I keep having all these serious thoughts in my head concerning the fact that I graduate with a BFA in a year and a half. Tuesday marks the start of my sixth semester, and every so often I lapse into thinking about what I'm going to do after graduation.
I was told a statistic one time, that something like 4 out of 5 people with a BFA end up never using it at all five years after they graduate. And I can easily see why; it's hard to stay motivated and remain persistent if something else come your way beforehand. But I really really really don't want to end up that way.
So you see, I am dedicated to what I do. I don't call myself the Obnoxious Art Stud(ent) for nothing. And with that in mind, you'd think I'd be all crazy about this site, how it's driven to be all about "art", and why I would appreciate that.
I think I need to explain why I take certain unpopular stances when it comes to theOtaku.
If someone was to say I could only draw or write for the rest of my life, I would be driven to insanity. Both are intrinsic parts of who I am. I write when I can't draw and draw when I can't write and play video games when I can do neither. To reach way back, the main reason I ever gained any sort of popularity on theO is because I wrote articles. I wasn't confident enough in my arting as a fourteen-year-old to surf that wave to stardom. Even now, I don't draw in a kawaii desu enough style, or churn out enough fanart, to gain attention that way.
And then I think, wow. I am lucky to be able to do everything that I can do. Whether or not I think I'm any good at them and proceed to dodge punches, the fact is people say I can draw, I can make graphics, and I can write. So what about everybody else? What of the people who can't draw? Who don't make wallpapers and such? What of the people who enjoy writing?
That's why I'm in such heavy and persistent support of some return to writing on the site. In really simple terms, it's not very fair. And I'm not saying these things to just benefit myself or my friends, because I know there are kids out there who are into the same stuff we are but don't draw. Is it fair to exclude them this way? Going back a sentence, I say "my friends" - yeah, I have a lot of friends who don't draw, but instead write. I know more aspiring writers than artists on theOtaku. I weep openly when no one follows my footsteps into an art degree but instead wants to pursue English, but I understand.
Snarky comments aside, I just don't see why we should waste this talent. Reasons as to why fan words will never come back seem to reside on the "we've tried, they've failed" words. But I think to immediately cast them off is ignoring a huge difference in Version Vibrant: we can make them so much more than what any other site has.
The way theOtaku is designed and networked, there is a lot of potential to make writing wholly unique and different. Fan fics? Sure. Articles? Why not. Reviews? Cool beans. But there's other stuff. We're not just an anime site anymore. We are a site for anime, manga, video games, cartoons, live-action shows, movies, music, and general geekery. We are a "friendly site for creative people". We're a place composed of a variety of people, ranging from teenagers to college students to legit adults, all with different offerings.
I'm just going to use myself as an example, since I don't have to pay copyright fees. Within the past few years, I've taken to putting up my college art here, to give a taste as to what I do and the stuff I make in art school. Then I decided to get off my butt and make a World dedicated to my art things. I've since done a few things I've always wanted to do or been sort of asked to do, like a pep talk to just post things up or a guide to DSLR camera buying. I've also done things here, like the quick-start guide to Doctor Who and an ode to Chat.
What do all of these have in common? They're written out. However, they're different. Guides, essays, things. The way Worlds are set-up allows for a better system of this sort of thing.
And I want to share them. I want to share them so, so badly. Featuring a post on my portfolio is an abysmal way to share these things, because unless someone is looking there, they won't know it exists. Besides that, how would they know they want to look at it? This was a major fault of the implementation of fan words - all the viewer had was a title and a link, no description. And that is seriously a problem when we're dealing with the internet, where most people demand instant gratification. Images grant that. Titles do not.
Does anyone get where I'm coming from yet?
I want to work with the site and breath some new and different life into it, and I also want to be fair to the people branded as "the rest" here. What else can we do to the site? Most suggestions are things we already had before that were discontinued for one reason or another. I think that giving Words a section and lending it better promotional tools would help it out. As time wears on, theOtaku is creating new ways to share cross-network, which I also believe would be a facet in helping the section. And it would finally allow people who don't do much else besides journal entries to contribute and feel like they're part of something.
My World of Stop Interrupting Me was created as to blend my love of art with my enjoyment of writing, and to give me a way of doing both at the same time. Writing for theOtaku isn't what it used to be, so I've had to make my own way. It still isn't much, and I wish it could be so much more.
This is my balance of awkwardness. I heavily support writing and will even nay-say the art sections. But I am an artist, and it's what I want to do. I don't belong entirely to one camp, but I'm certain there have to be more like me on here.
