Here are some random thoughts when anime blogging comes to mind.
And don’t mind the pictures. They are merely there to ease the strain of your eyes.
Content
I have never really fancied anime blogs that focus mainly on episode summaries and reviews, mainly because there are too many out there. A handful of this genre of blogs would be more than sufficient, but every time I visit Anime Nano, at least half are based on that. There are simply too many of such blogs, which means that unless they are interestingly written, I would skip them.
Hence, I avoid writing about single anime episodes. If I had to comment on a series, I would do so by commenting on it’s characters, or the entire series generally. I did not want to be a typical animeblogger who is known only for episode summaries, and nothing more.
To me, unique content is what makes a blog an enjoyable read. With this frequent thought in mind, I often think of new content which might appeal to readers. Often, these new ideas strike me in unexpected places. Which explains all my weird posts.
Popularity
Which blogger does not want his blog’s popularity to rise among his target audience? I am certainly not an exception.
When I started off hosted on wordpress, popularity has never crossed my mind, as at that point, most of my posts had no comments, and my daily page views seemed to be capped at 2 digits. However, this all changed one I was listed on Anime Nano. My blog traffic seemed to have increased, and so did my confidence. At least I knew that I had a group of readers, despite it being small. It was something good to begin with.
I knew I could never reach even a mere fraction of popularity level of anime blogs such as Darkmirage or RIUVA. Blogs like Dannychoo.com were totally out of the picture. I knew my own limits. This blog would never be able to close the gap between the astounding difference in standard.
So, when I moved over to my own domain, I set my some realistic goals. One of them would be to at least reach a similar level of popularity of blogs such as Bj0rn and Moeside. I’m not really confident if I can reach my target, but I’ll try.
Blogging
Before I moved over and was still hosted on wordpress, I would blog once every 2-3 days. However, ever since I shifted, I decide to try blogging daily. Currently, I have managed keep the momentum going, and hopefully, not lose it. Of course, I would not sacrifice the quality of posts in order to post daily.
I realised is that other anime blogs often queue up prewritten posts, so as to facilitate daily posting. That is something which I have not been doing. Maybe I should try that too, but it’s rather hard to do so, considering I’m running a one man show.
Another thing which I have realised was how crappy my past entries were. While re-categorizing my older posts, I realised why I was not getting any hits. My entries were really boring. One more mistake which I used to commit was not leaving a space after each punctuation mark. That mistake often made reading my past entries a torture for the eyes. Of course, I had learned from this mistake, and would never commit it again.
On a side note, I found a way to get hits; Episode blogging. However, doing so would be going against my own principles of anime blogging, so I did not implement that blogging style. Instead I stick to a mix of static and dynamic content, something which I have been doing ever since I began this blog. It seems to be the style of blogging which I enjoy most.
Finally, my English was never good to begin with. Hence, my posts often lack a certain factor. Often, the standard of English used in fellow anime blogs puts mine to shame. Sigh.
Alright, I guess that’s all for now. Also, regarding the part on anime blogs specializing in episode summaries and reviews, I hope that no one will be offended. No malice was intended.
Isn’t blogging about expressing one person’s thoughts? If done with the intention to gather popularity/hits then it’s pretty superficial in a way.
Unless it’s an information sharing site, IMO, I don’t really see the need to have more than 1 author.
Writing for yourself or writing for others?
=]
Blogging has always been something I like to do, something that people can read, enjoy and share with others. You should try that. I’m starting to enjoy some of your posts but try not to overdo the “thought” posts. They are a turn-off at times. ^^;
Regarding pre-written posts, I did think of doing that in the past but I realized that it would have been kinda sucky after awhile - Having to plan too much ahead would have been a headache for me. Do blog at your own pace, for it isn’t a sprint, but instead, a race to run.
Popularity-wise, I won’t say my blog’s that popular, though there have been a nice number of readership and readers. They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside, and wanting to blog even more :p
You might also want to try signing up for aggregators over at animenano, otaku.fm etc.
Well then, that’s all for now. Better get back to my work ^^;
And oh! You should start an Rei anime blog!!1oneone ^o^
Shiawasekun > That’s why I run a one-man show. And I really get a kick out of writing about what I enjoy. Actually, to me, true popularity is being able to communicate with your readers.
Windbell > Hmm thought posts eh? I probably think too much lol. Yea, and blogging at your own pace is definitely am enjoyable thing.
And actually, I’ve ideas to start an Eva information site on the sidelines, but I’ve been too lazy to start lol.
Yes, like you, I’m not particularly fond of episode reviews, mainly because they review before I watch the episode, and I’m a big hater of spoilers. I prefer blogs such as yours, with thoughts and random stuff.
On a side note, I submitted my blog to animenano, but it has been like a month already. Currently I’m only at double digit daily pageviews. OTL
=/ Good luck.
There’s already tons of websites out there doing anime reviews and there’s not much point in creating another one right? Yes that’s right indeed. You’re already doing very good currently.
Good luck =)
§oL> My blog got approved after like… half a year? LOL
bj0rn, .:~ ┼ ĻũşŤřŏůŞ Ŗꥼm ┼ ~:.> Thanks =)
I don’t think you should blog about what you don’t want to. I mean, I tried episode blogging and gave up after the second attempt, and decided to go with other random anime-related stuff, occasionally blogging about a series as a whole. And I don’t mind it.
So, if you don’t wish to do episode blogging or whatever, don’t.
The point is, believe in what you’re writing, it’s better that way.
Sorry if I seem a bit strung-up, It’s been a hectic week.
Eh your grasp of the written language is good enough. Don’t let the popularity factor get into the way of the enjoyment of writing about your hobby. I suppose we’ll have the urge to ‘optimise’ the content to get more hits, but that will undermine your credibility when your words didn’t bring across your true opinion.
Zer0 > Thanks for the encouragement =)
just jia you! XD I blog episode reviews cuz it’s really fun. LOL.
other than that, U sometime see music reviews, or some random talks from me >.>