Searching for post ideas

Well, it’s finally happened – I’m having a lot of trouble coming up with new anime-related topics to write about and I need help…

The hardest part for me about running my blog isn’t actually writing posts but coming up with ideas for topics to write about and organizing my thoughts on said topic. Since I don’t do episodic posts and I only write anime reviews once in a while when seasonal shows finish airing, I mostly rely on my ability to come up with general anime-related topics that any fan can relate to (these are my personal favorite posts to write anyway). I sometimes get inspiration from other sites and blogs, but usually topic ideas come from my own pondering about my fandom. I’m actually very surprised I’ve been able to keep summoning up post topics for such a long time. But I knew I’d run dry eventually…today is the first day where I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes trying to come up with an anime topic to write about and it just won’t come to me.

It’s not that I believe there are no more anime editorial topics to write about that I haven’t already covered; I’ve just exhausted all the ones that I personally can come up with. Out of the now 520 posts I’ve written in my nearly five years of blogging, I’d say over half of them are general anime-related editorials. I honestly think my posts have covered just about every aspect of anime as a medium, and its fandom, that one can talk about.

But I know more ideas are out there and that’s why I’m now seeking the help of my readers! If you’re able to come up with a good anime editorial post that I haven’t already written about, or if there’s any anime related topic you’d like to hear my thoughts on, please let me know in the comments below.

Just a few things to note:

– Please make sure it’s a topic I haven’t already blogged about. If you’re not sure, you can search for keywords in the blog’s search bar or just leave a comment anyway and I’ll let you know if it’s something I’ve already covered.
– Again, I don’t do episodic posts and I only do anime reviews when a series is fresh in my mind. I’m also not very interested in overly negative topics that involve a lot of ranting, but it depends.
– As most of my long term readers know, my favorite post are editorials, essays, ramblings, etc., about anime and the fandom holistically that don’t require knowledge of any particular anime title. But if you want me to discuss a particular anime title, please make sure it’s one that I’ve seen.
– I prefer anime topics but the three other topics I’m willing to write about are Japan/Japanese, animation in general, and blogging. I’m a bit more picky about these topics though.
– I’ll try to reply to everyone’s comment and let you know if your topic is something I’d write about, and if not, why not. I can’t guarantee I’ll use everyone’s topic that I like though, so I apologize in advance.
– If I do end up using your topic, I’ll credit you in that post (unless you don’t want me to).

I’m actually going to be writing a lot of anime reviews in the coming weeks since nine seasonal shows I’m watching will be ending (most likely starting with a review of Steins;Gate next week). But once those and my first impressions of the fall ’11 anime are out of the way, I’m gonna be needing new ideas!

Well, I think that’s all I need to say for now. I look forward to seeing what good anime topics you guys can come up ^_^ Thanks for the help~

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Myna says:

    – Why you are so easy to please?
    – Why you prefer certain genres over others
    – Why certain character tropes are always used (token shounen heroine, etc.)
    – You could always make another list. (I.E. I’m planning on posting my biggest WTF moments)
    – update your favorite character list (maybe narrow it down a bit though) or your all time favorites list. I’d love to see where Madoka places.
    – Things in anime that irk you
    – Things you learned from anime
    – Another fun game post like you did with Anime Outburst.
    – Things/tropes/etc you tend to like/dislike

    (Sorry if some of these are repeats. I’m really tired and not in the mood to go browsing.)
    If I think of any more, I’ll be sure to let you know. :)

    • Myna says:

      – Anime’s influence on other media
      – Religion in anime (fictional or real)
      – ethnicity in anime (or lack thereof)
      – Watching anime as it airs vs. watching once it’s all done
      – Power of friendship in anime

      • Yumeka says:

        Thanks for all the suggestions! =D A few are similar to things I’ve done before but a lot are not. I think I will be using some of your topics here ^_^

  2. Edward says:

    Wow. I never thought this day would come, considering that you have been able to blog about anime seemingly without end. :) I agree that everything you have posted so far has been very extensive and almost covers the breadth of Japanese culture, so one suggestion I have is to go into more depth on anything that you talked about already. Is there any post or topic you felt you just skimmed over or rushed and want to revisit?

