Everyone starts somewhere. No matter your vocation, there's a reason you got into it, and a story you have to tell. With our bounty on how you started out in the content creation business, similarly to our bounty on why you did so, we’re looking for those stories. There’s real value in this, both for yourself and for others in this, the Just About Content Creators community, as we look to understand our starting points and motivations. Maybe you’ll inspire others, or bring them to a deeper level of self-knowledge. In a business as unstructured and uncertain as this, these are valuable gifts.

And so, from creators new to the game and still feeling like the new kids at school, to wizened veterans with blue-light-blocking glasses and a habit of making asides to camera while brushing their teeth, these are the origin stories of our community of creators. They run the gamut from tentative dips in the water, helped along through happy accidents or encouraging communities, to determined plunges enabled by changes in circumstance. Read, enjoy, and be inspired!

Fun Inc

Kicking us off is FUN INC, also known as Keacte, an EVE Online streamer who’s been creating content for the space MMO for five or six years, give or take. Keacte is one of the most active members in our Just About EVE Online community, and he explained how his journey began:

"I started recording fights and roams in EVE, rewatching them for self analysis, then ended up making some funky music videos with game footage, followed by some instructional videos. This led to creating propaganda and cinematic videos of in-game footage, which I followed up with an aborted Twitch streaming session when it became apparent that my ISP was useless and streaming with such low resolution wasn't feasible."

After this, he went back to focusing on video creation for his YouTube channel, but now mainly streams thanks to a better internet connection. He explains he's not the best PvPer in EVE, nor the best Fleet Commander, but he promises enjoyable content on his Twitch channel.

Letitia Lemon

Next up is Letitia Lemon, who streams a variety of games on her Twitch channel, including plenty of Fallout 4. Her tale of streaming began when several of her friends started, and encouraged her to pick it up as well.

"I was very self-conscious about my setup but I figured if my personality can save it, then maybe I can make this work. In March 2018 I hit the Share button and went live on Twitch for the first time. If it flopped then I was going to spare myself the embarrassment and never stream again. I’d never want to stream to zero viewers - even though I have the ability to talk as if there were people watching, my ego wouldn’t let me, and thankfully, I haven't had to stream to a zero-viewer audience yet. I had no idea how well my first stream was going to do though or who would even turn up, bar a couple of friends who said they’d be there to see how it went. Little did I know that throughout that stream, this random nobody had garnered 372 views!"

Of course, that is an immense result for a first stream, and Letita says she isn't sure whether it was thanks to her friends spreading the word or the Twitch algorithm looking favourably upon her. She managed to maintain a similar viewership for the rest of the week and earned affiliate status by the end of week two, which meant it was a no-brainer to continue.

"There was even a point where I almost hit the requirements to be a Twitch Partner because I was doing so well, without any major upgrades to my setup, which proves  that you don’t need to spend thousands on expensive gear right at the start. However, I never ended up applying for Partner because other aspects of my career took over. I’m an actor, immersive theatre performer, event host, voice actor, and model, so my career is varied and involves a lot of time away from home, so I didn’t want to make streaming stressful. It’s always been about having fun, playing games, and if I can entertain people in the process then that’s a bonus. It’s a great portfolio builder for me and I decided that I’ll always stick with it as a hobby, but should there ever come a day again where the potential for a purple tick arises, then I don’t see why I shouldn’t put in a little extra time to make that happen!"

Brother Grimoire

Brother Grimoire, like Fun Inc, is an EVE Online streamer on Twitch. He's been streaming for around four years or so, working it around the other things going on in his life, but was "unable to make a full commitment between moving a lot and a busy job." However, an unfortunate incident at work allowed him to stream more frequently:

"Recently, I became injured on a jobsite and was left with permanent nerve damage that left me unable to continue my career as an electrician. With a large amount of time on my hands and with the encouragement of my fiance, I made a New Year’s Resolution to take streaming seriously. I started 2023 with 180 followers and have 4,379 at the time of writing."

It's worth noting that as I write this article, Brother Grimoire has now surpassed 5,000 followers; a truly meteoric rise.

Rushlock

Rushlock is our third and final EVE Online streamer, who explained he used to stream on Twitch solely before work, before directing his audience to another channel he would also tune into while working.

"Then in August 2013 I streamed every day for a month, for four hours a day, to see how I felt at the end of the month. Was I burned out, did I want to do more? Turns out I still had the energy to continue!"

Rushlock's streams are formatted like a live Q&A help desk for EVE Online, and he's earned over 31,000 Twitch followers during that period.

Lanah Tyra

Finally, we have Lanah Tyra, who exclusively streams FFXIV on Twitch. Her content creation journey began when she "took over leading raids from her mentor", organising 48-player Delubrum Reginae Savage raids alongside guides for new players. The Discord server through which all this happened had 4,000 members, so it was a large community already.

"Those who didn’t make it onto a run still wanted to see it and use the stream to prepare for next time, so it was common practice for the raid leaders to stream. I had never done it before, so I had to call my mentor and ask how to stream. He helped me set up OBS and explained the basics. These streams were not really about engaging with the viewers as I was constantly doing explanations and callouts, but still I tried to reply to messages in chat between pulls."

Lanah explained that she stopped leading raids earlier this year due to life things getting in the way, but upon seeing a vacancy for a Game Capture Artist, she resumed where she left off, alongside making FFXIV guide videos for her YouTube channel to act as a portfolio.

How did you start creating content? We'll probably run this bounty again in the future, so be sure to let us know in the comments, and keep your story in mind for next time!