IRDulogy

On April 17th, 2018, 2 years ago today, Infinite Rainy Day, the Blogger site that I couldn’t shut up about, closed down. Its closing entry, about a niche video game, was its last. Speaking personally, this was a sad moment. I’ve always been fascinated with writing, but this time was different. This hit hard. If anything, it was because I was also its most-frequent contributor.

What was Infinite Rainy Day, or IRD? It was an anime discussion/reviewing blog, one of many. But what set it apart was that it had purpose. The site, initially consisting of 7 staff, was a hub for material you’d “save for a rainy day”. It was content for when it was raining and you were stuck indoors. That was the appeal of its name, banner, layout and various podcasts.

IRD was my first serious writing position, even receiving a small sum for my posts. Before IRD, I struggled to make myself known online. I had a profile on ScrewAttack, where I was busy posting content, but my reach was limited. I didn’t have much of a following, and I wasn’t getting paid. I knew my IRD boss in passing, but we didn’t even have a working relationship. So when he petitioned for writers, I took a gamble and offered my services. IRD then officially launched on June 27th, 2014 with two pieces ready to go, both from other writers.

My first piece, the first in an incomplete retrospective on Digimon: Digital Monsters, released on July 2nd, 2014. My retrospective, all 4 entries, remains an anomaly. It was the most-similar to my ScrewAttack content, containing censored profanity, disjointed thoughts and long-winded summaries. That retrospective pushed me to my limits, exhausting me enough to abandon it after finishing my second entry on Digimon Tamers in the early-Fall.

It wasn’t until my next piece that I really got into a groove with my writing. In fairness, I’d had my worst Summer in recent memory: my dad had a massive heart attack that June, and the stress of whether or not he’d recover was weighing me down. Additionally, Israel was at war, which was also tiring. Even after leaving for Birthright, a trip I was initially hesitant to attend, having a routine wasn’t really on my mind. If anything, it was a low priority.

The situation improved by early-2015. It was in 2015 that I was promoted to assistant editor, which gave me keys to site editing and statistics. It was the year IRD kicked off, drawing some of its most-ardent fans and highest views. It was also when the writing staff was at their most-ambitious, churning out podcasts and blog entries galore. Life was good.

In 2016, to help keep up with demand, my boss added 5 new writers for Seasonal Reviews. At times, they even contributed to regular content. But I was insistent on constantly writing new pieces, so I did. And fans took notice, with yet another Views boom come Summer. If 2015 was when IRD got going, then 2016 was when the site peaked in quality. There was even enough momentum to revamp the site to its current model.

Unfortunately, such wasn’t to last. As personal stresses began taking their toll, my boss reduced the workload. 3 times a week was a lot, after all, so why not 2? That was more manageable. It even allowed the staff to pace themselves and work longer on their pieces. It was a fair compromise, but I still churned out content regularly.

Sadly, the stresses of life were becoming hectic. Staff began asking for time to focus on other projects, and by late-2017 the cracks were showing. As our site Discord server indicated, it was clear this wouldn’t last. Finally, in early-2018, my boss broke the news: IRD was closing up shop. The site would remain active for people to peruse, but it wouldn’t be around for much longer. I managed to shove in my last piece on April 10th, 2018, a week before the final post.

So what happened? Simple: we were too ambitious for our own good. Ignoring personal issues, which we all had, the site became a side-job most of us lacked the time for. If you look at the trajectory of posts, by late-2017 only 4 of us were regularly posting. By early-2018, that number dropped to 3. Of them, most were from me, as I had the most free-time. But even then, it was causing strain to keep up with content while writing for The Whitly-Verse, which sprung up to fill a need that IRD couldn’t.

In other words, IRD wasn’t practical anymore. Still, I wasn’t too upset. Writing for the site provided me with a source of spending money, as well as a chance to flex my creativity for a larger audience. IRD was also a stepping stone in the evolution of my style, one I initially had to modify to meet its limitations. I thrived there, and I’m grateful for the experience.

I sometimes wonder what’d have happened if IRD continued: would I have continued on with it? Would I be posting as frequently in The Whitly-Verse? Would I have worked up the courage to apply for my short-lived stint on Nintendo Enthusiast? But I guess there’s no point pondering any of that. For now, I can only look back at what was, and what was felt like a writing dream.

So here’s to IRD and its 447 posts, 149 of them from me (I’ve counted)! Here’s to its successes and failures, and to the lessons it taught me! Let’s pour one out for this bad boy, shall we?