#ask starryeyedboxes

[starryeyedboxes]

I'll be your friend!

Hello!

You’re so sweet. I kinda looked at your blog real quick and you’re so friendly and kind to others, it made my heart warm.

But hello, I’m Starry or Shay, whichever you prefer to call me! ^^

[starryeyedboxes]

hey! I know we haven't talked in a while, but you can message me whenever you need someone to talk to, okay?

Thank you, friend.

I miss you.

I hope you’re doing well. It was nice seeing your lovely self in my ask. :)

[starryeyedboxes]

[2/2] You're a really cool person and maybe I'll feel up to sharing my channel once I've shaken of the uh... shookness? I dunno, when I'm back to recording again. Thank you very much, I hope you have a good week~

Don’t feel ashamed at all! It happens to everyone. It’s not a bad time for you to just take a break and mull things over. If you still haven’t gone back, it’s okay. Try to rethink things. Try to ask yourself a few of these things:

1. Is there anything you’d LIKE to be doing better for your channel, like goals you’d like for your channel that would be like little extras? If so, is it something you can do now? Or is it something you’d have to wait for in the future? Like would you like to have a green screen? Or would you like to do livestreams? Charity livestreams? These aren’t necessary for your channel, but would add a little pizazz.

2. What is something that you personally feel would improve the channel at its basics? If anything at all? Do you think it needs better camera quality (if your face is in it at all), or perhaps a cool intro/outro? Better lighting? These are things that overall enhance the viewer experience. It makes it more personal and easier to watch, you know?

3. Try to reach out to your other friends and ask them what they feel is good about the channel and what you’re doing with it, and then ask them what they think needs to be improved on. Even if they don’t watch a lot of YT or anything, ask anyway!

It’s okay if you have answers to all of these but none of them are attainable to you right now. Like I’ve mentioned, work with what you have! Jack for example did. He used to have mattresses for sound and a sheet for his background. We all need to make do with what we have.

But these things you may want later to help improve are things that you probably need to save up for, which is understandable. We are all people who probably don’t have money just up for grabs. But I honestly think investing in some better equipment would do wonders, maybe not even now, but down the line. With everything so HD and crisp nowadays and with wonderful audio, you definitely might have to keep up with the times somewhere down the road.

Also, I’m incredibly sorry things didn’t work out with your adviser, especially after so many years of friendship. But I’m very proud of you for talking about it with them at all! That was very courageous of you and definitely shows you care a lot about this channel to where you believe in it so fondly that you decided to talk to them about what you felt wasn’t handled properly. It’s very mature! Keep that drive and dedication! And if you decide to get another advisor, I hope it works out.

Hang in there, friend! You got this! And know that I believe in you!

[starryeyedboxes]

Thank you for your thought out response, your writing is always real and to the point ^^ I'm a bit ashamed right now since I have been unable to record without keeping emotion out of it the last couple weeks. Every trigger was set off without apology and the last time I spoke with this advisor they stated everything they thought was wrong incorrectly and told me to stop speaking to them, ignored messages defending myself. It's been hard having a friend of 12 years just do that like it's ok [1/2]

I’ll respond in the second ask again :)

[starryeyedboxes]

[2/2] I'm being told to pick a target audience and pander to them but.... that's not how I want the channel to grow? I've been telling this adviser that but things got to a point where they've given up on me (I've only been at it a month) say they don't know what I want from them (they haven't watched any of my vids except kinda clicking through and criticizing the 4/40 minutes they saw, so maybe watch plz) so I don't know if you've seen how youtubers go up without clickbait that I haven't :/

I honestly don’t know anyone who hasn’t used a little bit of clickbait. The reason being is that it actually works– the science behind it is that as human beings, we want to complete a lot of things. With clickbait, our minds read the headline or tidbit that is considered clickbait, and to answer our wonder about it, we often click it to find some sort of resolution. Many popular YTers definitely use clickbait, even now that they are more known, you know? So if you use clickbait (which it seems like you’re against which isn’t bad at all and I find very honorable), don’t be hard on yourself.

But I’ll gladly watch your videos if you’d like! I don’t mind doing that at all! And I can try to give an honest opinion if you’d like.

But I’m sorry that you feel really frustrated and discouraged. That’s the worst, especially when it’s something that you’re very passionate about. But just know that it happens to everyone. When you’re working with the creative process, it’s part of the cycle and isn’t abnormal. I know that this isn’t a solution to your worries about your direction and such, but I just wanted you to know that it is normal and will happen, and likely will happen again. While it is hard, you have to push through. Rome wasn’t built in a night!

It’s hard starting from the bottom, but unfortunately everyone has to do it. It can be hard trying to climb up and trying to get where you want to be, but it’s a fight that makes everything worth it. So it might seem so daunting right now, but you need to work through it all and make sure that in the future, you’re glad you kept going.

