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Published May 12, 2017

Everyone, congratulate me, it’s been almost two weeks since I restarted this blog, and I haven’t quit! I am really excited to bring Nerd Speaker to WordPress and write about nerdy things – but how did I get here? Well, it’s a long… actually, pretty short story, really.

Nerd Speaker started in 2014 on Blogger as a passion project when I was unemployed, with lofty dreams of breaking into video game writing or public relations. However, rather than restrict my writing to gaming, I decided to cover any nerdy topic I fancied at the time so as to not restrict my scope. To be honest, I don’t really remember how I settled on the name Nerd Speaker – pretty much I am a nerd and very shouty. With my first post published on May 11, 2014, Nerd Speaker was born:

cropped-cropped-nerd-speaker.jpg

To look at this old banner, I cringe. I think my thought process at the time was that I was writing about nerdy topics, but in a sophisticated way. “But Jay,” you ask, “What in God’s name made you think that small town America in the 50s or a crusty old-timey white dude with a megaphone was in any way sophisticated?”

*clears throat* I DON’T KNOW! I WASN’T THINKING! 50s AMERICA WAS A HORRIBLE TIME WHEN RACIAL SLURS WERE THROWN AROUND CASUALLY, SEGREGATION WAS STILL IN EFFECT AND THE CRUSTY OLD-TIMEY WHITE DUDE PROBABLY BEAT HIS WIFE!…

So anyway, I continued the blog up until the Fall, at which point I got the opportunity to write for the now-defunct video game website Gamer Headlines, and the blog went completely ignored. The site is a barren wasteland now, but still online – you can still see all my old posts on my Gamer Headlines writer profile.

I wrote for Gamer Headlines until January 2015, but stopped writing blogs entirely as I was accepted to a Public Relations program at Humber College in Toronto. I learned a lot about writing there, and we did have a blogging assignment, so I added two blogs to Nerd Speaker that were short and just for grades.

After that, I entered the 9-5 world, and had no desire to write for fun until Fall 2016 when I saw an episode of one of my favorite shows, Steven Universe. The episode entitled Mindful Education so captured my imagination I had to write a blog about it. I then tried to write for the BuzzFeed Community because, frankly, rather than try to write what I actually wanted to write, I craved a large audience. The experience was so disheartening – the format is shallow and the types of pieces that were accepted were along the caliber of “We can tell your favorite Disney Princess based on your favorite type of cheese.” That is a real post. I did get one piece published though, all about Steven Universe’s Peridot.

Finally, after having the desire to write for fun in the back of my mind for ages, I finally made the decision to move to WordPress (as I use it so much for work, and it’s WAY better than Blogger), and here we are!

I found a very-talented pixel artist who goes by Velura, and commissioned her to reforge the crusty old-timey white man into my glorious self, and she did a fantastic job! I encourage you to visit her on Twitter or Tumblr!

I used my limited Photoshop skills to create a new banner in homage to the title screen of one of my favorite NES games, Bubble Bobble, and got to writing. I am already so glad I did.

I look forward to continuing to grow my blog and get to know more of the wonderful community of WordPress bloggers. I’d like to give a shout out to Mr. Panda, The Otaku Judge, Mr. Wapojif and Quirky Girl, who so far have been the most engaged out of all the 30+ followers I’ve gained in less than two weeks. This community rocks!

I had to learn again to write just for fun, and now that I have taken the pressure off myself to use it to launch a career, the words are just flowing out of me. Writing is enjoyable, and finding people who share a love for the same nerdy things you love is a truly special experience. See you in the funny pages!

Thanks for reading my spiel! If you like this post, I encourage you to write in the comments, I’d love to hear from you. As well, be sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date with my nerdy musings.

16 Comments

  1. Aww! Thanks for the shout out! I think your blog is pretty awesome. 👍

    Oh, and that whole bit with your original 1950s small town America banner cracked me up. 😄

    • Sheesh, what was I thinking… thanks again for your support!

  2. Writing blogs should be all about having fun. 🙂 I’m looking forward to reading more awesome words here!

    • Thanks! Again, love the community here, and looking forward to following you as well.

  3. I love this! Learning to write for myself was a real struggle. In order for my blog to be successful (whatever that means) I have to *want* to be writing it. Who woulda thunk?
    Anyways, in returning to the blogging scene I’ve found I get am immense amount of enjoyment out of the interactions I have with people like you. So thanks, and keep on writing! And congratulations!

    • Thanks man, I love the idea of being an optimistic gamer in a world of so much negativity. Looking forward to following along!

  4. Chris Scott Chris Scott

    Congrats on restarting your blog. I too am kind of in that process and it can be hard at times but I’ve found the wordpress community has been welcoming and encouraging. Good luck keeping it going, I’ll be keeping up with it.

    • Thanks Chris, the challenge will be writing and also keeping up with all you guys!

  5. Mr. Wapojif says thank you. Keep on blogging, our kid. Aiiiiie.

  6. The WordPress community is awesome and welcoming to all writers. Whether it’s humor, professional, or whatever the voice you’re trying to portray in a particular blog, people are always encouraging and willing to provide help and insight. Congrats on restarting your blog! I’m intrigued to see what you plan on writing about in the near future 😎

    • Thanks! Me too since I’m not sure what direction I’m going in just yet :p

  7. Congratulations on your return to writing for fun! I look forward to reading more of your posts.

  8. coupleOlosers coupleOlosers

    You inspire me! I want to get into blogging about games and similar nerdy things, but I’ve been lazy thus far and have played it safe, sticking to reviews and quick looks at what I’m playing. (Admittedly something I don’t want my blog to entirely be about.) I guess I just haven’t found my niche or figured out the best way to do it. Loved reading your story though and hope I build up my following and blog eventually, too!

    • Hey, sorry for the late reply! I am definitely a casual blogger, and these days I’m lucky if I write two posts a month. I find reviews kind of boring, so I always look for interesting angles to tackle that might add a new twist to a subject – but if you’re struggling for an idea, just write about the most recent game you loved and why, something easy – helps open the floodgates. Good luck!

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