I recall, before the infamous hard fork, how Steemians made magic with words. In those days, there was a thriving literary community on the blockchain and some of us were quite prodigious in publishing literary content. I got so enthused by that community that, posting as @blockurator (an account I no longer manage due to losing my keys), I began posting literary games on the platform.
Most of those games were exquisite corpses, a parlor game where creators take turns writing sections of a story, one picking up where another leaves off. We had so much fun then!
As events would go, I lost my keys to my primary account around the same time as the hard fork that led to the launch of Hive. I was so angry with myself that I couldn't open a new account for a couple of years. I was more disappointed about losing access to my @splinterlands card collection than I was in losing SP or SBD (which isn't worth all that much these days). Then, one day, I decided to open a new Hive account and opted to do so under my real name. I have not been disappointed.
I love the blockchain. I love this platform. And I love interacting with the content creators here. I'm saddened that there seems to be fewer literary creators than there were before the hard fork. Many of those I engaged with then are no longer on the blockchain.
Nevertheless, the games we played before the hard fork were quite popular. Every week, I gave away SP or SBD to the winner of the game. And there were usually 10 to 12 creators playing in any given week. Sometimes, they were the same players. Other times, someone new would wander in. But the content was amazing.
Anyways, about three months ago, I thought I'd revive some of that magic and introduce a new spate of literary games. So far, the most entries I've received for any one game has been four, maybe five. Most weeks, there have only been three entries. This past week, there was only one.
People are busy. They have lives. I get that. I have no hard feelings about it. But I do wonder if I should continue with the literary games.
There are thriving writing communities here on the Hive blockchain that I have not contributed to since rejoining the blockchain. The reason I haven't contributed to them is because, like everyone else, I am busy. We all have so many hours a day and so many days a week for contributing to any community. That means we must allocate our time to those pursuits that offer us the best opportunities. I'm wondering if I should forego the literary games initiative at this time and contribute to some of these writing communities instead.
@freewritehouse and @theinkwell are both thriving communities with a lot of subscribers. If I put the time and energy into those communities that I'm currently putting into the literary games, I could build more relationships with other writers on the blockchain and expand the audience for the type of fiction I like to write. Then there's the Blockchain Poets community, moderated by @moeknows and @dbooster.
And, of course, I can't forget about @scholarandscribe, to which I do contribute from time to time.
These Hive writing communities are thriving, with many contributors creating regular content that is upvoted and supported by others in those communities. I'd certainly benefit from participating in them.
The question I have for you is, should I continue with the Hive Literary Games or shift my time and energy to contributing to some or all of the above writing communities? I typically use Wednesday mornings to create Hive-only content and cross-post my Substack content to the Hive blockchain a couple of other times during the week. The rest of my time is consumed with off-chain activities that include family commitments, running a business, and so on.
Given that my Hive blockchain time is limited, which way should I go? Leave your comments below and let me know if I should contribute to one or more already-existing Hive communities or continue with the literary games.
As for this week's literary games winner, the only entrant to Literary Game No. 10, please congratulate @beckyroyal. You can read her wonderful story "Will To Live" right here. Becky won 5 HBD for her entry.
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