Evolution of A Writer
I had been blogging for around a year myself, and one time, I was feeling nostalgic and was reading some of my old posts. I was actually surprised by how much my writing had changed.
Before I started deluscar, I was writing for another team blog, sakurahana blog, which was sadly closed down by now. At that time, I was not sure how I want my writing style to be and just went random. The result is chaos; the remarks are sometimes serious, sometimes joking and sometimes childish. I even used emoticons in my posts! When I started deluscar, it looked like all these bad habits still remained.
Honestly at first, I only started this blog just for showing my figures (I started figures collecting around the same time I started this blog) so I never thought about by writing much. In order to avoid inactivity though, I tried to write some content here and there, it also doesn’t help that I do not buy a lot of figures myself. If I wasn’t putting any other contents and only write on figures posts, I’m sure my blog will only be updated once per month, or even once per three months.
I think it was around the time when I started to contribute more seriously into reviews and editorials. This is where I started to think more seriously about the posts I write, and with more thinking, I started to lose some of my awkward randomness. Eventually, I feel my writing has somewhat became more mature and even natural than it was sometime ago.
Unlike back then, I no longer post random hyper comments which looked more silly then funny, especially when the majority of said post actually a serious tone at first, which made the joke seems so out of place. Perhaps I’m not even the joker type myself, and once I realized this, the later part of my writing styles become a bit more serious, yet simple and mellow, using not so complicated vocabulary at the same time. Even if I really feel the need to do jokes, it will just be subtle sarcastic comments, usually characterized by strikethroughs.
In my reflections on animanga post, I stated that it’s important to develop your own writing style, and perhaps I may had actually made progress here without actually realizing it. Have any of you read your old posts you written a long time ago? In doing so, I’m sure you will discover something interesting which you perhaps never noticed before.
deluscar 
I don’t like to think back at what I’ve written. I just keep going and doing what I do best, which I still do not know or care what that is. I just know I am good at doing something and keep on unconsciously doing what I like doing. Reflecting on the changes to my writing style doesn’t do much for me.
Solely relying on instincts without looking back eh. That’s a good one.
Self confidence and being a big, hairy mass of manliness helps boost performance rates.
I have to admit, I haven’t given a lot of thought to my own writing style. I think it’s one of those things that comes with experience though – as you write more you start to settle into a style that you’re comfortable with. At least that’s what I hope will happen XD
Guess to develop a writing style, the best solution for one to acheive it is just keep on writing!
I only write. I got certain set rules, such as not using emoticons, but it’s not like I follow a “I got to be serious” or “I need to be deep” or anything. As for how my writing has evolved, I have no idea. Maybe I’ve gotten more used to blogging, but I’ve always been a decent writer (although I’m too lazy to make my posts superb). An outsider has to judge me.
As for you, you seem more serious now. Not that you weren’t before, but as you said, you aren’t hyper anymore. You have a more reflective stance on writing.
http://animeviking.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/so-i-just-finished-boku-no-pico/
http://animeviking.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/eureka-seven-ao-23-24-bones/
Decent writer, eh?
Jk xD I dont have certain fixed rules myself, and perhaps I ended up using emoticons for my posts at first. Later on, I realized it looks kinda silly, though I know some bloggers still use them. Well, if they are comfortable with it..
I don’t really try to be serious or deep purposely either, but if deluscar ended up like that. Nature calls, lol. I don’t follow fixed rules and just post in whatever way’s comfortable with me, even if it end up being serious.
bwahahahahaha
I’m sure my general writing skills have gotten better, but the one thing I’ve noticed about my progress over my past year of blogging is that I’ve gotten a lot better as formulating an opinion of something and putting it into words. Like pinpointing exactly what I thought worked or didn’t work about a show beyond the vague criticisms of “These characters were likable, the artwork was bad, etc. etc.”
Or in other words I guess I’ve gotten better at explaining why something did or didn’t work instead of how it did or didn’t work.
Ahh indeed, that’s exactly it. During my very first reviews, I struggled with my way of words, trying to elaborate more behind statements like “Character development is good” or “The artwork is good”, etc.. I guess that’s something most first time writers would usually struggle with.
