I did a lot of research on YouTube and blogging before I started my channel and my blog. The thing that they all tell you to do is find your niche, narrow your focus. I tried to find just one thing I want to talk about. I have so many things that I like and want to talk about.
Did I talk about anime? At one point most of the video’s I watched were about anime and manga. I spent a lot of my time on anime forums before YouTube was a thing. The first videos I watched on YouTube were anime episodes that were split into two or three videos an episode with horrible quality and horrible subtitles. Back then it was the only way to be able to see certain shows at all. There was no legal means back then for a lot of the shows that interested me. While I love anime and do want to talk about it, what was the point of having a channel dedicated to just anime and manga when I have not been keeping up with recent anime? I stopped watching seasonal anime and have no plans to start watching seasonal anime again. I still have things that I want to talk about when it comes to anime and manga, just not enough for it to be my focus.
Or did I talk about the books? My favourite past time when I was growing up. I don’t have to buy books to talk about them since I already have a collection. I have the same issues with reading as I do anime, I don’t read as much as I used to. Since I made my YouTube channel, despite not releasing as much content on books as I intended, my reading has picked up but not back to what it used to be as a teenager. I have finished reading more books this year than in the last ten years.
Or did I talk about technology? I have always had an interest in technology. I have every single computer that my family has ever owned. I had a PDA and replaced it with an iPod touch when they were released. I went out of my way to get a Gameboy when I started working because I always wanted one growing up and never had one. I don’t buy tech gear too often since I ran out of space to store everything. My money for tech gear is now going towards paying off my house. I feel a bit guilty about owning so much stuff. Stuff that hardly gets used.
And then there was gaming. I love gaming because I love playing through a story. My favourite games are DOS and early Windows games that tell a story, point and click adventure games being my favourite. I love watching gaming channels on YouTube. I watch some game-through but prefer those that talk about the history or facts about the games. I don’t feel like I know enough about any game to dedicate a channel to just games. I now spend more time watching other people play games rather than playing them myself. The only game that I play on a regular basis is Guild Wars 2, and even that is much reduced in recent years. I wouldn’t be doing anything online with Guild Wars 2 because I play to connect with friends that I no longer see in person. I don’t want to mix something that I do as a break for work with something that while a hobby is a form of work. I still need something that gives me a break, and that thing is Guild Wars.
I wanted to talk about it all. I want to talk about what I am reading, playing, watching. What technology I am using. So I decided that despite all the recommendations to have a narrow focus, that I was going to talk about my books, DVDs, games, technology, anime and manga on the one channel and see what I enjoy talking about long term. That is where my blog name and first YouTube channel name comes in, The Backlog Quest because it will be a quest to get through all my unread books, unwatched videos and unplayed games. I will get the chance to talk about different technology along with way because I have different consoles for the games in my backlog.
I recognised that one hobby did not fit on my YouTube channel dedicated to reducing my backlog, and that is my writing. Writing is the hobby that I do the most of in my free time. It’s what I talk about the most in my day to day life. I don’t feel that I know enough about writing to have a separate blog for writing which is why I have a section for it on here despite having them separate on YouTube channel.
So attempting to narrow my focus was really a fail. My passions are too broad. While my overall likes have stayed the same for many years, my attention often shifts between my hobbies. I am trying to get myself to the point that I do a little bit at a time of everything. For right now, that is not working. I have just accepted that I have a broad focus and will work around it.
