How to Become a Game Journalist

[Danny Clinton]

Ha ha humour

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

And here I was under the misapprehension that British humour was dry. Too much time spent down under, Yahtzee.

 

[cyrad]

I see what you did there.

*Gives a smug grin, then gets mauled by a raccoon that pops out of Yahtzee's hat* OHGAWDHELPME

 

[Para199x]

Such a nice guy, being so obvious in his sarcasm that it points out exactly what not to do. We're on to you!

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I can't help but think Yahtzee would be better if he followed his own advice.

/troll

 

[BehattedWanderer]

So, my pitch about being forged in the crucible, like that one U.S. Marines commercial advertises, would be totally great? Great to know. Now, to find a pond.

 

[Carnagath]

The jaw droppers are relatively few and far between

That's because I have not yet finished my 15,000 word mix between article and fanfic on the topic of "sexiest videogame characters", which I've been working on since 2001. It is very epic and very good and it would make a great recurring feature. I haven't sent a preview to you because it's not yet perfect enough, and because I would like to add some poetic interludes between its chapters first. I am not a very good writer, but my work always has potential and a powerful, vibrant energy to it. With your help as an editor, we can certainly fix it and make it shine!

 

[Susan Arendt]

The jaw droppers are relatively few and far between

That's because I have not yet finished my 15,000 word mix between article and fanfic on the topic of "sexiest videogame characters", which I've been working on since 2001. It is very epic and very good and it would make a great recurring feature. I haven't sent a preview to you because it's not yet perfect enough, and because I would like to add some poetic interludes between its chapters first. I am not a very good writer, but my work always has potential and a powerful, vibrant energy to it. With your help as an editor, we can certainly fix it and make it shine!

The sad thing is...it's not the first time I've heard pretty much that.

 

[vengerofthelight]

In my opinion the consistent tone throughout the entire article (except for the typical Yahtzee "punchline" at the end, which only keeps the consistency) only adds to the funny. I imagine it took considerable discipline/talent to pull off without reflexively resorting to knob gags, and every paragraph that kept even one person guessing as to whether or not flat advice was being dispensed is a triumph for Yahtzee.

**This is spam, and has been reported.**

 

[Carnagath]

The jaw droppers are relatively few and far between

That's because I have not yet finished my 15,000 word mix between article and fanfic on the topic of "sexiest videogame characters", which I've been working on since 2001. It is very epic and very good and it would make a great recurring feature. I haven't sent a preview to you because it's not yet perfect enough, and because I would like to add some poetic interludes between its chapters first. I am not a very good writer, but my work always has potential and a powerful, vibrant energy to it. With your help as an editor, we can certainly fix it and make it shine!

The sad thing is...it's not the first time I've heard pretty much that.

Oh, I know. I'm part of the industry too, because once a local magazine contacted me and asked for my permission to publish one of my short stories for free and I accepted.

 

[Twinmill5000]

brb spamming escapist editors with my pitch for a wow fanfic article

 

[Johnnydillinger]

This was the most honest advice I've heard in a while. I'll just give up my job right now and send my ideas to several companies. Thanks!

My first review will probably be a John Deere simulator game too, I wanted to do that for a while.

 

[KrabbiPatty]

I'm not even sure if this is satire since Crenshaw just described himself pretty well there.

Rambling walls of text, knows nothing about gaming, should drown himself in a pond...it's like he's painting a self portrait.

 

[Danny Clinton]

dnt under estimate the hunger of a racoon, their worse than the dutch

 

[Lucas Jordan]

This is what we call in the industry the Herald Sun school of Journalism

 

[Mopbucket]

Anyone notice he starts making mistakes immediately after he claims it's good to be a bad writer? In the next paragraph, he incorrectly spells "poseur," fails to separate two strong clauses with a comma at the coordinating conjunction, and then later in the article uses sentence fragments.

I wonder if it was intentional.

 

[xdiesp]

However it's completely true that many news editors are deranged drunkards.

 

[thiosk]

The jaw droppers are relatively few and far between

That's because I have not yet finished my 15,000 word mix between article and fanfic on the topic of "sexiest videogame characters", which I've been working on since 2001. It is very epic and very good and it would make a great recurring feature. I haven't sent a preview to you because it's not yet perfect enough, and because I would like to add some poetic interludes between its chapters first. I am not a very good writer, but my work always has potential and a powerful, vibrant energy to it. With your help as an editor, we can certainly fix it and make it shine!

The sad thing is...it's not the first time I've heard pretty much that.

I found your perspective from the editorial side of publishing to be the most interesting part of the discussion. I rather liked the panel as well.

The biggest influence I had as a technical writer-- I do scientific research and then write articles about it for a living-- was a close personal association with the chief editor of a scientific journal. As in I was signed up in a graduate program working under him, and he paid me to do research, so it was in his personal interest to make sure what I was producing wasn't complete garbage. It took years of practice to move from the self-confidence instilled by receiving A's in every writing assignment in highschool and college, to the gut-wrenching realization that I was a horrible writer for the level in which I wanted to compete and to produce. It helped to see things from an editor's point of view; I now view the entire scientific process from the perspective of publishing, something that will be a rather powerful boon to my eventual career.

I expect that the cream tends to rise and the whey gets flushed into the septic system rather quickly, without the nurturing that goes on in a graduate program in the physical sciences. Do you ever take new writers under your wing and help them to develop their writing? Or is this simply impossible given the time and financial constraints of the freelance world of journalism?

 

[Susan Arendt]

The jaw droppers are relatively few and far between

That's because I have not yet finished my 15,000 word mix between article and fanfic on the topic of "sexiest videogame characters", which I've been working on since 2001. It is very epic and very good and it would make a great recurring feature. I haven't sent a preview to you because it's not yet perfect enough, and because I would like to add some poetic interludes between its chapters first. I am not a very good writer, but my work always has potential and a powerful, vibrant energy to it. With your help as an editor, we can certainly fix it and make it shine!

The sad thing is...it's not the first time I've heard pretty much that.

I found your perspective from the editorial side of publishing to be the most interesting part of the discussion. I rather liked the panel as well.

The biggest influence I had as a technical writer-- I do scientific research and then write articles about it for a living-- was a close personal association with the chief editor of a scientific journal. As in I was signed up in a graduate program working under him, and he paid me to do research, so it was in his personal interest to make sure what I was producing wasn't complete garbage. It took years of practice to move from the self-confidence instilled by receiving A's in every writing assignment in highschool and college, to the gut-wrenching realization that I was a horrible writer for the level in which I wanted to compete and to produce. It helped to see things from an editor's point of view; I now view the entire scientific process from the perspective of publishing, something that will be a rather powerful boon to my eventual career.

I expect that the cream tends to rise and the whey gets flushed into the septic system rather quickly, without the nurturing that goes on in a graduate program in the physical sciences. Do you ever take new writers under your wing and help them to develop their writing? Or is this simply impossible given the time and financial constraints of the freelance world of journalism?

I do sometimes, sure. I work extensively with everyone who does features for The Escapist, and there are other new writers that I just plain want to help out. Part of why I do panels like the one I linked is to try and help people in a larger number. Obviously, people want to deal with their own specific cases - which is why I always include Q&A in the panels I run - but even general advice can be helpful.

 

[The Thinker]

I'm going to do the exact opposite and land a plum job.

Psh. How dare you question The Mighty Yahtzee?! His advice in this article is obviously priceless at face value!