Becoming an Anime Blogger
I’ll be completely honest, this post idea was directly inspired by Irina’s on the same topic a few days ago, but as she said, it’s not exactly a unique thing to talk about this type of stuff in the first place, so I’m sure it’s ok. Plus, I do like to talk about these blogging-type topics every now and then because it’s still heavily related to what I do here.
My blogging experience has been pretty damn positive overall, but I can still probably think of a few bad things about it, which I’ll talk about later. I like doing these two-part posts, similar to where I talked about my favorite and least favorite things about anime, so expect a follow-up to this talking about the negatives soon. For now, though, let’s talk about the good stuff, and there’s a lot of it.
The Reward
By far, the biggest thing I’ve enjoyed about having this crazy anime blog is the sense of happiness and fulfillment it has brought to my life. The feeling of working hard, thinking of ideas, executing those ideas, and seeing people actually like it is amazing. This blog has been the ultimate creative freedom in my life, and I look forward to new things to talk about and do every day.
Granted, for some, this will be a little different. Some blogs will have to worry about what people like rather than what they want to make, and some may have multiple people who have to keep a consistent schedule and stuff like that. But for me, I post what I want, when I want, in whatever way I want. That makes it probably not as successful as it could be, but it does make things funner and very freeing for me. It’s great.
That and I just love the process of building something from the ground up. It’s a great feeling to see something grow and grow more than you could possibly imagine. I’m already doing better than I thought, and a lot of things have changed and improved in ways that I never expected, even if views have stalled for a bit now. I’m getting art made for the site. I’m improving the look of things more. A bunch of stuff is happening. It’s just really cool to see and is one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had that I’d recommend people try and see how it works for them. Take it from me. I never thought I’d love doing this.
The Motivation
Having this blog has motivated me to do a lot of things I would never have done otherwise. It’s made me learn some coding, graphic design, commission artists, and do collabs I would have never done. It’s forced me to learn a lot of things that have ultimately made me a much better, more knowledgeable person as a whole, and when I have this website to always think about, it makes learning and applying these things actually fun and practical for me.
On a slightly different note, having the site and needing to think of and write content for it has kept me motivated to learn more about anime and other similar mediums, like manga and light novels. I experience more of the culture than ever, and that can be reflected in my completed anime on MAL or AniList. It’s basically doubled since I started the blog. I watch way more than ever, and even though that can occasionally feel like a chore, it means I have a more valid reason to spend time doing something I love.
And on a deeper note, it just motivates me to be a better person. It makes me want and desire to learn more and become a better writer. I want to learn how to do things I’m not good at and improve even more on the things I am. I really want to become better in all aspects of my life, in part, because of this simple blog. It’s crazy how much something like this has changed my mental state, really.
The Community
By far, I think the biggest thing I’ve enjoyed since I started is the sense of community I’ve gotten. I don’t have a whole lot of fans, but the ones I do have are important and are more like my friends than anything else, really. I’m lucky enough to know a lot of people in the anime blogging community, and I want to do my best to become better friends with them in the future, so if you ever want me for a collab, don’t hesitate to ask on Twitter! It makes me really happy, and I’m far less standoffish than I seem.
Because of the blog, I’ve managed to meet even more kind people outside of the blogging community, which is something I really, really didn’t expect. I became friends with people in the art community, Vtubers, and PNGtubers even, and I’m actually planning on becoming one myself because I stream every few days on Twitch for those of you that didn’t know. It’s a crazy experience that I really never thought this stupid little website would even lead me to, but I’m grateful that it did. I’m really happy, more than I’ve ever been now, honestly.
My first few months of blogging were pretty lonely. Nobody interacted with my stuff, and it was kind of upsetting. But ever since my first follower, I’ve never felt alone at all, and with all the great people I have around me because of the website, even my livestreaming journey on Twitch has been all but lonely. Because of this blog, my whole life has changed for the better, and that’s only because of the people I’ve managed to meet through it, so I’ll always be grateful for that if nothing else.
That’s All, Folks
There are other reasons why starting any blog is good, obviously, but I figured I’d just share some of the big ones so this doesn’t run on too long. This has been one of the most unexpectedly good decisions I’ve ever made in my life, and I feel like I don’t deserve to be as happy as I am sometimes. It’s fine, though. It just means I need to work harder to improve and meet everyone’s expectations.
All and all, this is one of the most meaningful things I’ve ever done in my life, and it was entirely unexpected to me. I had no clue what would happen from my little tantrum that created this website, but I couldn’t be happier. I really, truly mean that, so thank you. I’d recommend anyone give this passion project thing a try at least once.
Thank you very much for reading
Next time, we talk about the bad. There’s some.
I definitely agree with a lot of these sentiments. I will admit to not always being the most consistent in putting the proper energy into my work, but it does keep me creatively active and thinking critically about the media I consume. Having a sense of community has also been a lot of fun, and interacting with new people is always a blast. Awesome post!
Thank you so much! I agree to not always putting as much effort into certain parts as others, but for the most part it has kept me consistently motivated for almost two years straight every day!
Agreed. Its a great venture to have and I am happy I have stuck with it this whole time. Hopefully we can motivate each other as well!
A creative venture being a foundation for improving oneself that also leads to social benefits is exactly it. One thing though is that Discord solves a lot of community needs for me, but other places have potential as well.
There are definitely a lot of ways to connect to people because of the internet now, but this was an unlikely place to do that for me.
Well, I’m glad you don’t feel alone Jacob. Yeah, it can be really rough for new bloggers, most quit blogging within a year simply because they don’t get the traffic, engagement etc. To keep going and eventually finding a home, it has a nice feeling. Keep on trucking!!
If things went as they did the first three months, I don’t know if I’d still be doing it, but I’ve just had too many good things happen to want to stop. A lot of it isn’t even because of the blog, but things that happened in my life because of it in some way. It became more than just a website to me, so I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.
I obviously agree with pretty much everything here. And you put it beautifully!
Thank you so much! That’s means a lot coming from who inspired this!
I think, for me, is that one of the perks of having an anime blog, is for me to continuously improve my English when it comes to writing like essays, editorials, opinions, narratives, and many more. It is a never ending struggle and having a blog like this prevents me from being rusty.