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Regarding guest blogging

You’ve probably noticed that there have been a number of guest posts cropping up, from the year-end review series to the recaps of dramas like City Hall, IRIS, and Smile. The latest to join me is waterleaf, who wrote the post below and has graciously volunteered to keep writing from time to time. I’ve been getting more questions about guest blogging, so I thought I’d address it here.

I love featuring a range of opinions, especially when they’re different from my own, which is why I find guest posts so valuable. I’ve been extremely fortunate to have passionate and articulate people not only reading this site but also feeling motivated enough to contribute their time writing for it. I know how much work it takes and I’m humbled by people like Samsooki, thunderbolt, Dahee Fanel, hjkomo, dw4p, soyjoy, kaedejun and smallfish putting so much effort into reviews and recaps.

On the other hand, I remain committed to writing most of the content on this site myself. When the site started growing, I had to make a decision whether I wanted to expand or stay small. The idea of being a comprehensive drama hub has its appeal, but I chose to keep things small but manageable, rather than spreading things thin for the sake of covering more. But guest blogging allows for a happy medium where additional shows can be highlighted, and that makes me happy.

If you’re interested in guest reviewing, hit me up and we’ll talk. A few prerequisites: (1) I don’t care about quantity or speed; I care about the quality of the writing and ability to take a drama and discuss it in an entertaining way. (2) Please be passionate and motivated; if I assign recaps, you will burn out. Hence, I don’t assign. (3) Please be fairly certain you can complete the drama. I promise I will never nag you for recaps and if you must drop it, there will be no hard feelings or guilt-tripping. (It should be fun, not a burden!) But when I make a decision to recap, I also want to be reasonably certain I will finish, as a courtesy.

What do you think?

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@ JB

I was reading this post earlier today on my phone, so I just now noticed the pic you have at the top of the post. heehee :P

And I'll have to second JB's comment that 2-in-1 recapping isn't really a time-saver at all. Plus, if I remember correctly, didn't the Smile, You recaps begin a while after the drama had already begun...so, there already was quite a lag time to begin with.

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"Writing the recap is the fastest part of the process for me; it’s watching, screencapping, and formatting that is really time-consuming" - I completely agree with this.

If I could write without the screencapping, without the rewatching, or without the formatting, I'd probably be able to finish a recap in an hour (depending on the length of the episode) - but that would mean major loopholes in the episode since I don't exactly have a photographic memory of what happens. (The screen-capping is mostly why I've given up recapping dramas actually, since it's difficult for me to get screencaps when I started streaming most of my videos online instead)

I'm really impressed with JB, Samsooki, Dahee, soyjoy and all the other guest bloggers here, not only for the quality of their writing, but also because of the effort you guys have invested in the screen-capping, and formatting, so all I can say is KUDOS to you!

(And really, Samsooki, I used to like JNR but the more you go on about her, the more inclined I feel to dislike her!...kidding. I still think Patzzi's not a bad drama, just not one I would recommend as a must-watch in kdrama-land.)

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Hi! I really like reading your recaps...I Hope you continue to write good recaps. High5 for you...

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ever since i stumbled across this blog, i have joined countless others to camp here 24/7. jb and all your guest bloggers, you have my undying gratitude for all the effort and time put in to provide us with recaps, updates on the kdrama scene, etc. i greatly appreciate everything and please don't burn out and take time to live your lives and ignore those demanding requests.

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And here I was just about to agree that it's a great idea to do 2-in-1 recap. lol
Nevermind take it back... lol

edit: oops forgot to say that I appreciate all your guest bloggers because then I have more drama recaps to read from and different view also. hehe

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I can only imagine how much time and effort it would take to do recaps...yeesh.
If only I had enough skills to be a good writer or I had more time, I would also love to contribute but sadly, I lack both. Oh, I'm not korean either ^-^'.

I applaud JB and the rest of the contributors for all the work that they do. Just finishing dramas alone can be challenging. Even now I only have time to watch three dramas: Smile, You, Wish Upon a Star and the jdrama Liar Game. JeJoongwon and Chuno will just have to wait.

On a side note, we're still talking about MLP and Jang Nara. I am a fan of both Jang Nara and My Love Patzzi (Team Patzzi ftw!) but this obsession of yours samsooki is getting a little bit...creepy? lol =P just a little bit...=D

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@ JB,
Thanks for clarifying and for the work you put in. I appreciated your explanation of what goes into the recapping.
It was better received than that of #16, who should not go into any field involving diplomacy, negotiation ,or just plain communication.

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I love the work you guys do here. I would love to help, but I feel I am too green to do any time of recapping.

All I know is I love reading them and I look forward to more. And I even look forward to discovering more shows because of them.

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Hullo! I'm joining the conversation a bit late, but I just wanted to say @ Samsooki 39 - haha! No ventilators needed--we're doin' alright, just rather busy with life and trying to keep up! Thanks for backing us up though :)

I'd also agree that the 2-in-1 recaps, which dw4p and I tried about 15 episodes ago, were much more cumbersome than the single episodes. For one, they took a while to watch, screencap & write, but then the really time-consuming part was going back and figuring out what to cut. It reminded me of college, how writing a 2-page paper was always harder than writing a 5-page paper, cuz in the latter you could ramble on, but in the former you had to be concise. No words to waste.

So, to those who expressed concern for the Smile recapping team, apologies for the delay, but they WILL get done!

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You may want to check out MyBlogGuest.com: http://myblogguest.com/ That's a community of guest bloggers. You can find plenty of great blogs there accepting guest posts as well as authors willing to guest post.

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Hi, Javabeans,

I emailed you a while ago about guest recapping Korean drama The Devil/Mawang.

After watching The Devil, and falling in love with it, I had this incredible urge to recap it (something I've never felt about any other drama). It's a shame that so few people know about this wonderful drama, but I think recapping it may encourage more people to watch it.

If you're not familiar with it, The Devil is a 2007 revenge drama with Joo Ji Hoon, Shin Min Ah and Uhm Tae Woong.

About me: I've been watching Korean drama for 3 years, I'm an English Lit. major, I like to work fast, so if I start a project I don't drag it out and finish it fairly quickly.

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Belleza please,,,,

I request..

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DRAMABEANS is THE BLOG to read for all of us KDrama fanatics & it's just FANTASTIC, as it is!!! JB, you write the BEST articles, reviews & recaps this side of drama-viewing!!! I'd also like to salute & thank your growing stable of bloggers!!!
Keep it up, guys!!!

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