Freelancer Blues Part 1

This is something I'm republishing here from an old 1UP.com blog. It's a little on the long side, so go get a beer. Before I begin, though, I have to mention something that Bob Mackey wrote in his farewell blog when it was announced that 1UP would be winding down: If you want to write about games, you should be doing it for yourself first. I thought this sort of went without saying, but it can't hurt to point it out again.

Anyway.

Ok, so writing about games. Wait, no, you want to talk about writing about games for money. Let's think about this for a second.

When this blog was just a bad idea that I tried to push out of my head early this morning, I knew that I should let it settle for a second before I started typing. These faux-"in the trenches" articles about writing for pay and how to break into it are usually pretty trite. I asked a friend of mine, another freelancer we'll call Brian, his opinion:

ME: This probably isn't a good idea, but I think I'm going to do a blog series about freelancing
Brian: Oh yeah? Hah...I'm guessing it won't all be rosy.
(We then went on to talk about poop schedules. Yes, seriously)

It won't. I've been freelancing for a couple of gaming sites on and off for the past four years and I've seen just as much bad as I've seen good, and I really haven't seen that much in the grand scheme of things. I don't want to scare you off from doing what you love for a little bit of cash, but it ain't as easy as sitting around with a laptop in a coffee shop and pouring your guts out over Phantasy Star II.
Still interested? Then in this series I'll offer the best advice I can from my own personal experiences: some general advice to start, meeting people and making contacts, and dealing with the pains and joys of working with people that have been in it a lot longer (and sometimes a hell of a lot less) than I have. I'll also throw in some bits about other friends of mine that freelance and some of the experiences they've had for comparison's sake.

A note before we move on: I'm going to make this as frank as possible without naming names and citing specific projects that I've worked on for whom. Again, I'm not going to complain about doing this; in fact, writing about games and getting paid for it is what just about everyone with an internet connection wants to do for a reason (because it's awesome), and this is one of the problems. This series is meant to give you both a reality check and some practical advice if this is something you really want to do.

Also, I'm not going to put in any stupid pictures of a typewriter or note pad or anything else that is a cliche "writer" thing. Just fair warning.

THINGS YOU'VE HEARD BEFORE THAT SOUND LIKE BAD ADVICE BUT ARE HONEST-TO-GOD TRUE

1: This is going to sound crass, but I've found it to be a cold reality: this shit is hard. It's difficult to get your work noticed (even if you're good, and I'm not talking about me), difficult to maintain relationships in such a changing niche market, and difficult to pay bills if you want this to be your only income. We'll get into all of these individually as the next few days ramble on.

2: Ever go to a gaming site when the editor is answering questions or listen to a podcast where your favorite writer/personality giving thoughts about this stuff? Yes, you have, and that means that you've also heard them tell you time and again that you need to keep writing constantly. Start a blog (like this one), get your thoughts down, do it often, and get comfortable writing. There is always a difference between natural talent and hard work, but how you treat both of them are equally important. Maybe you weren't the best student in your middle school English classes, or maybe you taught high school Language Arts. Yes, one sounds impressive compared to the other, but if the person giving students the rundown on Nathaniel Hawthorne isn't writing on the regular like guy that might fail their Scarlet Letter exam, then all of that skill that they think is innate will atrophy while the other person's growing. It doesn't matter what you write about when it all boils down to it (but routinely writing about games is kind of helpful), but you need to keep writing.

3: When I first decided that I wanted to write about games for dough, I asked a person that works for a very, very large gaming site for some hints on how to break in (whom was really cool about giving over some helpful advice. BONUS PROTIP: not everybody is). His best advice after #2 above: you need to read, and you need to read everything. Magazines, books, internet articles, the sports section, the financial reports, whatever you can get your hands on. You need to see how other writers write, and you need to notice the differences between the good stuff and the bad. This is mucho important, and more so than a lot of people think.

4: Persistence is key. Don't be a nag to people, but try not to get discouraged. You will be shot down for work more often than it will be offered to you by a landslide. Get used to that.

5: This is the biggest eye-roll advice you'll probably read, but you need to be flexible. Burn this into your psyche now. The games-writing business (whether you want to be called a "games journalist," a "games blogger," or just a "games writer") is changing pretty dramatically and constantly. You need to be able to adapt to the needs of the people you're working for and diverse enough to find other work when what you were doing dries up. That last part also super sucks.
Now that we have some of the yes-I've-seen-these-bullshit-tips-before-get-to-the-actual-advice section, which you should probably re-read if that's your reaction, let's move on to some the first big practicality:

YOU NEED TO WRITE FOR FREE
I bet you've also heard about this little nugget in the past, too. "Hang on," you're thinking. "I have a journalism degree from the University of Iowa (or wherever). Why the eff should I be giving away these pearls for nothing with that kind of credential?"

People are already taking a shit on your ego because now you haven't done anything, just expected it to be done for you. Without a body of work to prove that you A) you know what you're talking about and B) you (and future editors) can cite your strengths and weaknesses then you just bought yourself a very expensive piece of paper from a very prestigious place that prints them. Am I saying that your high-profile degree is worthless? Absolutely not, but a lot of people that write regularly in the gaming press don't have backgrounds in journalism, or even, in some cases, anything related to the English language. While this might be changing as the years go on (again, because everybody and their dog wants to do this just like you), being a sound writer with a good portfolio of work can go a long way.

