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Before I start, I’m sure most of you have noticed the extra column on the right side. I’m drawing up a few new additions for this site, such as a badly needed gallery, perhaps a flash portal and some other cool things I always wanted to have on my own website. I’ve been setting up sites as long as I can remember. My biggest problem was maintenance. I never had the discipline nor the committment to actually keep a site running constantly. Because of not having updated a site for a long time, I became discouraged and stopped updating anyway, and it just kept falling in on itself until I eventually abandoned the site. Eventually the site would be taken down, and all traces of it vanish into the mists of history.
OK. So why the hell am I talking about all this now after I’ve successfully kept a site running for 2 years straight? Well, lately I’ve met some people who were pretty discouraged about their blogs and how they think no one reads them. Let me tell you guys that I felt pretty much the same way the entire first year I was running this blog, and I have the statistics and the post to prove it. Sometimes I just sit there and wonder if what I write would even be read by anyone, and after putting in some effort and coming up with a stupid crappy post, I decide to just scrap it and leave it as a draft so I can come back and try writing again. No post for that day. (Actually I have QUITE A FEW drafts that I haven’t touched, and are so outdated that I just couldn’t be bothered anymore.) I’ve had my bad times too. However, most new upstart blogs I’ve visited always have something new and interesting to share. Occasionally you even get a flash of inspiration from some of them. Besides, where’s the fun of the internet when theres no neverending stream of content?
Most consistent bloggers around that I know of always tell us that blogging is something natural that they come home and do every day for the lulz of it. Some say that when they sit down and write, it naturally comes to them and the words “flow” out as they type. It probably does, and these people are probably motivated to blog in their own way. But for me, the stuff that appears on blog don’t just happen. I actually have to sit down and spend time writing it and uploading it. Not that I do write much meaningful content… Some of the better upstart blogs that I’ve seen starting with me were the Haruhi Dance Revolution site. However, that one seemed to have just abruptly stopped for some reason. Another one down from a faint heart?
The point is that if you’re an upstart blogger, or just haven’t been blogging much or are feeling discouraged about the meagre traffic your site is getting, or the countable number of comments visitors are writing, its always fun to have a place to tell everyone about your interests and what you felt like ranting about. Readership doesn’t come all of a sudden too, unless you’re already world-famous and all the people you know love anime. You can’t expect people to come back all the time if there isn’t any new content, or anything new and interesting to read. If you really want a blog that lots and lots of people will read, discuss and comment on, you really need to keep jabbing, keep shipping and keep firing.
Some bloggers also end up giving up for a while, and then come back a few months later posting again, with I’m not dead posts. Some even post stuff like “life’s become too busy and I can’t post anymore” or “Goodbye guys, anime really isn’t my thing anymore, time to grow up”. I can assure you this is so abundant its not funny. Well to tell the truth no one really cares if you were dead or not, or if you just decided to stop blogging because you lost your virginity to a goat. The only sites people actually go back to visit for more content are actually the ones which consistently give out new content (or porn) all the time. I’m not dead/I’m dying posts just waste peoples’ time and processor cycles which are better off calculating the protein folds of for finding a cure for cancer.
Instead, try posting every once in a while. Every day if you can help it. One way to be able to generate a post every day is to theme your site around something you really enjoy. That’s what most anime blogs are anyway. We blog about anime because we really enjoy it, and we really want to share with others the satisfaction of being able to watch something something so awesome every once in a while. Be it figures, anime, manga, trolling, writing about other anime bloggers, or just plain showing off your artwork, there should be a really good reason to blog. Once you’ve found it, you should be happily blogging away every day and starting to produce some high quality posts.
And once you’ve had some success at blogging everyday, and actually find people coming back to your site and commenting on your older posts, you will feel ever more encouraged to look for more things to blog about, and hence more stuff to talk about every day. Then you’ll probably find your favorite topics and really start specializing on blogging on stuff you’re really good with.
So, now that you’re all motivated, how many of you are getting pumped up again and want to write the longest blog post you have ever written?
March 4th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Hey I don’t have the autowriting abilities you spoke of her. I used to be superhuman mutant blogger a few years back, but now I’m mortal just like everyone.
March 5th, 2009 at 3:53 am
Hmm… Guess I didn’t have the autowritting abilities too. But think writting about your life once in a while shall help. If you write too long about anime’s stuff, you really might get tired sometimes.
How about writting about the games you are playing? Be it porno or GxxDxM. Or going to those events for Animes lover sometimes and snap some photos?
Ps: I finally noticed that your header is about Aria^.^
March 5th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
So true. I’ve had those times where I got bored again and kept writing posts with “I’ll write more soon…” only to end up procrastinating. Yoshi, once spring anime comes, time to raep the blog with millions of anime posts!
P.S. Out of curiousity? Where do you get all your pics from?
March 5th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Also like to leave a word to those new bloggers: Never stop trying.
I was always fussing about who’d read my posts or how many comments there were, and stuff like that, but it all runs down to how much you enjoy it. If you truly love blogging, you’d have enough motivation alone to continue.
The best way to expand your network is by socalizing with others. Before, I used to be a leecher, sadly, but now I’ve been opening up (I recommend Twitter to really connect to others) and as a bonus, more people are coming to read and comment. Once others get to know you better, you’ll have better results guaranteed.
Moral? It’s not based on what you know or how much you know, but who you know.
March 5th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
I think if a blogger isn’t a hikkikomori through and through, I’d recommend starting a team blog (even 2 people is fine) that’s what we did. Hell, even if you are a hikkokomori, find an online partner. It’s much more motivating and interesting when you do in a group.
March 5th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Ray and Kevin have good points about the social side of blogging. Blogging isn’t a one way communications device where you speak and others listen. Its just another way of reaching out to people. Both being motivated to blog and getting readers are both tied to being able to reach out and communicate with people. Talking with others also gives you more ideas of what to do write on your blog too, and the many ways you can do that involve having a partner or twittering. I must say that twittering in particular has helped quite a bit in motivating me.
March 12th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Wait how is it that our blog is “trolling” while Rainbowsphere’s is artwork? Wtf?? LOL that’s a first for me!
March 31st, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Ray’s advice is excellent. Of course, I’m biased. ~_^
Overall, I’m reminded of what Warren Ellis had to say about writing: “Writer’s block? I’ve heard of this. This is when a writer cannot write, yes? Then that person isn’t a writer anymore.”
I find that in those moments of difficulty a person realizes the extent of his or her own determination to write. Blogging is being part of a community, and posts are the currency with which one pays for membership in that community.
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:32 am
This advice is really going to help, thanks.
May 1st, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Ara… so Hinano’s saying that I’m more troll material than her, or is she denying the fact that she may have been a troll herself?
But screw that. Just be careful of what you’re trying to do, astro. You might end up like my case: So many things that you want to do, but with so little time, you wouldn’t even know where to begin what on when and how to do it.