Blogger Recognition Award Celebration (Redux)

That’s right, I’m back baby!
You know I had so much fun celebrating the Blogger Recognition Award a month ago, that it’s time to celebrate it again!

In fact, I never stopped!

It’s just been a never-ending binge of Cascada nightcore and sleepless nights for the past month.

And so, like that one guy that only ever talks about highschool and wishes he could relive those days, I’ve made the executive decision to relive the Blogger Recognition Award.

In reality, this is just one of those moments where I felt like writing something. And I conveniently have been tagged for this one three times since I last responded to it!

What can I say…

1. Say thanks for the nominations

So I’d first like to give a very special thanks to Yomu of the Umai Yomu Anime Blog, AK of Everything is bad for you, and Lynn of OtakuAuthor.
Thanks everyone for the nominations.

Especially you, Yomu. I didn’t expect you of all people to nominate me like this, considering the differences we’ve had in the past. Glad to see that in this age of internet judgement and petty arguments two people like us can settle their differences and come together. Let’s keep it civil from here on out.

2. Give the story or history of your blog

Well I’ve already given the history of my blog’s inception, and name, in my last award post. I’ve also mentioned a few times, including in my last post, how almost the first six months of my blog was stagnant with 0 views because I didn’t realize WordPress tags were a thing.

As a timeline, I guess this is how it’s gone:

I started the blog in June 2017, posted maybe once every other day until November 2017, and then stopped. I then wrote one “final” post in May 2018, this time with tags, and received my first comments / interaction. From there I continued on, using up several ideas I had at the time for posts before just reviewing anime series that I’d finished.

Eventually in September 2018 I started the A to Z challenge, which I finished in June 2019. I also did the Art Club collab for the first four months of 2019 and began posting 6-7 times per week, writing episodic reviews. Around November 2019 I stopped with the episodic posts and slowed things down here. I also started banking Monogatari Series posts for this year, which I will be starting to publish soon. I’ve also got some reviews for the Studio Challenge banked up as well!

Anyways, that’s about it for the blog’s history in terms of what I’ve done since starting out.

3. Give two or more pieces of advice for new bloggers

First off, if you are genuinely looking for advice regarding blogging you can also check out my last Blogger Recognition post where I gave some advice regarding viewership and interaction.

And in it’s place I’ll provide some fairly casual advice here based on what I like to do. At least, that was the plan originally but then I ended up getting into some more long-winded advice like last time.

Listen to music while you write!

I always listen to music while I write posts. Naturally, I get that not everyone may like music. But it’s how I do it personally. I’m a total music addict – I’m total straight edge, meaning I don’t drink alcohol, smoke… I don’t even consume caffeine (unless it’s trace amounts in certain foods). But music, well this is my drug.

And it helps me write. Doesn’t really matter what type of music, as long as I enjoy it, but for the past several years I’ve been listening to mostly very melodic stuff. Used to be melodic dubstep and electronic, but then last year I was listening to Japanese music, and now I’ve come full circle and am hooked on techno / old-school nightcore like I used to listen to in high school / university.

Sometimes, like now for instance, I don’t even want to watch any anime because I’d rather listen to music. And so if I don’t have any episodes to write about or a full series to review, I have to come up with some other post to write while I listen. Which is why I went with this.

Anyways, that’s my first tip – it’s fun listening to music while writing. I actually look forward to it because it’s such a great combination. I normally only like listening to music while I’m doing something, like driving, or walking. I don’t normally just sit down and listen to music on it’s own. Which is why it’s great to have another activity to pair music with.

Your blog is yours!

One thing that I’ve learned since my earlier blogging days is “owning” my blog. And what I mean by this is that there was a time where I felt like I had to keep up with unofficial schedules I’d set for myself. Most of 2019 I was publishing 6-7 posts per day.

But eventually I learned that I don’t enjoy episodic reviews so much if the anime itself doesn’t have the depth I’d require to write about each episode. So I stopped, and since then it’s been fairly sparse here on the blog with 2-3 posts per week. Thing is, that’s alright.

