I remember reading an article on Bitmob, probably about a year ago now, talking about how to succeed as a freelance video game writer. I actually think someone put it on 1UP to help everyone out because at the time that site was looking for freelancers, and I read it there. I studied the tips, and made sure, after long hours of editing, that I did not make any of the fatal errors the article said to avoid.
The piece I submitted was a review of Legion: Online Movie Game. At the time, I had no job, no money, and no video games except the original Starcraft, which I seriously considered reviewing despite it's age. But advertisements for Legion were all over 1UP's site, so I thought maybe the editor would appreciate a review of it. You can check it out here: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9016554
Nothing came from it; all I did was drive myself a little insane from working on it too long. In college, I used to do the same thing, spending long hours scrutinizing every sentence to make sure I was submitting the best writing I was capable of. Believe it or not, there are people out there who will actually tell you to do this! Teachers, editors, friends, all of whom mean well, will tell you to scrutinize every word on the page, to edit and re-edit, to have someone read your work and give insightful feedback.
I'm here to say don't listen to them!
Don't scrutinize anything, don't edit anything, and don't let anyone read your work until it's finished. Trust yourself! Every heart vibrates to that iron string. (Emerson)
The idea here is basically that your going to write some bad stuff... it's inevitable. So why not just post it, let us all know your human, and move on? I can say from experience that it's strangely liberating to post a bad article, especially incomplete ones. It makes me feel free, like the work doesn't own me. *I should say, however, that I have yet to get paid for my writing*
But my argument is healthy trumps successful... To Be Continued...