I have been blogging for a long time and looking back at my older posts, they look terrible. It seems that I wasn’t too serious with my writing as it looks funky and I made some random posts. But it’s probably after the first Aniblog Tourney where I started to take Anime Blogging more seriously and reading over my posts so I can catch most of the errors, although a few slip here and there sometimes. I guess I had some success in recent years, but I still have some more refinements to do.
Mine look just as bad too, it’s like I have too many alter personalities and not sure which one I want to be, lol. Guess there is some positive sides to the aniblog tourney still. I’m sure most participants would be able to understand the mistakes in their blog and correct it through the tourney. As for me, I can only admit to the glorious power of yuri (A yuri blog beat me in round 2).
Doing so much academic writing for class, my creative writing skills have really plummeted. I tired to approach it more naturally (and still do now) but it just sounds so childish and immature that I am disappointed publishing it. At least when I do apply my academic writing, it flows smoothly together and something I am happy with. Dwelling on past work for extended periods just makes me frustrated, so I just forget it about it and move on until I capture something that pleases me; whether it it interesting to anyone else or not…
Whether or not it be academic writing or creative writing, it’s best to just write with the way you feel is the most comfortable, at least thats what I think. Even if the style is changed, there should still be some fundamental roots present in the new style so I’m sure old readers and followers of your blog will still feel like it’s from the same person. I don’t usually do that too and it was mostly by chance I check my old posts too, a sudden urge of nostalgia. I didn’t feel frustuated though, just feel nostalgic and was thinking How much I had progressed from there.
A few times I’ve looked back at my past writing and it really has changed a lot. The more you involve yourself in the aniblogsphere, the more influenced you become and that changed your perspective on the industry thus it reflects in your writing. The funny thing is sometimes I think back and go “as if I wrote that” because it sounded so foreign to me. Something I would never had used or written in the present world. Although I do confess that I’ve taken a look at my more popular posts and tried to analyse why they were viewed so highly. In the end I couldn’t find anything and I didn’t really care anymore because now is now and my writing is still my own writing; even if it has changed. :)
Influences is good. When you’re stuck, perspectives from other people became an inspiration, unless you’re copying them straight out of cause. Seeing my uber hyper comments back then, I was kinda embarrassed. Surprising how I have the courage to post such dramatic posts. It’s something quite impossible for me to do currently, unless in on twitter, maybe.
Reading my past posts also surprises me, writing style do change as time goes by. Blogging is really a fun way to improve writing skills at the same time sharing things you like to a community that has the same interests. =3 Yeah I still use emoticons haha! XD
And since the change is slowly build up eventually, the post still feels like it’s from the same person. Indeed, indeed xD I don’t use them in my posts anymore since I just don’t think they fit in with them.
I’ve followed your blog behind the scenes( I didn’t have a WordPress account back then) and you’ve indeed improved. Your writing has become more mature, as you stated already.
I wrote game reviews for quite some time as a member on a gaming website, but the rate in which I released them made me eventually stop writing them. The community there has helped me to improve my writing, bringing structure into my posts. Reading them back sure is interesting, how I’ve progressed when you take the first and last post. But I don’t dwell on that anymore. On aniblogging, you pick a random post every know and then when you have some activity and maybe polish it a bit. And it’s fun to see your progress, but as I said, don’t dwell on it too much.
So I already have a stalker during such early stages?
I wrote a minority of anime reviews for an anime website too, and my reviews were really bad at that time. I’m not good at elaborating more behind simple statements such as “character developments are good” and “the artwork is good”. The forum doesn’t really help me improve per se, but it does help me shape up my fundamental styles reviewing, though in the end, there are still a few more refinements needed somewhere. Yea, I feel nostalgic and felt interesting but not really dwelling on it too much ;p
Haha, stalker has such a negative ring to it;p
It also depends on how much the community is willing to help. And reviews should be mostly objective, but it is impossible to not let personal tastes get through.
Wow, just yesterday I felt like reading my old blog posts, and now this post! I still can’t put a concrete finger down on how I write, but I have seen improvement compared to my previous years’ posts. I tried to hard to write at some point and also put down hyper-like comments in my posts for humorous effect, but no more. I need to give myself some more credit on my posts though; there were some good posts in there.
