The difficulty of coming up with new ideas to write about when you are bad at graphics, so you can't create the same graphic week after week

[jRuutu 2,475]

We have all been there: you realize that the next hour or so is free, so you log in to VHL in the hopes of doing a few point tasks. But when you get the WordPad open the empty page hits you - what are you going to write about? Those who are skilled with Graphics have a lot easier time, they can more or less do the same type of work week after week, they do an "artwork" of some kind with a name and a hockey player on it. The biggest questions in the minds of the Graphic point taskers are: "Am I going to use a picture of a defender or a winger this week?", and: "Should I use light colors, maybe green, but then again I used green also last week, maybe I use blue mostly this week?"

 

For those who do the point tasks by writing have to create unique content week after week as the regular readers in VHL expect original content that also makes them feel one way or another. An article without an interesting or fun idea is all it takes for the whole article to be judged negatively, the different rhetorical devices used or the flow of the text mean very little as the whole package is judged. With Graphics the subtle nuances, such as using a different color or a different player are seen as enough to make the artwork unique and interesting.

 

The VHL Graphic enjoyer sees a Graphic and thinks: "It's shiny and it has a hockey player standing up, and there is a name, exactly like last week, but it is also a picture with a different player and name, so I like this". The VHL Media spot enjoyer reads a Media spot and thinks: "I have heard this idea before, I don't like this".

 

Graphics are like TikTok videos - best consumed in 7 seconds. Media spots are like books - everything needs to be just right or only a few are going to read it.

 

[Thunder 1,205]

Right there with you.  Gets old!!

[Frank 5,259]

2 hours ago, jRuutu said:

We have all been there: you realize that the next hour or so is free, so you log in to VHL in the hopes of doing a few point tasks. But when you get the WordPad open the empty page hits you - what are you going to write about? Those who are skilled with Graphics have a lot easier time, they can more or less do the same type of work week after week, they do an "artwork" of some kind with a name and a hockey player on it. The biggest questions in the minds of the Graphic point taskers are: "Am I going to use a picture of a defender or a winger this week?", and: "Should I use light colors, maybe green, but then again I used green also last week, maybe I use blue mostly this week?"

 

For those who do the point tasks by writing have to create unique content week after week as the regular readers in VHL expect original content that also makes them feel one way or another. An article without an interesting or fun idea is all it takes for the whole article to be judged negatively, the different rhetorical devices used or the flow of the text mean very little as the whole package is judged. With Graphics the subtle nuances, such as using a different color or a different player are seen as enough to make the artwork unique and interesting.

 

The VHL Graphic enjoyer sees a Graphic and thinks: "It's shiny and it has a hockey player standing up, and there is a name, exactly like last week, but it is also a picture with a different player and name, so I like this". The VHL Media spot enjoyer reads a Media spot and thinks: "I have heard this idea before, I don't like this".

 

Graphics are like TikTok videos - best consumed in 7 seconds. Media spots are like books - everything needs to be just right or only a few are going to read it.

 

 

When the VHL had grading it kept the quality of posts and graphic content to a standard, but activity was a much larger issue and eventually led to contraction of the league before the recruiting boom in the late 60s early 70s. People didn't want to spend a couple hours on a media spot or graphic just to be given a 5/6 for their efforts. 

 

This flows into the title's question. Without grading there's no standard so you can pretty much write whatever you want with a player name attached to it and you'll earn the 6 tpe. I've quite enjoyed random media spots that are barely league related but tell a story. Obviously this doesn't address the issue of your writers block though. 

[Gustav 6,469]

11 hours ago, jRuutu said:

Media spots are like books - everything needs to be just right or only a few are going to read it.

 

Alternatively you can make everything just right and no one will read it--the one article I'm most proud of and that required the most work led to maybe a couple informed instances of feedback as to its actual contents and a bunch of people who didn't read the article and took a somewhat related concept as an excuse to rage in the comments.

 

I've been having trouble coming up with good ideas for a long time now and I refuse to go down to the level of just listing my own player's stats every week and filling up the word count. But I guess there's that price to pay if you want to make good content. It takes work and feels good when it's out.

[Triller 1,688]

Writing is no different then graphics.  There are ways to cut corners that are accepted and both writers and artists use them.  Rehash old ideas and change them slightly to get the TPE you need.  If you come up with something unique you still have to shop it around to get some eyes on it and even then it dies in the archives.

 

If you put in the extra effort to create something unique, it is because you enjoy doing it.  If you find something that someone has put the extra time in to then make sure you let them know their effort was appreciated, especially if you expect the same.

[Beketov 9,102]

Counter Point: Writers can just make 1 thing that’s longer and claim it for a month; GFX can’t do that. So realistically you need fewer ideas on the whole anyway.

[Thunder 1,205]

4 hours ago, Beketov said:

Counter Point: Writers can just make 1 thing that’s longer and claim it for a month; GFX can’t do that. So realistically you need fewer ideas on the whole anyway.

The voice of reason.  Ugh!!

[Triller 1,688]

4 hours ago, Beketov said:

Counter Point: Writers can just make 1 thing that’s longer and claim it for a month; GFX can’t do that. So realistically you need fewer ideas on the whole anyway.

I kinda did that with a graphic... but it was many graphics rolled into one big project lol