakdown don't make nearly enough money to be my career, and novels and books need to be published before they become an income stream (and are not guaranteed livable money either).  

But the kicker is that while I was drowning in my proposals, pitches, and applications for work then I wasn't spending any time on some of my biggest dreams of a profitable and popular entertainment site, podcast, and novel-writing career. I have many ambitious creative goals, but 2023 was devoted to cover letters and a variety of prose designed to sell myself. I didn't get any closer to the things I envisioned as my dream career.

The first half of 2023 can not be fixed by a DeLorean, but I'll also confess I could have handled it much differently and devoted some time to the work that I'm passionate about and delved into creations that would please my readers and maybe even gain me a few more.  I'd rather move away from assessing why the site has been a spooky ghost town, and instead focus on a 'dancing unicorn in a pool of sparkly Skittles' future. 

I wish I could declare today as the brand spanking fresh start to making this the site that I've aspired it to be ever since the relaunch in 2020, but I also need to face the current realities of client work and several delightful family commitments that will make it very hard to stick with a daily schedule for the rest of July.

Instead, I'll hype August 7th, as the glorious day that this humble pop culture site will strut out some fun content that my wonderful readers deserve. Pump up your first, make an 'August 7th' chant, mark it on your calendars, or just get an apple from the fridge, because that will be the site's latest and greatest fresh start.

What exactly am I promising once August 7th plops down on your lap?

An attempt but not a promise of daily articles. My site can't be my full-time job at this point. Some days there is going to be heaps of client work that needs to be my focus, and another thing even more important is devoting quality time to my family, so rather than burning myself out to stick to a 'post every day' vow I'll allow myself to take a pass. I'd rather focus on quality over quantity. 

I'll be more forgiving of myself. This isn't a physical thing you'll see on my site. But I'll often smash a metaphorical mallet on my mental health when I miss out on writing about a major movie news item or a piece that doesn't transform into the majestic beast that I hoped. Surprisingly, this saps me of energy, and I am burnt out on the site, and a miserable curmudgeon for my family. I'm not perfect, which means this site won't be perfect. But I'll strive to create the best quality articles, but also be forgiving on those rougher days. This will prolong the life of this site, and keep it flowing with new pieces.

Expand The Movie Breakdown. You won't see the fruits of these plans on August 7th, but that will be the start of when I commit to creating fresh and unique entertainment. Or at least, fresh and unique for the site. The Movie Breakdown will be back to rocking weekly review episodes, but I have some plans for supplemental and additional videos that will be connected with movie talk and reviews. I also have a few plans for expanding the reach of the podcast.

The return of movie reviews. I have drastically decreased the number of movies I've seen this year. The goal for August is to start catching up on some of the movies that I've missed and get back to reviewing some new releases. I will stick to the long-held promise of reviewing every MCU movie and theatrical Disney animated feature. I will likely hold off on Disney until October because Disney Plus is releasing several of their classic older theatrical shorts up until that month which I'd also like to review chronologically. 

The arrival of the long-heralded serialized fiction. It also won't likely arrive on August 7th, but as I refocus on what I want out of my writing career, it is really important that I put some energy into writing stories. I hope to start writing the story this month, so there will be a few segments ready to be posted by September. My fiction has always attracted a large audience compared to other things on this site, so this will also help with my goal of growing a loyal readership.

Stop worrying about if a post will draw huge numbers, and focus on just being entertaining. I have deleted way too many posts in the past because I convince myself no one will read them. I've stopped writing reviews and news analysis pieces. because they are no longer timely. This is stupid. I'm operating like a big corporate site when I'm a humble one-man operation that is not in the city that holds the ballpark near worrying about trying to attract a million readers for a breaking news article. If something is a few days late but I have an opinion roaring away in my head, then I should write it and focus on it being the best possible post that still offers value even if the news isn't fresh.

Have fun. I write because I love it. I forgot about that this year as I stressed over my working situation.  I want to do a lot of writing that brings me joy with the hope it does the same for others. You shouldn't be surprised if a few occasional random conversations between complete strangers pop on the site again. Hopefully, that excites you.

Does this mean the site is now going on permanent hiatus until August 7? Not sure. I plan to write a few evergreen pieces so they are ready to be posted when that date arrives, so the mountains of client work I'll likely have doesn't derail things immediately. But I'm also not going to steer away if there is something I want to write about or share. At this point, if I post anything before August 7, you can take it as a special treat, because I love you.