Why Do I Blog? -- Here goes my blogging journey!

book party!

I was thinking of how I'm going to go around my Birthday Post this year. And I came across this really great post by Emily @ Forever Literary a couple of days back. It's a post that actually made me think about my blogging journey -- how I started; why I continued; why do I even bother posting; and all the experiences I had.

For me, Emily's post is a call to look at one's experiences, enjoyment, and maybe passion in blogging and not his/her blog followers or blog statistics. Yes, of course they are important if you are hoping to grab advance copies of books. But do those statistics/number of followers define us as bloggers?

No.

BUT that's not what I'll talk about here. Emily has definitely done an AMAZING job in sharing her thoughts about the issue (or what she wants everyone to really look at about the matter). What I'll go around here is just some plain personal insights on my blogging journey. She made me think about all of these as I read her post. This is my Birthday Post anyway. So I think it's okay for this to be personal.

So here goes nothing!!

I blog because I want to share my thoughts. Admittedly, I was not the one who created my blog. It was my sister. But I decided to fill this blog with my thoughts. My insights. It was 2011. I was so absorbed in anime. I wrote about it. I wrote about my enjoyment. I wrote about my episode theories. It was Another. The first anime I blogged about weekly. My writing was so unrefined (not that it's perfect right now. It's still not).

I got visitors. I met friends. AniBlogger friends. I conversed with them. One of them even talked to me about how he understood why I felt the way I felt about Bakuman (I'll meet him this September!! I'm so excited for that!!).

When I was invited to blog about an anime event, I was so elated. It felt like a HUGE thing. I didn't know how to reply to the email. It took me forever to construct a simple acceptance email. Just. What. Is. Up. With. That? Just how nervous can I get anyway?

There was also a time when I got burnt out. I felt like I'm done with anime. With blogging. With writing. I said my goodbye. I was so sure I'll leave this blog for good. But then I came back! I can't seem to leave this baby -- this blog. I don't know why.

This comeback opened up new things for me. I tried connecting anime and book blogging. Because why not? It's my blog. I can do anything I want with it.

I started book blogging on the wrong side though. Admittedly, I was one of the suckish people who wanted to book blog for free books. For the wrong reasons. It was after a few months I learnt the wrongs of my doing. Of my reasons. I struggled to read all the books I downloaded for NetGalley. Stupid me!

I remember the time when I was first accepted in NetGalley. I was so nervous when I made my first request. But now, I don't request anymore. Okay. Sometimes I still do. Maybe a book or two from certain publishers. But do you how I felt when I received my first review request through email? It was Born of Shadow by Sarah Benson. I was so excited. I just finished writing my half-ass review policy at my About Page. A few days later she emailed me. Just how cool was that? (now I have a separate page for review policies).

But let me tell you all the good things that came.

I met new people. It was great to talk to people about books. To give and receive recommendations. It felt like a great accomplishment when someone told me that they read a book I gloriously reviewed and recommended and they ended up LOVING it and adding it to their fave list. That feeling was one of the best things ever. Knowing that people add books to their TBR because of my review is also a really good feeling.

Another really unforgettable blogging experience for me was when I was first invited by a publisher for a blog tour. It gave me that really this-is-big kind of feeling. But this new tour invite felt more exciting for me!!

Setting aside all these things about reviewing books and invites, one of the things book blogging has done to me is that it convinced me to try more books. It opened me into trying out more things. I read a lot now than before. I thought I'd stick to YA books forever. But no. No. I ended up falling in love with mystery & thrillers (I'm talking about those non-YA mystery-thrillers like The Cuckoo's Calling, The Girl in the Ice, etc).

Right now?

Right now, I still write about books. I want to write about anime. But my mind is just not there for it. Soon. I hope. I know it will happen though. Just because I know... Wait for that, friends. After all my blog went through, I'm sure it's something I won't leave.

ANYWAY,

Let me go back to my question: Why Do I Blog?

I blog because I want to share my thoughts. I blog because I want to release all these words in my head. I blog because I want people to know how much I fangirl over this book. I blog because I want people to know how much I LOVE this anime. I blog because I want to share my insights. I blog because I want to recommend books and manga and anime. I blog because I want to tell you, friends, about this thrilling book that kept me up ALL NIGHT. I blog because I want to tell you about this book I'm so excited about. I blog because I want to talk to you, friends, about this reading habit. I blog because I want to recommend this awesome read! I blog because I want to.

* I turn 24 today!! I'm so old. hahaha. Here's to more years of book reading and anime watching!! YAY!
** Thanks for reading this boringly formatted post. I'm just that type of person.
*** I have a PH ONLY giveaway -- click here!!

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{ how about you }

What convinced you to blog? What keeps you blogging? If you're not a blogger, have you ever considered blogging? Where do you release your fangirling needs? Where do you discuss the books you read? 

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let's connect!