    You say that “[t]he hardest part for me about running my blog isn’t actually writing posts but coming up with ideas for topics to write about and organizing my thoughts on said topic.” But for me, it is the other way around; my site is still at its infancy, so it is not surprising that I have so many things I want to talk about that I have yet to post. Still, my strategy to keep ideas flowing in is to not limit myself to one specific topic. Sure, I have a specific theme I want my blog to have, but other than that, I can pretty much write about anything I want. Since your blog is all about anime, I am not sure if you are willing to consider other topics outside of what you already listed?

    But if I have to suggest anything new and anime-related, maybe you can talk about news and politics concerning Japanese culture, such as the Supreme Court case last June, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, that designates video games as free speech; or Bill 156 in Japan back in December 2010 that would censor lolita anime. And since you brought up this topic, maybe you (or anyone) can ponder over this question if you haven’t done so already: how long can a person blog (until we run out of ideas or whatever reason that may come up)?

    Other than that, my last advice is to keep doing what you are doing right now. I am sure new topics will appear as they arise. After all, the possibilities of both knowledge and the human imagination are infinite!

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks! I’m sure if I looked through some of my posts (which I often do) I’ll notice things that I could discuss in more detail. I’ll have to try doing that.

      Unfortunately I have no head for politics and know little about it – a post like that would require me to do a lot of research, which I really don’t enjoy doing (makes me feel like I’m back in school, LOL). Talking about how long one can blog, though, is a possibility =)

      Keep up the good work on your blog~

  3. Suzushina Yuriko says:

    Yeah, I figured this would happen sooner or later.

    You could do a post of favorite pieces of fan art you have seen over the years. I have quite the collection and I like sharing them with people. There are some really talented artists on Pixiv.

    Or you can go down the path of Yi and post about your favorite clothes in anime. Maybe you can do an all around post, or maybe you could limit it to school uniforms or something.

    • Yumeka says:

      I actually did do a post about my favorite fan art pieces from pixiv. It’s been a while though and I’ve acquired a lot of new ones since then. Perhaps it’s time for another fan art praising post ;)

      I’m not that interested in clothing…but maybe something more general, like favorite anime character designs.

  4. Kal says:

    Creative block! yeah, those can be complicated :P

    Personally, I like to learn a bit more about the background in anime, since that makes it better and easier to relate to. So I like post about Japanese culture and how it permeates into anime. For example, your older posts about cuteness in Japanese culture.

    So some interesting topics could be about the Japanse schools for example. We see tons of them in anime all the time, but we (at least me) probably know very little about how the education system is structured, what the do. Another one could be the holidays in their culture. I know about white day, and a few others seen in anime, but I’m sure there is a lot of info there. Hum… Another one could be the historical eras. Many mention the Meiji era for example, but what is it? What happened?

    So all that cultural and historical info could help in understanding anime even more and make for some interesting topics as well. I’ve read about some of those myself, but it would probably make more sense coming from someone with the same interest in anime as me :)

    Just an idea, I hope the block doesn’t last long :)

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks for the suggestions. More posts about Japanese culture sound good and wouldn’t require me to do much research since it’s what I studied in college ;) I would need to brush up on Japanese history though. I retain culture in my head pretty well but history not as much.

  5. Wintermuted says:

    Right there with you. This almost always comes up after several weeks of writeups, leaving me in need of scraping for ideas. What seems to work best for me, is to look back at many shows, specials, or films I have yet to articulate about. Which is why you’ll often see me do retrospectives on stuff from decades past. There’s a lot of history, and thematic context that fuels what we currently see now. And the more I dig, the more we see the seeds of what the medium is going through. Either way, more exploration may be necessary to better hone what it is you wish to share regarding such a hobby. There’s an entire world of influence out there that goes beyond merely anime, and perhaps that can be key to future writings.

