Blog update: The future of Thoughts That Move

On By Tim RattrayIn Dissecting Monogatari, Updates

We did it! We’re two months to the day into the lifespan of this here blog! First off, thank you for your continued support. It keeps me going every day.

I’ve got some important changes to outline here for both the blog and my future ventures.

This is a pivotal moment for me. It’s reached the point where this gig is becoming a serious pursuit and I need to position the content I produce to best service it. For the past few weeks I’ve been struggling with this idea of what I “should” be posting to the blog, constantly scrapping ideas because they aren’t about anime or there isn’t enough to talk about for a 1,000+ word article, or just because it’s not “analytical enough.” In the midst of this struggle I believe I’ve lost the plot.

What I want for this blog is for it to be a reflection of myself through media: my interests, tastes and thoughts. I want to be able to have an insight and share it with you in the moment, or to watch an anime or film and be able to talk about it without the pretense of “long-form analysis or bust.” Basically, I want this blog to become my “Digibro After Dark,” a place you come for the miscellaneous thoughts rolling through my head, or at least the ones that can’t fit into a tweet.

Think of pieces like In response to “How To Make ‘Great’ Anime” as a good example of the reactionary/commentative approach I’ll allow some of the content on this blog to take. If you enjoyed that or, say, my post about Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE’s great usage of the Wii U Gamepad (an example of the aforementioned “in the moment” content), you’re also going to like what’s to come. The key difference is that in these pieces I take an informal, conversational tone as opposed to purely analytical pieces where I’m effectively writing an essay. I feel the former fits the format of a blog better.

You may be asking, “So you’re just going to abandon the in-depth analytical content that you’ve established yourself upon? That’s what I come here for!” Well, you’re in luck because this change means such content is only going to become more ambitious.

There are multiple options I’m weighing for the future of my long-form content right now, some of which may or may not come to fruition, but one is of particular importance at the moment: YouTube. I’ve always been a man of the written word, writing professionally since age 15, but video offers serious possibilities that I can’t ignore. The ability to show footage opens up new avenues for analysis, a human voice gives an inherent personal touch and video is just a more digestible format for most people. Plus, YouTube is one of the logical next steps in reaching a larger audience.

The catch is that I’ve never worked on video content before. This is new ground for me so I’ve got a lot of work to do before I’m able to create content worthy of people’s time. I want to be making YouTube content soon, I want to be able to say “okay, this is one month out, get excited,” but at the end of the day you don’t want unfulfilled promises and neither do I. I won’t put out anything that I think would waste somebody’s time so it’ll happen when it happens, but it’s hopefully within the first half of this year (how long it takes me to put out this content will also be decided by other variables that are currently up in the air).

There’s also this: I’m putting the Monogatari Dissection project on hold until I can put it into video form. Of all my content that’s the one project that I feel doesn’t live up to its potential in written form and is ultimately going to show diminishing returns unless I have it available in digestible videos on YouTube. I mean crap, my Mayoi Snail post was 2.4k words long! I don’t fault anyone for not wanting to read cut-and-dry analysis at that length. I want to be clear that I’m not abandoning this project and will come back stronger than ever when I return to it, which is among the first things I plan to do with a YouTube channel (I’m also weighing establishing that channel solely on that project as a jumping off point but that’s a discussion for another time). I understand this will disappoint some of you but on the bright side I can create more content in the amount of time it would take me to do one arc of Monogatari.

Speaking of long posts this is already dragging out (it’s important, but still). Let’s wrap things up.

In summary: you can still expect analytical content on the blog, particularly in this transitional phase, but it’s going to take on a more relaxed approach. Additionally, I’ll be exploring more in-the-moment content. I think the across-the-board reassessment of my approach to the blog will lead to better content with a more unique voice to boot and will ultimately be a net positive. I’m excited for the future of my content and I hope you’ll continue to give me a shot.

And again, thanks for reading. I mean it, even if this probably comes off as vapid platitude.

19 thoughts on “Blog update: The future of Thoughts That Move”

  1. As someone who watches far too many YouTube analysis videos about anime as it is, and who is far too awkward and lacking of personality to do it myself, I wish you all the best in your transition to video.

    I look forward to seeing it eventually happen. Your Monogatari analysis would be perfect for video!