As I see it, there are two ways of doing this:

1: This, incidentally, is the route I have taken. Find a website that you enjoy that welcomes new writers. This doesn't mean places like 1Up, IGN, Kotaku, Joystiq, Polygon, GamesRadar, VG24/7 or just about anywhere else you might conjure up immediately off the top of your head. These folks are the big names, they pay, and everyone knows it so they're beating cats like you and me off with a stick. Smaller, more audience-specific places are a better start. Think spots that are specific to Nintendo exclusively, or are about nothing but retro games, or maybe one of the scoreboard sites. These places are doing the best they can with what they have, and most of the time they’re just happy to keep the lights on, so they need decent writers that can work for free. Find your specialty and run with it. Content is king on any website and even smaller places know that if they want people coming back, they have to post new stories. That's where you come in.

What you get out of the deal:

-Exposure first and foremost. This is important. When you can refer back to work that was published and can link to it, you're way ahead of a lot of other people. It's easy to form a body of work here, so as long as you know that this is your best reward (and it is), it's always worth it.

-More eyes on your work, meaning better editing than your brother, your significant other, your parents and other people that don't want to hurt you. This is your chance to grow, so soak it in as much as possible. I'm not saying that you have to agree with every edit that's made of your stuff, but you should definitely take it all seriously. Listen to your editors and hone this stuff.

-Become diverse. What I mean is that if you're writing for a place that isn't paying you, they're probably open to any kind of content that you can pound out, as long as it's good. Reviews are what everybody wants to do, which is fine, but make sure yours stand out. Try to do some news, too. A lot of sites, other than the bigger "blog"-types, are starting to shy away from doing regular industry news, but it's a good exercise to know news cycles, and to crank out small stories on a timer. This doesn't mean that you should try to publish things every 20-30 minutes like Kotaku or Polygon, so maybe pitch little weekly news round-ups to editors once you've proven you can work on a schedule and under a deadline. You should also go to an event, maybe even one with another writer for the site, and cover what you see. Editors for the site should give you some direction as to what kind of content they want from these things, and these can be previews of game builds that you see (just the facts, no opinions unless they ask for them), interviews with developers (which is a huge deal if you can do these at events. REMEMBER TO BRING A RECORDING DEVICE or get an app for you phone), or color commentary on your experiences there. A lot of events are invitation-only, but going to PAX or something is still a good place to start.

-Move up within their ranks. Sounds little dumb, but if they have some sort of hierarchy like Senior Writers and Assistant Editors this means that you might learn to use their CMS (content management system) to post articles. Really, what we use to blog on 1Up is also a CMS, too, so you already have some exposure, but other places have proprietary stuff that is good to learn just for diversity's sake. Also, you may get the opportunity to coach other writers. This is definitely not for everyone, but if you're down for looking at other people's work, you can sort of watchdog how you do things as well. That never hurts.

-Everyone wants to start with writing reviews, and that's fine, but just know that you're probably buying your own stuff before anyone starts coughing up download codes for things, but those may come. Getting free junk is way awesome, but just you have to remember that you are not working for the people that provide the site this stuff, you work for the people that are receiving it. If a game is good, say that it's good. If it's shit, don't be afraid to tell people this, even if you scored it for free and you're trying to be cool. Effectively writing about how something isn't good is as much a skill as saying that it is. Want to know what's really hard? Trying to convey how something's just "all right." Trust me on this, if you're writing for place with a 1-10 scale of reviewing and you've got a game that's a solid 6 at best, trying to straddle the line between praise and punishment is tougher than you think. DON'T BE AFFRAID TO ASK YOUR EDITORS FOR ADVICE.

-Meet people. Meet people, meet people, meet people. I can't stress this enough. Brian, the writer I mentioned above, is a really great friend that I met through writing for a free site. We trade freelance tips together, brainstorm ideas off each other when paying places want us to make lists, let each other proof things, the works. He also lives in Canada, so we don't get to see each other often, but that's the beauty of the Internet. The writers and editors for the places that you cut your teeth at could be your future editors, colleagues, and even friends. Start a friendly rivalry with another writer and see how both of your work grows. Keep in touch with the ones that you trust because you never know what tomorrow will bring. Go to events with some business cards (if you can get some) and shake some hands. We'll come back to this stuff later.

The flip side to all of this is that, well, things happen. Web sites restructure and sometimes forget to archive their previous content. Meaning, all of that writing that you've slaved over for nothing might be lost (this has legitimately happened to me) so you have even less to show for it. Also, you're doing this for a pat on the back and maybe the occasional free game or promo t-shirt. Fun in the moment, but that won't pay your gas bill. Still, there are serious benefits if you're willing to put in the time and ready to stick with it for a while.

2: Internships. If you're still in college and you are thinking of a career in games writing, this is something you should be thinking seriously about. Larger sites and their parent companies largely advertise their internship programs, especially in the summers between academic years. From what I understand, they tend to get competitive, so just know up front that there are an awful lot of folks out there thinking the same thing you are. Get to know what these people want to see if you can (strong portfolio, a decent resume, knowing that it's "video games" and not "videogames"). Write for your school paper or maybe a local free paper. Even if you think that people aren't reading it, you are growing your body of work, and experience is pretty important.

What are the potential benefits to this stuff? Honestly, I don't have firsthand knowledge of it, but other people that I know and have met have started their staff writing careers at one site or another because they interned first. Sorry that I can't be more specific, but the end result is what everyone wants, and if this is a way that you can logically get there, then start paying attention to hiring schedules and other information that turns up at the beginning or end of semesters. It can't hurt to try to inquire about these either, but, like everything else, don't be a dick to other writers. One email and maybe a follow up a week or two later is fine, but if they don't respond from that, then drop it. Chances are you'll see a similar sentence later on, too.

Ok, so that's a lot to digest for right now. The next one won't be as long, but we're going to get into some more personal experience in the next couple of days, so at least you can see what worked for me and what really, really didn't.