    • Yumeka says:

      Sure, nostalgic retrospective posts about older would be good from time to time. Especially if I’m able to relate them back to the anime of recent years =) Thanks!

  6. Akasen says:

    I have one topic that pops into my head and I think about over and over again, the history of my own anime fandom and its evolution. While it might not be very accurate as to when you watch things and in what order it doesn’t really matter. You can just kinda be general about what you watched in those years.

    By evolution of your fandom I kinda mean how you gained access to what you watched and read and how your tastes changed or expanded as the years went by.

    I think that would be most interesting to read. Although it would probably take a while to write out I think.

  7. f0calizer says:

    I know you really love animals, so have you considered doing posts about specific kinds of animals in anime? I searched for “cats” on your blog and didn’t come up with anything really specific (besides a review of “Nyan-Koi!”). So, maybe something like your top 10 favorite or most memorable anime cats?

    • Yumeka says:

      I have thought of posting about anime animals before, but I couldn’t come up with anything very interesting besides just listing my favorites. But now that you mention cats, I may have an idea for an interesting post about how prominent cats are in anime, and perhaps Japanese culture, as opposed to dogs. We’ll see if I can build something more around that idea ;) A list of favorite cats is always a possibility too.

  8. Shance says:

    You could always try other enjoyable ideas that don’t require much effort. If there isn’t anything that come in mind, you could just try to make an idea enjoyable. Episodics are a good example of this. Usually people try to just give a brief summary, then write a paragraph containing their two cents with how an episode goes. Yes, it’s routine, repetitive, and not really that innovative. But hey, it’s worth a shot!

    • Yumeka says:

      I’ve tried but I really don’t think episodic posts are for me. Even just writing a post about my impressions of the first two episodes of a series isn’t fun – I used to do that when I started my blog but now I just opted to put my first impressions of all the seasonal shows in one post and rarely discuss them again until their final reviews. I’ve found that the only series I’ve had motivation to blog episodically have been my favorites (the Inuyasha manga back in the day and the new episodes for Haruhi in 2009).

      But what I sometimes do is find a certain something in a currently airing anime that’s worth discussing before it’s finished airing, which I did for Angel Beats! and Madoka for example. I’ll see if I can do more of those =)

  9. du5k says:

    You could do a Q&A thing, like Scamp.

    Make more lists…

    Or Metablog.

  10. Snark says:

    Could always try expending them horizons a little. How about a comparison between Western animation and anime? Or maybe an article about some shows such as Transformers: Prime or Thundercats, which are Western written cartoons that are completely animated in Japan (Transformers: Prime for instance, is animated by Polygon Studios, who worked on Ghost in the Shell: Innocence). These shows occupy an interesting middle ground between anime and Western cartoons, and it might be interesting to write about them.

    • Yumeka says:

      I’ve written a couple of posts comparing Western animation with anime. But I don’t feel I can do too much with that topic since I haven’t watched much of any new Western cartoons (besides movies) in years.

  11. Absolute Zero Now says:

    OK, I have a few ideas:

    1. I know you did a post on what you learned from helping to translate and edit for the fan translation of “The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya”, however I’d like to hear your impressions on the newest novels and what they revealed. Essentially, a review post. Or you could give us your thoughts on Sasaki as a character.

    2. You could do a cultural post on Halloween in Japan and contrast it with how Obon is portrayed in anime.

    3. Speculations on Kyoto Animation and/or when we should hear about more Haruhi anime since KyoAni hasn’t revealed their plans for 2012 yet.

    • Yumeka says:

      I try not to do that many Haruhi-only posts since I like to keep my blog’s universal “anime in general” theme. But yeah, it is my favorite series so more posts about it would be fine ;) I’ll see about a review of Surprise. I don’t know about KyoAni speculations but I was thinking of a post about why KyoAni is my favorite animation studio.

  12. glothelegend says:

    I too am having trouble thinking of stuff……but look at all these ideas I can steal!!!!

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