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Writing about games for fun and profit...
Lach
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
...mostly fun.
I'm thinking about starting my own blog about games. I know this isn't exactly groundbreaking, but it's something I'd like to try on my free time. The reason I'm considering it is because I'd like to improve my writing skills while writing about and discussing something I love. I don't expect to be writing features for EGM or articles for Newsweek, but I'd like to give it a try.
Besides the fun, I'll be starting the business journalism program at my university. My writing is weak right now (My undergrad degree is in business), and I have no previous journalism experience. I'd like to practice writing articles and features with a topic I'm interested in.
What I'd really like some help or advice in is:
1. How can I improve my writing? (especially grammar and vocabulary)
2. How should I approach writing about games?
3. Do any of you write for a living? (doesn't have to be about games)
4. How can I get into this industry?
I'm thinking about starting my own blog about games. I know this isn't exactly groundbreaking, but it's something I'd like to try on my free time. The reason I'm considering it is because I'd like to improve my writing skills while writing about and discussing something I love. I don't expect to be writing features for EGM or articles for Newsweek, but I'd like to give it a try.
Besides the fun, I'll be starting the business journalism program at my university. My writing is weak right now (My undergrad degree is in business), and I have no previous journalism experience. I'd like to practice writing articles and features with a topic I'm interested in.
What I'd really like some help or advice in is:
1. How can I improve my writing? (especially grammar and vocabulary)
2. How should I approach writing about games?
3. Do any of you write for a living? (doesn't have to be about games)
4. How can I get into this industry?
Lach on
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1. How can I improve my writing? (especially grammar and vocabulary)
By writing and having those other writers looking over your work. If everyone writes and C&C's each others work, you learn to improve through each other. Think of it more like being an editor more than HS writing class.
2. How should I approach writing about games?
If you're going to review games the best thing to do (that I haven't seen anyone do yet - that could be your pull) if you review it from different angles. What would a casual gamer think? How about a hardcore gamer? Fanboy? Industry worker? All in the same review. Leave the number system out of it.
Let's use Hanna Montana as an example. A casual gamer might not think it's that bad which might warrant a buy while a hardcore gamer should stay away because of lack of depth. Cast your net wider than most of blogs would. Who cares if a game is considered a "kiddie" game. Play it and see how the IP is used. The biggest part of writing about games is having to play both the HORRIBLE games and the very good ones.
4. How can I get into this industry?
Write. Build a portfolio with the site. Get proactive. Don't sit on your butt thinking the writing alone (no matter how awesome) will get you anywhere. This, unfortunately, means traveling to places and having to spend some money. But it's worth it if only for the traveling experience.
Thanks for the response.
Regarding what you said about different angles, I was considering creating a site with a story a different character with personalities and maybe including a bit in each review or commentary from a few of the character's points of view. You're example applies here. This would obviously be easier to do if I find other writers to help, but having an alter-ego sounds like fun.
I write freelance, doing video game reviews for a local free magazine, although since I'm from chicago our free publications have pretty big distrubutions. I got into it because my best friend and former roommate used to run an e-zine to promote her dj gigs and parties. after the magazine she did freelance graphic design went under due to some shady dealings, she put together a company, got some investors, and bought out the magazine she worked for.
now, I don't really get paid much (about $10 per review), mostly because I don't really expect any pay. however, the fact that I went ahead and registered myself as a business (and have a freelance agreement, and the fact that I receive compensation for my articles, it entitles me to write off my video game purchases. yup, my 360, ps3, ds, wii, all the games that I've purchased this year, plus my dsl service, a percentage of my mortgage, and a whole bunch of other associated business costs all get put on my p & l (profit and loss) statement.
keep in mind that I do have a "real" job, and the video game reviews are something I do on the side.
maintaining industry contacts is important, as the pr guys hired by the publishers are the people that hook me up with games. getting the contacts was much, much easier than I had imagined. just inform the pr reps that you are a member of the press, provide your credentials, and you're on the list, easy as pie.
I didn't even consider this (sad, because I was a business major).
