How can I enter the video game journalism industry?

flufflogic

flufflogic

CAG Veteran
I am a journalism major who just finished his first year in college. I'm back home and I realize I'm not doing anything with my life. I have a dream of writing for a video game magazine, site or blog; maybe even creating my own. Anybody writers who can give me some advice on how to break into the industry?
 
Write stuff people want to read, and write a lot. Getting jobs like that has a lot to do with connections so if you don't have any you really have to be something else when it comes to writing.
And keep in mind the people already out there doing this stuff are terrible at it, it's still a pretty young field and there's a lot of problems with it.

Are you a native English speaker? Not trying to be discouraging but I skimmed over your stuff and your language is ultra simplistic. So if you want to start anywhere it would be improving your writing IMO.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']Write stuff people want to read, and write a lot. Getting jobs like that has a lot to do with connections so if you don't have any you really have to be something else when it comes to writing.
And keep in mind the people already out there doing this stuff are terrible at it, it's still a pretty young field and there's a lot of problems with it.

Are you a native English speaker? Not trying to be discouraging but I skimmed over your stuff and your language is ultra simplistic. So if you want to start anywhere it would be improving your writing IMO.[/QUOTE]

In his defense journalism writing is meant to be simplistic. In the military we aim to write at an eighth grade level. Your advice about writing is dead on. It is hard to break in, the blogs everywhere giving amateurs an outlet make it real hard to get paid to write since they do it for free. The pay isn't great either. I'm personally going to hit the PR field instead when I get out of the military. Heck I would start a blog here, find a unique take and build from there.
 
Oh I forgot the advice I give to all of the guys I train, read good writers. Grab the trendsetting magazines and read how people attack certain articles.
 
[quote name='jlarlee']In his defense journalism writing is meant to be simplistic. In the military we aim to write at an eighth grade level. Your advice about writing is dead on. It is hard to break in, the blogs everywhere giving amateurs an outlet make it real hard to get paid to write since they do it for free. The pay isn't great either. I'm personally going to hit the PR field instead when I get out of the military. Heck I would start a blog here, find a unique take and build from there.[/QUOTE]

True but I think you'd understand what I meant if you read a bit of his stuff.

Anyways, I'm not in a position to be a critic here.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']True but I think you'd understand what I meant if you read a bit of his stuff.

Anyways, I'm not in a position to be a critic here.[/QUOTE]

Yea I kind of see what you were saying. I would say more bland than simplistic, he just needs to inject more of his personality which comes with experience
 
Yeah, the industry of video game journalism seems to be one that you can only enter with the right connections. I, like the other two posters, read a bit of your blog. While it seems that you have a great passion and enthusiasm for gaming, your writing is really formulaic and simplistic; there is no dynamic within your text that would keep readers excited. Since you're only a sophomore, it's understandable. My advice is to really take your writing seriously and try to improve upon it as much as you can through college.

I would highly recommend taking some English courses in order to gain a strong sense of composition. I'm about to start my Master's for Rhetoric & Composition, and I can personally say that majoring in English has improved my composition a thousand fold. I'm not saying changing your major to English is the only answer to become a better writer. However, I will state that my personal experience has shown me that having a passion for writing and majoring in English has made me improve my composition tremendously. In fact, English might be the perfect minor for you. I minored in Mass Communications, which mostly dealt with journalism, so I have some experience with it (15 credits). It's interesting to see writing from both an English and Journalist point-of-view.

Sadly, your writing is probably the only thing that would put your foot in the door. You have to brush up on that. Don't lose your passion, though.

By the way, am I the only one who notices 5+ errors in every month of Game Informer? As the supposed "premier" gaming magazine, they sure do have a bad editing/quality check department.
 
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Many video game journalists have aspirations of actually working in the industry. They know the field so well that working as a journalist comes natural and tides them over.
 
Heck you find mistakes in USA Today as well. I blame it to the economy. The more eyes looking over the copy the better (within reason) Everybody has their strengths and is more likely to find different mistakes. With a bare bones staff doing more work than they should errors will trickle through

Also Game Informer to me seems like they get to print pretty quickly after their stories are done. Doing stuff last second before deadline is a recipe for trouble.
 
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