For the first time, one of the writing jobs I've wrangled through foraging around the internet has resulted in money in my bank account. It's been just a bit over five months since the idea of video game journalism occurred to me as something to do with my free time. The journey has been enjoyable, but, until now, an amateur venture.
Most of my writing is opinion pieces about how games do work and how they should work. Around December, I started to bill myself as a specialist in role-playing games, 'cause I had just finished Dragon Age 2 and thought it was pretty nifty. Let me share some figures. Since the time I started, I've written for eight websites: five news pieces, seven reviews, nine miscellaneous articles, and fifteen installations of a column about RPGs. There have definitely been rough patches, including the day I played a game I didn't much like for eight consecutive hours because the review was due the next day. On the most part, though, I've enjoyed approaching video games in this new way.
My most recent piece is a review of The Lord of the Rings Online that's netted me $5.00, or $4.50 once PayPal has taken its share. It's not much, but it means that, by some definitions of the word, I'm a professional games journalist. The breakthrough review can be found here.
The question of the moment is what happens from here. I suppose the next logical step is freelancing for a more prominent website or attending an industry event. For now, I'm content to call up a certain person and tell him that, in my professional opinion, Fez really doesn't look that interesting. Five months of work? Totally worth it.
Well done! I always believed in you! Some day, when I'm watching your Pulitzer Prize acceptance speech, I'll sit back, turn to the penniless hobo next to me, and say: "I was there at the beginning."
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