The humorous effects are good if you’re comfortable with it, and that it’s actually funny, but if it’s not, the post just ends up awkward, lol. Yea, not to brag but I actually had some good ideas even though I just started blogging last year, just that my way of executing the idea is bad D:
Execution is always a problem. It’s what’s holding back all the great inventors of our time.
Indeed
Hmm, since I’ve been writing for two years I’m pretty sure I’ve looked back at some old posts — in fact, I know I did — just to see just what the heck I was writing. And man, I would like to think I’ve gotten much better since then! Unfortunately, it still feels like I have a ways to go writing wise. But the only way I can get better is to consume more things — play more games, go read more books, still watch anime but also watch films, etc — and have it somewhat influence my writing until I’ve found the style I like. I’ll find it at some point, honest xD
Ohh two years? Quite a considerably long time. Deluscar isn’t even 2 years old (yet) though I did some writing before I started up deluscar.
Indeed, I’m sure there are embarrassing to look at xD And I’m sure you had gotten better ;p
I do too, and I feel that books has one of the most influential values, though I don’t read them much lol >_> Doing the rest, anime, films, games work too I guess. And I will hopefully find a distinctive style of my own sometime in the future too xD
Looking back, my writing style has definitely changed. I think it’s not so much because I was more conscious in actually trying to write something decent but rather, my state of mind these days. I used to be more relax, laid back because there weren’t many responsibilities back then so that reflect in my writing. These days, I’m loaded with work and I guess take on a more responsibilities, hence, write with a more serious tone. I do wanna write more lightly though, haha.
Ahh, circumstances in life does invokes some changes in a person, I can see that it influences your writing, lol. Now that when you mention it, some of my more darker and depressing posts might had been a reflection of my current chaotic life, lol.
Lol, maybe this is a sign we need a long vacation.
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I actually just started blogging about anime in April, and although I always re-read my posts as a way of appreciating my own art, I have yet to evolve from where I am now. I’ve known from the start that having a writing style is important, but all that is through being yourself and how you prefer to structure your content, or express your content. For example, I like the idea of a conversation, so sometimes, if I haven’t blogged in a while or I’m posting outside of my regular schedule, I refer to our community as “elites” because the site is called ‘otaku elite’. Normally, I also have a question at the end of my posts. The idea is that it’s not just about me, and others “listening” to what I have to say. I want others to be involved and change my perspective on things. But back to writing styles, I can say that I’ve probably changed a little bit since my very first post but I’m excited to experience an evolution & to look back on how I used to write.
I read some of your posts, and I really like your articles on Shikamaru and Sasuke. And those writings of yours are already quite good in my opinion (though I would prefer some kind of spoilers warning, especially for Shikamaru’s). Those are quite old episodes however, but it never hurts to put them. Indeed, developing your own style is just pure consistency – constantly changing your writing style yet retaining elements of the old writing style. I don’t think I had a solid grasp of mine however yet I can see mine is slowly changing. Oh, a colloquium? I would love to do more of those too, had a very minor one about Gintama last year, lol. It’s nothing thought-provoking however, and feels more like casual chats. That’s definitely a good way to spark up food for thought, especially for editorials. Indeed, I’m sure you will change if you continue on.
Oh thanks! The reason I don’t have any spoiler warnings is because some episodes I will discuss, and have discussed are old, as you mentioned. I don’t go chronologically, teehee. I will consider it though. Maybe our style changes due to the knowledge of the industry we gain over time, and the growth of our critical thinking skills for anime. It was a total pleasure conversing with you, thank you!
The best way to develop a writing style is to just write, and it forms on its own.
Makes sense, no? You can feign a writing style, or adopt one, especially if you’re a good writer, but for a blog, it just feels more natural and more sensible for the tone of the writing, and of the blog, to write as you write.
Also, it’s ok for the tone to change as time goes by – you change as time goes by.
You speaks da truth.
If you’re talking about blogs with more personifications, then indeed, it does makes sense to just write normally, and the style will develop naturally itself ;p
Is a blog without personification even possible? Even news-sites have differing characters.
I can’t find back the link already but I remembering seeing some anime news blog that is akin to anime news network.