Inside Baseball: Process Flow and How I Write Posts
Sharing my approach to writing the Hawaii PQ post from start to finish.
Preface: I was inspired to write this after doing the writeup of the recent Hawaii PQ post.
This post will be showcasing my process flow writing that post and how I write some other post types.
Table of Contents
Process Flow
Matchup Notes and Event Comments
My matchup notes are written, as well as some event comments, on the default Google Keep app.
As you can see, in the majority of my notes, especially the matchup notes, the writing style is basically kept as-is for the published article. These notes are written once and I don’t fix anything until I get to my computer and edit within the Substack text editor. I used to write my posts on Google Drive Docs, and then after getting it reviewed, I’d copy/paste and format it on Substack, but I decided to cut out that middle step.
Alyssa would send over her matchup notes to me. She didn’t write her Hawaii PQ notes until after we got back to home. But she sometimes would write her notes during the event itself. Her notes tend to be closer to the published version than my notes.
Format and Edit on Computer
When I get to my computer, I duplicate a prior event post to use as a template and fix up the parts of my notes that aren't complete/have typos, because when I'm writing these notes during the event, I try to just get the main points down first and flesh it out later.
I'm aware I'm a bit inconsistent in my matchup comments as some would be structured as “ResN turn”, while others are a bit more loosey-goosy, summarizing via Game1 and Game2 blocks. I don't think it's an actual issue, as it kind of depends on how in-depth I remember the matches.
This is also where I think of other details I’d initially forgotten to write in my Google Keep app, such as the lack of Top Cut deck checks, and how they made everyone use Cascade’s Deck Forms. I check with Alyssa (and others, if needed) to make sure what I’m writing about the event details are accurate.
The Importance of Images
I think images are quite important, as it gives the reader a visual on the play environment. (IYKYK: that’s partly why I was frequently posting pics when covering the Hawaii PQ’s Finals game to serve as a visual update to their board state in addition to my play-by-play narration). Because I’m also treating this Substack as a pseudo-personal blog, I’m a bit biased toward taking pics of either of us playing.
Having pictures is also good for thumbnail options. I always try to snap a few pics of our prizing (if we get prizing lol), sometimes the venue, and Alyssa playing, just so I have something I can use as a thumbnail picture. It also helps tremendously when someone else takes pics, e.g. Set2 Vegas PQ's dedicated photographer, that I can use if needed. In all cases, Set2 Vegas PQ and the pics someone else has taken at Set3 Pasadena PQ and Set3 Chula Vista PQ, have been used extensively for their respective articles. For weekly events where I generally don't take pics, I use the default placeholder Fi thumbnail that I've used a couple of times now.
Alyssa, the Copy Editor!
After spending ~3.5hrs on the Hawaii PQ post until I deem it to be as complete as it can be from me, I ask Alyssa to review it. (Weekly posts generally take ~1hr to write). She serves as a copy editor as she checks for any grammar issues (sometimes a lot), if any of my language is too aggro (specifically when I’m making not-so-positive comments about an event), and if my matchup notes make sense to her (as someone who may be unfamiliar with some of the cards).
That's why I tend to always write out the full name of cards, such as Now There Are Two Of Them, and bold them, just in case any reader doesn't know what NTATOT is referring to. There are also some common abbreviations that may not be very family-friendly, e.g. the abbreviation for Perilous Position. I know I can spell it out the first time and use the abbreviation for all future uses within the article, but I prefer to be consistent just in case, because what if the reader skips around? Anyways, I hate ambiguity and I don't think it hurts to spell it out every time. The only abbreviation I’m aware of that I've consistently abbreviated, is Energy Conversion Lab. I also don’t bold leader names and base names; I’ve considered doing so, but I decided to restrict the text bolding to main deck cards.
Publishing it and Sharing the Post
After making any changes suggested by Alyssa, I publish it to my Substack. Then I almost only share my articles within the `content-creator-promotion` channel of the SoCal SWU Discord, because who cares about my posts outside of my locals? I only share to the SWU Community Discord articles that have a broader appeal, eg: any noteworthy PQ results, such as our Set2 PQ results, deck tech, and the recent Carbonite Booster Booster Breakdown post. I don’t want to spam my links.
And that’s basically how I write a Substack post covering an event from start to finish!
Other Post Types
Weekly Recap Posts
I sometimes don’t have enough time between rounds to write my notes (e.g. the matches go long, or I spend the time in between rounds socializing or spectating others), so I have to do them after the weekly event itself. This sometimes leads me to forgetting exactly what had happened in some matchups.
In bigger events, I tend to socialize less and focus more on my own well-being. It also helps that bigger events (e.g. PQs) have lunch breaks, which gives me time to catch up on these matchup notes.
Deck Tech Post
I’ve only done one deck tech post and it did surprisingly well for such a meh leader/deck lol. I did try to put a decent amount of effort into it (play testing it irl vs Alyssa) to make sure that this post has some semblance of value to the reader.
Reactionary FFG Post
I’ve only done one post as a reactionary to an FFG announcement. This is because I noticed how much less detailed their Prestige breakdown article is vs their much better regular pack breakdown article. Their Carbonite livestream also contained information that was inconsistent with their article. The video format is not great for this type of breakdown information.
On that note, it was also my first time I posted to Reddit - this Carbonite post. It got a really high view count at 11k (!), but super low conversion rate for people to click to visit the post on my website despite me linking it at the very beginning of the Reddit post itself (Substack post currently at 131 views). I'm aware that it doesn't help when I literally copy/paste the entire Substack post's content onto the Reddit post itself, giving the user little to no reason to read the same content on my website, but I hate clickbaity posts so I’m not going to only post partial text content when I could’ve just easily posted the entire text just to drive conversions. That’s my line in the sand.
I’ve considered making a post summarizing the Sector/Regional/Galactic Qualifier info after the Feb 5th FFG Livestream - Organized Play Updates, but I think their news articles and the ticket buying websites have sufficient info, so I passed on it.
Events’ Leaders/Bases % Chart Posts
I have code setup where I just need to run about two files to generate these charts from Limitless TCG’s website. They’re all written in Python 3, and the charts are generated via matplotlib. The only limitation is that in order to get the data, the event must be marked as “completed,” so when event organizers forget to do that (e.g. Pastime Comics and Games and Gnome Games), I had to contact them via Discord/Facebook to ask them to mark them as complete. There are also not that many large SWU events being run via Limitless TCG.
I’m excited to see deck lists being incorporated with Melee.gg in Q1 2025.
Set Prediction Post
I’ve only done one post where I did a prediction on a set’s competitiveness. I’d like to think I’m pretty good at analyzing a card’s competitive playability. I’m planning on continuing this.
