Similar to a previous post of mine called “‘How’ do you watch anime?” I’m curious as to when fellow anime bloggers decide to blog, not just in terms of a specific schedule, but more importantly, things like whether they wait for inspiration from other sources, do they blog about any random thing that comes to mind or do they stick to a structure, do they have to be in a specific mood to blog, and other things of that nature…
When I first started this blog in late 2006, my blogging in the first year or so was slow and erratic as I was getting used to the feel of blogging and the anime blogsphere. It started to get more focused in late 2007/early 2008, and by 2009, the character of my blog was pretty much established. Thus, I’m just going to discuss my blogging within the past year. And if you’re not familiar with my blog, I should point out that it doesn’t have a specific focus other than me writing about whatever anime-related topic I feel like at the time – sometimes it’s reviews, sometimes essays and ramblings, sometimes news, sometimes fangirling…just depends.
As of mid-2009, I’ve managed to keep up a blogging schedule of roughly one post every other day, or at least every two days. If I psyche myself ahead of time, especially if I have a good topic to write about, I’ll definitely be in a “blogging mood.” However, there are some occasions where I’m just not in the mood, especially when I can’t think of a good topic and am forced to write about something I don’t really want to. I’m guilty of pushing myself to keep up my blogging schedule even when I’m not in the mood or if I have other matters to attend to. But I’ve come to realize that the anticipation of something is often worse than just sitting down and doing it; if I can’t think of anything to blog about other than a topic I’m not too thrilled with, once I sit down and start typing, it suddenly doesn’t seem quite as bad (it was like this for my school papers, too). If it’s a good topic, I can churn out almost 1,000 words in less than two hours. But if it’s a topic where I just can’t get my thoughts organized, it could take much longer.
For some reason, my creativity and brainpower work best in the late morning/early afternoon hours (roughly 11am to 4pm). Therefore, the majority of my blog work is done during these hours. I’ll write the bulk of each post then and come back in the evening for the lesser things like adding pictures, proofreading, and actually publishing. I’ll only write blog posts at night if I really wanted that post published that day but didn’t have time to write it earlier. Unfortunately, I’ll probably have to change this schedule if I get a full-time job.
Whenever an inspiration for a blog post comes to me, usually from other blogs or web sites, general anime fan discussion, or certain news items, I’ll write it down on a piece of paper I keep by my computer. Then, when it’s “blogging day,” I’ll look at my queue and decide which topic I feel like writing about. An idea for a blog post could come to me at any random time – a couple of times it happened while I was taking a shower or washing dishes.
Besides just general anime topics which I write about all the time, there are certain times when I write anime reviews, usually when seasonal shows end. For example, a couple of weeks ago, the majority of my posts were reviews of completed fall ’09 and winter ’10 anime. I’ll spend a week or two writing reviews of the season’s shows I finished. I don’t always get to all of them, but I do what I can. I’ll also occasionally review games, books, or other things within a short while of them coming out.
When anime news items that particularly interest me come out, I’ll usually just make a note about them on Twitter. But if I have more to say about them than Twitter can handle, I’ll make a post. The problem with news-related posts for me is that I lose motivation to post about them unless I do it right on the spot, which could cause conflict if I was planning to blog about something else that day, or wasn’t planning to blog at all. If this is the case, then I’ll usually wait to post about it on a “blogging day” and add my opinion or other things to make it more interesting than just a belated news post.
Guess that pretty much covers when I do my blogging. Care to share yours?
At Ani-Gamers we stick to a very strict schedule of three posts a week, each on a specific day of the week. Since we’re a team-based blog that operates more as a journalistic entity than a personal anime/gaming diary, our system of choosing topics is also very different from yours (and many anime bloggers’ for that matter). Namely, we all write our articles — usually reviews — on our own time, then upload them to the queue, where they sit around until I decide to put them on the week’s schedule. Then, with some editing, they go up on the site.
