Hey guys, and welcome to another blog.


You’re probably here because you saw the title and my expertly crafted cover image and wondered what in the world I am talking about.


Well, today I have an interesting take on a collection of topics that a lot of people on PMC could possibly keep in mind, but before I begin I’m going to have to ask you guys to do a little homework. Please follow the link… and play this game. (Estimated time: 3-5 minutes)


http://wonderfl.net/c/tNGi/fullscreen


*Please do, it actually does have a point*


Hopefully you played that short little game through to the end. That right there was a variant of Pong, and it is an accurate depiction of PMC. The block at the top is what PMC can give you, the particles being reflected are your contributions to PMC. The movable player block at the bottom is you as a level one. Just a regular person wanting to make something of life on PMC. Let’s begin.


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You’ve just completed your very first submission, it’s bright and strong and will certainly shake things up. Lots of people will want to look at the submission and you’ll end up with a lot of publicity. You post it, it goes out and… one person checks it out.


Most all of us have been in that situation before, that feeling of disappointment when our submission fails to make much of an impact and fades into obscurity a lot faster than we’d care to admit. Absolutely nothing has come from all the effort that you put in. That first hurdle is what does for some people, they simply huff and walk away to do something else. But something has come from you posting that submission…


It is a common misconception that ‘getting something from a submission’ means diamonds, favourites, and comments telling you how amazing you are. This isn’t the case. Even in the worst case scenario, one person looks at what you produced. That one person is then aware of your existence and if they see you coming back again may be slightly more inclined to look at your stuff. Granted that’s looking perhaps too much on the bright side, but hey it’s better than nothing.


But how does this link to the game I just had you play (if anyone didn’t play it then you’d better come clean now or you’ll only make it worse for yourself)? Well, it goes something like this.


That little particle you were playing with, as I mentioned earlier that is your contribution to PMC. And when it starts off, be it moving quickly or slowly, what comes from it? One other particle. One tiny little blip on your monitor that is completely dwarfed by the massive block it came from. This is what PMC gave back to you, a single view, comment, perhaps a diamond but nothing more.


But this isn’t Pong you’re playing, this is a variant of Pong in which you can actually use that little, insignificant particle given back to you and you can choose how to use it. This game relies heavily on the use of more than one particle, so does PMC. You bounce back that particle and gain another. And so on. Some you will miss, some you will send back and gain more.


What are those incoming ‘particles’ that you are sending back? They’re criticism, improvements, counter-comments. It is how you react to these things that lead to success. Keep sending things out, be it submissions, forum posts, or even just comments; you will only lose if you stop and dwell on what PMC isn’t giving you rather than what it is.


Let’s return to the game for a moment and look at what happens from the larger perspective. Your submission goes out and receives maybe ten views and one comment. Those views and in particular that comment can then be bounced back, maybe in the form of another submission and what happens? You gain ten views and one comment. Perseverance, it’s all about perseverance. Provided you’re making good submissions and not giving up at the first, second, or even third hurdles, you will eventually experience that moment you did in the game when everything snowballs.


Okay, for all those who didn’t do the homework here is the test. After a while did you notice that one of the particles you sent returned more than one? That’s your submission making a splash, now you have more to work with when sending back. Then what happens? You have a greater chance of making another splash which then progressively increases by magnitude. And then? Then everything flies at you at once and you see what that original little particle did: it set off a huge chain reaction.


Keep persevering with your submissions and forums posts. It may seem like nothing is happening but something is. A single view reflects back, then reflects again thus reflecting another. What can you do? Provide something to reflect off.


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This is a fairly long blog, it’s been a while since I’ve written like this. So I suppose a TL;DR is in order.


It might seem as if nothing is happening, as if no-one will ever notice what you are doing. But something is, it is simply a matter of using what you are given and eventually you will be given more. So keep building, drawing, skinning, coding, and writing. Eventually you will receive your just desserts.


Thank you for reading. Agree or disagree, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.


- Torm