3.) I'm supposedly a technical writer by trade, even though I've been swept up into more of an IT position in recent years. Probably not the kind of "writes for a living" guy you want, but I thought I'd at least answer.
Do it more. Read house styles if you can (The Escapist has one). Emulate other styles of writing you admire. Read back your own work. It will usually become amazingly obvious when you haven't managed to reach the bar yet. The longer you stick at it, the better you will get.
2. How should I approach writing about games?
However you want to! My current blog is an Edge-style not really impassive, but certainly more like an art critic than standard video game journalism. Or you can go all the other way and end up at UK:Resistance. I'm doing it the way I am so that I can get my head in the game for real video game studies at PhD level.
3. Do any of you write for a living? (doesn't have to be about games)
I considered it (I always like to tell people I was equally likely to choose an English degree over my Computer Science degree, no-one ever believes me, but it's true!). I interned for a few of Future Publishing's magazines for a while. It's a great job, but you have to accept that you are becoming a journalist, not a video game journalist. Video game journalism is a young man's game; you could just as well end up writing for Sailing Monthly or Business Intelligence Today down the line. I love to write, I'm great at writing, and I almost did it, but...
The pay is very poor. I couldn't justify it. An editor's position would have barely paid what is considered a starting salary for a Computer Science graduate in the UK. And everyone wants to be editor.
4. How can I get into this industry?
Write more, write often. Intern at magazines if at all possible; staff writer jobs are heavily contested, but not by realistic candidates. A portfolio, particularly published in a print magazine, will put you head and shoulders above the other applicants.
1. How can I improve my writing? (especially grammar and vocabulary)
Get a lot of practice and write as much as you possibly can. When you write, be specific about what you want to say and keep a thesaurus nearby. You mentioned that you are going back to university, which means you will have access to a lot of resources. Do not be afraid to ask/recieve C&C, because it can help see flaws in your writing that you might have missed.
2. How should I approach writing about games?
When starting a new piece Set a goal/thesis for it.
Ask yourself:
a. What specific topic am I going to address?
Specific Game->Genre->How players react to different types of games->game design of x genre
(these are a few general topics)
b.What type of article do I want to write(opinion piece,review,long article)?
3. Do any of you write for a living? (doesn't have to be about games)
I don't write for a living. However here are some links that you may find helpful:
rpgamer
gamesutra
4. How can I get into this industry?
I unfortunately don't know much about the journalism industry:X.
A good place to start would be submitting "reader reviews" to gaming sites. Even though you won't get paid, it will be good practice.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I think Lach, myself, and others could really benefit from getting a little more of your wisdom. Specifically, could you provide a little more info on meeting PR people? When you say "show them your credentials", what does that mean? If you're just some guy with a blog (like me) does that count? Do I just say "Hi, I'm from genericblog.com and I'd like to review your game, can I get a review copy?" or is there something more I have to have? Basically, what I'm asking is, what's the best way of ensuring the PR person doesn't just blow me off? How can I convince him/her that I'm a legitimate writer looking for something to write about and not just some punk looking for free games?
Also, never settle for a first draft. You read that thing over and over again and keep editing it until it doesn't even look like what it started out as.
2. Approach writing about games the same way you'd approach writing about anything. Figure out your audience. Figure out your voice. Figure out what points you want to hit. Then, just go for it. Don't try to be all-comprehensive. You'll get too bogged down in minutia, and lose the purpose of the article.
3 and 4. I have written reviews for a few websites and am in school for screenwriting as we speak, so yeah. The best thing to do is, once you have built up a nice enough portfolio, apply to every website that is looking for writers. Having your own blog is great and all, but starting off with a nice following before breaking off is infinitely more practical.
As everyone has mentioned, read. That's a no-brainer. What is perhaps even more important is that when you're reading, and you come across a work/sentence structure that you don't understand go get a decent grammar guide and dictionary and unravel the sentence's mystery. Many good writer's craft books will also offer tips on how to develop sentences, as do some speech writer books. Go to a second hand store and buy a couple grammar manuals and (hopefully) a workbook for developing your grammar. With the workbook, do a particular amount of it every day or so - treat it like homework - and your writing will improve.