This means that a lot of our content is “timeless” in nature, since it’s often written a couple of weeks in advance of the actual publication date. Still, when a big news event comes up, we sometimes have someone write up a quick news/commentary post that doesn’t fit into the weekly schedule. (If we had more writers, I would love to dedicate more resources to more regularly published news coverage.)
Well, I write mostly episodic posts, so I try to get those out on the day it gets subbed, or if not then the next day. I do get ideas for editorials sometimes, and depending on my mood, I either write them immediately or I put them on the Notepad list on my desktop. For the most part, I can write at any time, but I try to avoid making late night posts because I start becoming prone to errors.
Heh… yeah, nothing special here. ^_^;
As a “guest”, I feel that my work should be used as a compliment to Toonleap and to not overshadow the work he puts into the blog. I try my best to space things out so that I don’t have more than 2 posts a day at the very most (and that’s if something big comes out like the Day of Sagittarius ipod/iphone game on the same day my Yuki post went up). It helps that I can maintain little news on AnimeSuki like the Haruhi movie box office earnings are not being reported anymore that don’t deserve a full post.
Personally, I’m a big fan of theme months right now. February was a month of analysis and last month was a big review month. I’m working on a post to go up really soon (i.e. when I capture some screens) about springtime in Japan and new beginnings to coincide when I start talking about new (non-Haruhi) topics. So this month will either be new ideas or new thoughts on old ideas.
I think my style is more erratic at times since most of my non-news posts are where I get a random idea and it needs to be fleshed out. I had the SOS Brigade idea which turned into that massive week. I noticed something in March about the word “tomodachi” which is also going to be posted sometime over the weekend. Coming from a background in tokusatsu and a few pieces of literature, I feel that I tend to look at the culture at large rather than isolate themes in just anime.
@ Vampto Vo
That’s an interesting way of doing things – everybody submitting their posts and then you decide when to post them. Posting them gradually ensures that you’ll always have a queue rather than everyone posting at once and then running out of posts for a period of time.
@ Rakuen
I’ve only done episodic series of posts twice – for the later Inuyasha manga chapters (did some but never kept it up) and the new season of Haruhi. I don’t like the pressure of having to get my posts out right away or risk being overpowered by the more popular blogs who also cover that series. I don’t like making screencaps or writing episode synopses, and I usually can’t think of much to say for every episode. So yeah, I’ll leave the episodic coverage to other blogs ^^,,, I only enjoy it for series I really love, like Haruhi and Inuyasha.
@ ultimatemegax
Cool, I’ll be looking forward to your new themes and posts. And just curious if you ever considered getting your own blog.
I usually blog between 9pm-1am. After work, the house is pretty cute, and usually thee is something I can watch on TV while I blog.
It depends on the anime season at hand how many times a week I blog. If it’s really light for me I tend to write more about work ( I do an anime/manga/life blog) and random anime topics rather than episode posts. But if the season is heavy for me doing episode posts take over the majority of time and random posts are pushed to when I have time.
I can blog if I am happy or sad. Usually the happy post reflect a more positive attitude while the sad/mad posts are a bit snarky. But blogging puts me in a better mood.
For a couple of reasons, I think I’ll respond to this in my next post. Probably Sunday my time. Otanoshimi and all that.
Coincidental to your post which is about blogging frequency, I’m just coming off of my longest break away from posting I’ve had since starting my blog. I got busy with other things for a few weeks there, and my blog got pushed down the list. As you know, I used to hold to a strict post-once-a-week-on-Thursdays schedule, and then I opened it up a few months ago to posting at random.
But my break from posting has proved fruitful – because now I have around 4-5 ideas for posts that are just burning to be written. ;) Look for a blizzard of posts at my blog in the next week or so…
Update:
On second thought, it’ll be the entry after next. I feel a little bad when I write too many personal notes in a short time. But it will get written! So, Wednesday or thereabouts, I think. I know you’re just DYING to know all about me and my obsessive-compulsive blogging habits. :)
Jan: I was beginning to wonder. I’ll be keeping an eye out. :)
@ Christina
Ah, so you’re a nighttime blogger. 9pm is the time when I start to get lazy and unable to write well, so I rarely blog that late. I also can’t blog with distractions around me, like the TV (much like when I watch anime for the first time). The only thing I’ll do is put music on when I’m doing something that doesn’t require reading or thinking, like uploading pictures for my post.