I don’t know if you follow me for my writing or anything, or just because of my content. But if it was for my writing on Ao3 and tumblr, I too had to start at the bottom. I was getting like three notes on pieces I had poured my heart and soul into. It was devastating refreshing and refreshing to see no one giving it the attention I thought it needed and the attention I personally needed to validate myself. Validation is normal– everyone wants validation. It’s what also makes us human. There were so many people who I looked up to who were getting a lot of notes and kudos on their works, and it discouraged me every time. You put so much work into something and to receive little to no recognition or praise like you feel like you deserve. But the more you push on, the harder the battle gets, it’s more steps you’re taking in the right direction.

If you give up, there’s no chance for you to get where you want at all, right? Let’s say I had given up writing. I never would’ve gotten where I was. I went from two to three notes on my first story that I had worked so hard on to 50+ on a short little prompt I did as practice. It’s something that you, as another creative mind, also need to have and work on: learning that while yes, you are probably not as popular as you’d like to be, but if you stop and give in to your discouragement, there will never be opportunity for you to achieve your full potential.

But while I say all of this, it seems like you definitely have some sort of vision for your channel, yes? You don’t want to pander to a specific audience, you don’t seem like you want to choose a clickbait path, and it seems like you have your heart definitely set on your channel. And I think that’s absolutely wonderful! It warms my heart that you feel this way because it definitely means you care about what you’re doing, and you care a lot!

My only honest way of suggestion on raising your numbers is networking. It’s something that helps out in a lot of ways. Networking allows you to have support from others, and allows you to build off of other creative minds that might help you create something you didn’t really think of before. I personally love working with other creative minds, because you can bounce ideas back and forth. They can give you advice, you can build friendships and work together to rise your numbers. Networking, aside from being a tool for creation, also allows more exposure. If you do a video with another YTer for example, you’re exposed to their audience, who might not have heard of you before! Maybe they like what they see, and they’ll check you out! Same for the one you worked with, some people from your channel might see their channel, and check them out. It can be a very useful tool.

Hang in there friend. I’m sorry if this didn’t help completely, I just wanted to remind you that you need to persevere and keep trying! Because if you don’t, you don’t achieve what you want. It’ll be hard, yes, and you might not have all of the tools others have, but you need to make do with what you have. Reach out to others. Make friends. Keep trying hard. It’ll work out eventually. But you need to get there first, and that definitely means you need to keep going and follow your heart.

I’m sorry that person just criticized you and aren’t being much of any help it seems. If they’re not coinciding with your views and don’t seem to be actually helping, please don’t be afraid to drop them and find some better advice elsewhere. Not everyone is a perfect fit. It might take a few times to get there and find someone who is, but don’t be afraid to follow your heart and follow your morals and goals. This is your vision, you need to be driven enough to see it through, and to board on the right people who will help you along the way.

[starryeyedboxes]

Been following you a long time <3 but needed to youtube vent 3 I'm confused how people see anything on social media since especially on twitter spam accounts will follow me/retweet videos but then none of it is even on their page nor are they listed as following. I have a few channel followers but I know them and none of them are big on social media so nothing gets shared. I'm not one to beg for followers or likes or anything but I'm feeling discouraged y'know? :( [1/2]

I’m so sorry this is late. You sent this in about a week ago and I’m barely getting around to this. I’ll answer this in the second part, sweetie!

[starryeyedboxes]

1 2 and 3 seem like interesting questions (for the post titled Ask Away just in case theres confusion,,)

1) What type of criminal would you be?

A thief honestly. I want so many things but no money. LOL

2) What are you listening to right now?

Honestly. 

3) If you had to choose a stripper name, what would it be?

Dunno. Honestly, Starry is already a bit stripper-esque. My boyfriend jokingly calls me Starshine. Which sounds even more like a stripper name.

Thank you so much for asking these! Sorry that they are so late! I am irresponsible af!

[starryeyedboxes]

5, 11, 14, 29, 37, 42, 47-50! I-I mean you don't have to but like...I would like it a lot if you answered these questions...

im literally the worst i am so sorry that i responded to this so late

5) Do you drink?

Honestly, no. I’m not old enough yet (3 more months though lmao), but I have before. But I only ever drink if I plan on getting drunk (which is almost never).

11) What physical ideal do you imagine in a partner?

Fuck me up with a beautiful smile.

14) Any romantic gestures you really like?

Flowers flowers flowers. If you buy me flowers, I honestly will cry of happiness. I got sunflowers yesterday and they’re sitting on my desk because they were so lovely.

29) Have you ever been skinny dipping?

I have not. I’ve gone topless but not completely.

37) Ever broken any bones?

Nope! I have fractured my toe once though. My mom dropped a jar of spaghetti sauce on my toe in the parking lot. 

42) Are you more like your mom or your dad?

My mom. My dad didn’t raise me, my mom did, so I’m assuming more like her.

47) Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Judai Yuki. Forever and always.

48) What is your favorite thing to do?

Go hiking. I don’t go often because I have really bad knees and I’m always scared of injuring them, but I love going when I do. 

49) If you could only visit one place outside of your hometown, where would it be?

I could only visit one place? Probably London. My inner 13 year old self wanted so badly to go there. 

50) Do you get jealous easily?

I do, but I recognize that I do and when it’s unhealthy. So I can take that into account when it happens and logically process it. 

Thank you so much for asking me! I am so sorry that this is so late, but I had a lot of fun answering these, so thank you :)