What should my writing sample consist of?

[Zeemo]

Hey all, I've been trying to develop some writing samples in hopes of a position at a low level gaming site. I'm more interested in writing editorials/news than reviews so I've run into the problem of what to write about. When I try to think up some topics the only thing that comes to mind are clichés like 'Are Games Art?' or a piece on violence in video games. So I guess my question is, what should I be writing about? Or maybe, what should my writing sample contain?

[tsloper]

Subscribe to IndustryGamers.
Read.

[Osmethne]

If you are interested in writing editorials and news, here's some suggestions:
- submit editorials and content to sites like MMORPG.com, TeamXBox.com, GameZone.com or Massively.com.
- start a blog like KillTenRats.com or KeenandGraev.com

There are several reasons I suggest those two approaches. First, it changes how you think about what you are going to write when you have a particular audience that you are targeting, especially as you grow to know that audience. Second, it gives you a gauge of your writing in the form of discussion, ratings and comments. You can better identify where your strong points are and where your writing needs improvement. Third, having cool stuff that you wrote at home or in school is one thing, but having it published somewhere - especially if it generated a great response or measurable good traffic - is a whole other ball of wax when it comes to listing things on a resume.

As the above two mentioned, reading sites like IndustryGamers.com is a good way to keep up on what is going on in the gaming world in order to come up with topics to write about.

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Here's some ideas to work with:

- What was one of your favorite video games years ago? What new games are similar, and what new games are an affront to what you enjoyed about the game from the past?

- What is your favorite sport? Do you play the video game version of it? Why or why not? Are there sports you normally wouldn't play in real life but enjoy playing on a PC/console?

- Have you read about a game and thought it was a novel or unique approach? Write about why you felt it was novel or unique. Try both a technical breakdown of it and a plain opinion piece.

[tsloper]

Originally Posted by Osmethne

If you are interested in writing editorials and news, here's some suggestions:

Dude, this is an 8-month-old thread, bumped by a spammer.

[tsloper]

And bumped again 3 months later by the same spammer.

[bluereg133]

Your writing sample consist of more detail information about games.

Harry

[rufusgrimes820]

Originally Posted by lobanw

In my opinion it is always good to have a tri-sample as I call it. Having an editorial, review and conversational writing style is always a good combination to have. The others were also right to suggest that you start up your own blog because that too can showcase your true writing.

Yep agreed. Setting up a blog is easy and it can demonstrate to the world your writing ability and you will never know what opportunity could come your way.