2. How should I approach writing about games?
It depends. Magazines and blogs are different places to write in. Determine whether you want to prepare for a magazine/newsprint or a blog and go from there. Generally the link below is good for picking up little 'hints' about blogging:
http://lorelle.wordpress.com/tag/blogging-tips/
Something that's (in my opinion) important is to set up a nice-looking blog. I'd recommend wordpress for all of its options. You might also want to get a domain name, so that you have a unique identity and brand on the net, rather than dealing with cross-branding (i.e. livejournal+your brand or blogger+your brand) because your brand will lose out.
3. Do any of you write for a living? (doesn't have to be about games)
I'm an IT technical writer and part-time editor for RIM. I'm also a graduate student in social and political philosophy, specializing in the philosophy of technology. The long and the short of it: I write. A lot.
4. How can I get into this industry?
Others will be able to help you out here better than I.
Well, since this is my first gig as a video game reviewer, I basically had to figure this stuff out for myself. Every major publisher has on it's website a "press" link. This usually lists the contact info for the publicist and PR rep for the company. From there, it's all about contacting this person, explaining that you are a member of the press, and presenting your credentials. For example, the publishers of my magazine have put together a press kit of their own that they send to potential advertisers that may want to purchase advertisements in my magazine. The kit has a breakdown of the magazine itself, statistics featuring the different demographics and distribution, and testimonials from other advertisers. This is what I send to the PR people to show them that I am not some bum. The video game publishers usually then give you access to their press site, where you can download their press kits. Getting games to review is just a matter of having a good relationship with the PR person.
He and some other people here write stuff for Snackbar, they might have some useful suggestions for you.
ok, I joke. But in the blog-a-sphere you see a lot of people that are overly dramatic to get click-thoughs/viewers
The second way is to be "well known" - like a gaming magazine blog or a big network like IGN. Obviously this won't work if you're just starting out.
The third approach is focus on some niche and excel at it.
You said you had college level English education? Then you're above 95% of the blog-a-sphere. Generally as long as it's understandable and semi-correct then that is "good enough" for the internets.
Generally I would suggest: A) Find something to write about that stands out
For A) what I mean by that is say a new Solid Snake game is coming out. Majority of sites will be a "standard" review on it... which means it'll be hard for you to compete on that level (since those sites probably have viewers already) but if you where to do a "Review of the New Weapons" then you crave a niche for yourself and it makes a good [without lying]
Also on D). Most things should be done fairly quickly. No one wants to read 17 pages about a game unless they are extremely bored or an extreme fan. Most people will skim a good part of the article. You basically want to keep it as interesting as possible within probably 1/4 to 2 pages unless you have a LOT of material that supports a larger article.
Also it's generally better to have a lot of smaller articles then larger ones. The reason for this, is that it gives it a better chance of getting any article "picked up" by a major 'link' site and also more articles equals more ads which equals more money.
I'm starting off on Blogging. Not about gaming, just in general.
4 Getting started:
Get a blog. Don't get any that has other people's ads on it. Get yourself a real web host... probably something like dreamhost ($10 a month) and install your own blog software. The reason for this, is that you can control all the content and ads on your site.
Get some ads. Google Ads works and there are a ton of others.
Use something like this to promote your site:
http://www.addthis.com
You don't have to use that directly. But generally to promote your site you A) submit your site to "social", link or "news" sites. If people like it, it gets posted which equals a LOT of hits. Getting front page of digg [for example] can be 10-60K hits!
Lastly write articles. (see above).
PM me if you have an specific questions.
Thanks for the information!
A lot of good things have been said so far in here. Also, a lot of sites, well many anyway, are oftentimes looking for freelancers for one off pieces, and that's a great way to hone your skills and get you name out there. As you know I also work for Gamasutra, and we will many times look for people to contribute for features, especially if you have an unique background that wil give the feature a flavor you would not get from someone more vanilla.
Who would be your primary audience?