I’ve learned that there’s no issue with just pausing, leaving gaps, or changing the posting schedule for a blog like mine. Fact is, most of my views come from random google searches, not people looking for my most recent content. And that’s how it is for most blogs once they start to get search engine traffic.

So just own it. If you have to stop posting for a while, just do it. If you have to delay something, just do it. There’s no need to write up a post apologizing for delays, or going on social media to apologize for taking a break. It’s your blog! Just take the break, or do whatever it is you want to do. An apology isn’t necessary.

Unless your blog is monetized using a subscription model where people are paying to see a constant stream of new content, you have no obligation to actually post on a schedule. It’s your blog, so you can treat it however you’d like.

Blog Perception & Schedule

This carries on from the last point and doing what you want, and it’s regarding how you perceive your own blog versus your viewers.

Your blog isn’t as important as you may think it is. This might sound harsh, but the fact is that it’s your blog, and so it’s only natural that it’s important to you. Moreso than it would be to anyone else. Don’t assume that your readers think your blog is as important as you do.

For example, I’ll bet that Lynn couldn’t tell you my blogging schedule. I can say for sure that I couldn’t tell you his schedule. But we talk all the time about what we’re working on, and read each other’s posts regularly.

Point I’m trying to make here is that most people, if not all, probably don’t know your schedule. Even other bloggers.

It’s not that they don’t care, it’s simply that they won’t notice if you delay publishing a post or miss a day.

Try not to think that your readers are just sitting around anxiously waiting for your next post, they’re not. When you post, they’ll read it, but until then, there’s plenty of other content for them to read or engage with on the internet.

I remember I used to write something and then immediately publish it because I couldn’t wait to get it out there, only for it do possibly not do as well as it could have because I got too excited and posted it at a bad time. Don’t panic and bide your time with posts, only posting when you feel it’s the best time for it. People very likely won’t notice or even know if you’ve held off.

Part of what I’m getting at by saying all of this is regarding the delay apology posts I see often either on WordPress or on Twitter. Don’t sweat it if a post is delayed – people probably had no idea until you brought it up.

Your blog is yours, and you’re naturally going to feel that it’s more important than other people will. Just try to remember that, and try not to feel anxious about delaying a post or making any changes to your blog.

4. Nominate other bloggers and link their blogs.

Some of you may have already done this, and I’m pretty sure some of you have, but that’s alright. Consider this less of a nomination and more of a recognition of your blog! Of course, feel free to respond if you’d like.

Aria – I may not be a fan of Fate, but I am a fan of your writing style and posts Aria! I especially love the posts you do where you take notes of what you’re watching, and when you mention little tidbits regarding Japanese, be it translation related or wordplay related.

Keiko – For those who don’t know, Keiko is the Tag Post Queen. So you definitely don’t have to respond to this one Keiko, I know that you already deal with the lion’s share of nominations on WordPress! I’m not following any seasonal anime right now but I love how you manage to keep your posts so short! Even your tag post responses are very concise. I don’t know how you do it, but it’s amazing.

Michael Atkins / MPA Travels – I know you don’t do these sort of posts, but I wanted to tag you anyways because I love the photos you’re always posting. Always fun to look at, so consider this to be a little recognition!

Crow – I feel like I haven’t nominated you for anything before, or at least recently, so I had to include you here. I really enjoy the format you employ for your episodic posts and how you cover your favourite moments, as well as manage to catch interesting details. It looks like a lot of work goes into it all!

Yomu – Yomu, I really wondered if I should even bother highlighting your blog. To be honest, I’m a little embarrassed to bring it up here. But, a deal is a deal and we both decided to let bygones be bygones. So begrudgingly I’ll throw some shade your way. It’s amazing you’ve made it this far, all things considered…

And that’s it for the Blogger Recognition Award (Redux)!
Once again I ended up getting a bit into the advice, I guess I can’t help myself. There’s even more that I could have written, but we’ll save that for another day.

Until next time,
Thanks for reading.

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