Tyler DeWriter

Hi, it’s me, Tyler D. You might’ve noticed that I’ve been mostly silent these past two months. I’m sorry, but the thing is… I kinda hit a wall.

I lost my way, my reason for writing, and I’d been struggling to find the motivation to write something, anything… so I felt I had to stop for a while. Just full stop, hands off the pen, reconsider my life choices and all that jazz. Truth be told, even writing this post was difficult… but I don’t want to give up. Not again.

I’ve had some time to collect myself… and I’ve noticed a few things. First, without realizing it, I fell back into the exact same pattern that led to the last hiatus: over-diversification. I shouldn’t have tried to do something like a weekly reaction so soon, especially not with a series as complicated as Snowpiercer. I should’ve refined my review style first. Speaking of which…

My review system. It’s no longer holding up to my standards, so I reworked it. After looking at various other examples (special mention goes to Animated Observations for the concept of a stage-based system, in their case altitude), I’ve upgraded the old placeholder graphics and designed a better way to demonstrate my rating system.

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• Jack Scheibelein (Animated Observations)
  • College Time Again, Tik Tok, and the Animated Observations Rating System?!

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Also, I’ve added a new rating, in the second-to-last position, and changed the terminology to better fit the pillar metaphor. To better explain what each numeral represents, here’s a quick guide:

• (I) – Pristine Condition
  • A stage I pillar represents a work so good, it’s about as close to perfect as you’re gonna get. It may still have defects, sure, but you won’t really notice these flaws unless you’re actively hunting for them.
  • Equal to 5/5
• (II) – Wear and Tear
  • A stage II pillar represents a work that’s good, but could be better. A few cracks here, a few holes to patch there, but it’s still structurally sound.
  • Equal to 4/5
• (III) – In Need of Repair
  • A stage III pillar represents a work with a structural flaw. It’s not necessarily bad. I might still enjoy it, but the flaws at this point are impossible to ignore.
  • Equal to 3/5
• (IV) – Verge of Collapse
  • A stage IV pillar represents a work with a fundamental flaw. It still has some redeeming qualities to prop it up, but it’s so unstable that removing a single one of them (say, a fan-favorite character dies or something) could make the whole thing collapse.
  • Equal to 2/5
• (V) – Left in Ruins
  • A stage V pillar represents a work that’s damaged beyond the point of repair. Sure, you can still learn from it, but the time and energy you’d need to fix it wouldn’t be worth it. Might as well just make a new work entirely.
  • Equal to 1/5

Quick example: Space Jam. I enjoy the movie, so that automatically rules out IV and V. However, the animation didn’t age particularly well, and there are several more minor flaws aside from that, so it’ll get a III from me.

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• Tyler DeWriter
  • Film Review – Space Jam

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Some of my ratings will be changing in accordance to the new system, which I’ll list at the end, for anyone who happens to be interested. Everything should be up-to-date by tomorrow evening. Also, if you’ve been around for a while, you’ll have noticed I switched to a different site theme. I just wanted something a bit more dynamic, that’s all.

One last thing before I wrap things up: My future plans. What am I doing, going forward? Well… once I’m done with my closing piece on Snowpiercer, I’m going to be scaling back for a while. No big projects, no multi-part articles, no experimenting. For the time being, I’m only going to upload two types of content: reviews, and poetry (over on my sister site, Typing DeWords).

I can’t really promise anything else at the moment, as much as it pains me to say it. I don’t like to impose limits on myself like this, but I really don’t want to self-destruct a third time if I can help it, so I kinda have to do this… at least until I know what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.

Thanks again for sticking around, and… wait, today is Easter Sunday, isn’t it? Well, if you celebrate it, Happy Easter to you and your family, and I hope you have a good rest-of-the-day!

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Rating Changes

• (I) – Pristine Condition
  • Minecraft
  • There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
  • The Secret World of Arrietty
• (II) – Wear and Tear
  • Taz: Wanted
  • Wario World
  • Puzzler World
  • Shepherd’s Crossing 2
  • The Grinch (2018)
  • Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina
  • Squid Game
• (III) – In Need of Repair
  • Snowpiercer (Seasons 1 & 2)
  • The Adventures of Milo and Otis
  • Space Jam
  • Space Jam: A New Legacy
• (IV) – Verge of Collapse
  • Snowpiercer (Season 3)
  • Ghost Rider (2007)
• (V) – Left in Ruins
  • Incoming (2018)

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