@ 2DT
Yes, I am just DYING to know XD I think I already have some idea about it but I’d like to know the juicy details.
Thanks for reading.
@ Jan
Glad to have you back! I’ll be looking forward to your new posts =)
I had thought about getting a my own blog, but I enjoy contributing a lot more to Toonleap’s blog than I would running my own one.
It’s looking like this may also be an educational month as well since I’ve focused on two kanji characters for next week’s posts (being sick makes me more productive than when I’m healthy as long I’m lucid enough to think). One’s going up Monday and the other’s scheduled for Thursday depending how CD Japan works with my Railgun. I kinda borrowed a theme from your blog to start talking about with the first post, but the second’s one I’ve seen often enough to bring new discussion about.
Personally, I can’t wait until Disappearance comes out for everyone to see so I can finally unspoiler some of the posts back in February and add more character stuff. That may be a month by itself!
My brain power is at its maximum whenever I’m out from my place with a big Cappuccino Frepe right next to me. My posting routine in not really strict. I usually post every weekend. On a side note, I always fail to force myself even to keep up with the currently airing anime (not to mention writing about them). Thus, my posts are mostly series review of the finished shows and occasionally editorials :)
@ Canne
I like to do series reviews too rather than episode-by-episode posts. I’m pretty good at keeping up with currently airing shows I watch (about 3-6 per season); I can usually watch the new episode within a couple of days of the fansub release. But as I explained above, there are reasons why I don’t do episodic posts. Like you, reviews and occasional editorials, essays, and ramblings are what I like =)
Whenever an interesting piece of news floats my way, or an episode of an amazing show needs a good reviewing.
Blogging is like a full time job, i mean just to write a post takes me forever.
The Hardest part is the dam creativity, inspiration..
i lack of them..okay sometimes.
Its just that if something comes to be interesting ill blog, but i tend not to spam my blog with each anime episode review, rather ill review the whole series when its finish.
i am blogging at all times.
AT. ALL. TIMES.
Heh, I’m a bit late to this but 2DT mentioned this in her post so hey~
As an episodic blogger there’s not quite so much room to manuvere, especially when you’ve picked up something as popular as Durarara. Essentially that means that as soon as you know you have 2 hours uninterupted in front of the laptop you get down to writing the post. I never really lose the will to blog so motivation to write is never the problem.
For editorial pieces its generally when I find that two-hour gap where there’s no episodic to write about. I generally have so many ideas for posts sitting in my drafts that I never run out of stuff to write about. If there’s a day when I haven’t posted it’s either because I haven’t had the time or I’m forcing myself not to burn out. Ideally I should write editorials ahead of time and save them for days when I don’t have the time but when I’ve finished a post it’s so hard not to hit that ‘publish’ button.
@ digitalboy
I was hoping you’d comment on my blog again. Guess I have 2DT’s influence to thank =)
Yes, you are quite the frequent blogger. And if you’re not blogging, you’re twittering, or twittering about your blogging, or tumbling about your twittering, and so on. There’s always something new and interesting with you XD
@ Scamp
2DT’s influence strikes again.
I’d imagine you’d always have to be in a “blogging mood” in order to do episodic blogging. I commend you for being able to keep it up enthusiastically. I could only go episodic if I REALLY liked the series – otherwise I’d have no motivation to write about every episode.
Whenever I feel like it or hit inspiration that I feel is worth expanding on or is lolrandom enough to work. As you can notice, my site is small and low on comments. I need to work on remedying that, but right now I need to nap.
@Yumeka for some reason I keep forgetting to add you to my feed reader. This ends today!