    Perhaps some day I’ll get over my accent and confidence issues and be able to make claims of doing the same thing 😛

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    1. Thanks! 🙂

      I’d less call it a transition into video as much as a two-tiered approach. This blog is still going to be critical and a much more “fun” type of content. I’m pretty passionate about this new direction as it just feels like what I want to do.

      And I hope to see your videos one day! I’m not huge on hearing my voice either but usually other people will see it differently.

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  2. I fully support these decisions and wish you the best!

    I have similar plans (hope to make videos this summer, but I say that EVERY year coming up to summer, so… >.<). It would sort of be the opposite to what you're planning (in the beginning at least), where I keep my more critical / analytical content on my blog and post "fun" videos on the channel (with also the idea of transferring some analytical content into video format someday).

    Look forward to your videos!… (and hearing your unapologetic baka voice)
    ~ Ace

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  3. Ah! I can’t wait for what you have planned! I personally enjoy the analysis videos but I can’t bear to bring myself to create one; also been thinking podcast. I don’t think I have the guts lol.

    Good luck and can’t wait!

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  5. I’m going to wish you the best of luck in making videos for this, I think we share similar outlooks about how blogs should be, an outpouring of thoughts about what’s on your mind and I can definitely relate to the struggle of making long-form analysis posts and wondering whether it’s ‘good enough’. Although I must say, I definitely enjoy posts talking about blog plans too.

    I, for various reasons, don’t feel as though making videos is for me but certainly I’d be interested in seeing things like your Monogatari series (excellent content, by the way) put into video form. Good luck with getting it all set-up!

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  6. It should go without saying but I fully support your choice and future direction with your blog.

    “Basically, I want this blog to become my Digibro After Dark,”

    Would be okay if we called this blog Afterthoughts That Move?…

    Don’t worry I’ll just show myself the door.

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  7. Jessica Noseworthy

    Congratulations on your 2 month achievement!

    I am new to following this blog, but I found it via Twitter, and so I am already following you there. 😀 I will be sure to check out your videos.

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  8. Congrats on the two-month milestone – you’ve been putting out some great analytical content and it’s great to hear some insight into what you’ll be tackling next.

    I couldn’t agree more with your desire to put your Monogatari breakdowns into video form. It’s the kind of subject and show that really strains the limitations of the written word and accompanying still imagery. Once something exceeds that ~2,000 word soft cap, it’s digestibility just feels stunted to me in comparison to a several minute video equipped with better visual references, ease of visual accessibility, and a more pronounced atmosphere. I’ve recently undertaken a similar project and between the length of what I want to say and the fact that there is very little literature on the subject currently, the value of rendering it all in video has been a growing appeal. That being said, I lack most of the technical knowledge to do what I’d like to and my voice is anything but engaging.

    So I feel your pain on this one and I really hope you’re able to bring your project to life in the way that you’d like to. Keep up the great work.

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    1. Thank you. ^.^

      Yeah, it’s a challenge, no question. I’m not going to be using any fancy video editing software to begin with because I don’t have the money to invest in it unless it’s something that gains traction. But more importantly I just don’t have experience. I’ll take the “everyone has to start somewhere” approach with it.

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  9. Hey dude, I’m a new subscriber of yours but I’m really liking what you’re doing here! Best of luck to you in getting into Youtube! I would happily watch hours worth of analysis on Monogatari (which was originally why I followed you), so I hope you’re able to get the resources you need to transfer that project over to the new medium. I’ve been wanting to do an analysis on Monogatari’s directing for a while now, but have put in on hold until I’m able to do it through video. I totally agree with you, for that type of analysis video is a far more accessible medium.

    I’m trying to get into Youtube anime analysis as well, and even with a fair amount of editing experience it’s a hell of a lot of work. But there are a lot of good resources out there these days that should help you accomplish that goal. Again, best of luck, keep up the good work! Hope to see you over there soon, and I look forward to seeing what you’re going to do next here.

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    1. I appreciate your kind words!! It’s definitely hard work, even more than I had anticipated. Just trying to get my vocals to sound right is super difficult. While my YouTube content may be waylaid by other opportunities (which if they come to fruition you’ll hear about soon) I’m absolutely going to get back to Monogatari. I too have a lot of passion for that series.

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