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An Update On My Career


Okay, everyone, let's address the Elephant Mario in the room. Where have I been? I was posting just about every day, and suddenly, I disappeared faster than a speeding Concorde! In fact, quicker than that, I disappeared faster than the video game - Concord. Well, I am here to tell you that it was not for bad reasons at all. In fact, I had a range of opportunities come my way, and I wanted to talk to you all about my experience working as a video game journalist in the industry, the good, the bad, and the [unnamed company that I will not directly address...but it does rhyme with Lame Aunt]...that's right you guessed it - Gamerant. So if you are a budding journalist reading this who wants some guidance in navigating the industry, or maybe you are just nosy and want to learn more about my life, well let's-a-go!

So around June time I reached out to some gaming outlets around the world to see if I could be a guest writer on their stuff. I loved the direction my career was going in and I was in a place where I had built up a nice group of followers and wanted to experiment by writing for different outlets. I sent out an email to Patch Magazine because I am such a huge fan and it would have been a dream to write for them. I also around the same time applied to be a writer for GameRant and ScreenRant. I received an email from GameRant asking me if I would be able to write an article for them to show my writing style. I wrote a top 10 list, sent it in and within a few days I was offered a role as a list writer for Gamerant.

If you do not know, list writers are in charge of writing articles like 'Top 10 Zombie Video Games' etc. However, they have been going so long now that it has gotten so niche that it wouldn't shock me if soon we see articles like 'Top 10 Eyebrows In Soulslike Games Released Between January And February 2023'. I love writing and I was excited to show off my skills and prove to everyone that my degree is actually useful for something! But within a short period, I realised that companies like these don't really care about creativity and instead are only interested in SEO. They didn't want a hard-hitting journalist who wanted to write thought-provoking articles and amazing jokes like this one - [insert clever meta-joke here]. Instead, it was about ticking a box rather than thinking outside of it (you like my wordplay there? See my degree is useful)


To make any money at all I was pumping out Top 10 List after Top 10 list and putting hours and hours into trying to make some money. But the pay was so low and the job was so time-consuming that I was beginning to no longer enjoy writing. All I did was make lists, I was becoming a list machine, and everything in my life was becoming list-related. I found myself saying 'Top 10 Reasons I Should Have Pizza Tonight' or 'Top 10 Family Members RANKED (You won't believe number 4)' SPOILERS it was my Aunt Betty! 

But all jokes aside, we don't often think about this, but writing is an art form. Being able to captivate someone, make them think, make them laugh, and make them feel is what art is about. I value writing as a creative outlet, but I felt that I had to jump through so many hoops and write so many articles to survive, that I was no longer enjoying my work. So my advice to any new writers is, respect yourself and know your value.

So in the midst of all of this Patch Magazine got in touch. I was so excited. They said that rather than looking for a guest writer they were actually looking for a full writer to join their team. I sent them over some of my stuff and before I knew it I was writing with a group of people who I really look up to and respect. I soon discovered that Patch gave me the creative freedom I craved and respected my work as a writer. I now write regularly for their blog and have the first issue featuring my work coming next month and I am so excited! 

At the start of September, I resigned from GameRant. Never again will I have to write another list. Even when I go to Tesco for the big shop, I don't write a list, I just walk down the aisles and let my creativity sour! I love writing for Patch and I know how lucky I am to be in the position I am in.

So what does this mean going forward? Well It means I will be writing more on the Patch blog! In fact, I already have a couple of articles up which you should check out! Also, I will be putting more content up here again! Basically if it is indie game related, it'll be on the Patch blog, for anything else I will be posting it here!

I hope I haven't bored you with my life update but I just wanted to let everyone know that I am back and excited to dive back into the community I love so much!

Thank you!

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