Stop whining and start writing!
Aloha everyone!
Well, I just have to weigh in on ‘Pop’s topic, because, in fact, it was by contributing =free= articles to Pojo’s website that I began a 4-1/2 year “mini-career” writing about Pokémon for magazines like Beckett’s and Pojo’s. I began with writing the simplest of articles - tournament reports about my family’s experiences at Pokémon tournaments. Eventually, I moved on to designing puzzlers (many of which were flawed and ultimately destroyed by Ditto!), new card reviews, deck reviews, and even Super Trainer Showdown illustrated features.
I had no background in TCGs (although I did have a full-time professional job as a historian for the Air Force – yes, really, even to this day!), but I loved the game and it was just a lot of fun writing about the cards and their effects. What were the biggest attacks? What are the BBP’s in the latest set? What are the cheapest attacks? Which trainers are good for which strategy?
Not every player is a “l337” meta-gaming expert aiming to win Worlds next year -- and thank God for that! Some of us just like to talk about cards, strategies, and how badly we lost eight games in a row to our friends, enemies, and/or spouses (sometimes being one and the same, LOL!).
People often ask (or whine) “What should I write about?” That’s pretty easy actually – what cards do you love? Hate? Wish you could ban? How would you take a preconstructed deck and modify it so it actually works? What do beginning players need to know? How many Snickers do you pack for a long day at the tournament?
When I began writing about Pokémon, I had no expectation of making any money, gaining any recognition, or ever getting published. Although I am demonstrably one of the worst players in the game and often make glaring mistakes (sometimes in print!), I’ve published more articles on Pokémon than any other person I know of, and it’s only because I approached it AS A GAME! FOR FUN!
After writing so many articles for so long, I kind of burned out. And my wife and kids stopped playing. And we moved to Hawaii where it’s hard to find other adult players. So now we’re leaving it to a new generation of writer-players to come up with articles about the game they love. Not everyone will be able to rise to the occasion. Not everyone likes to write. Few people bother to revise, edit, or even check the spelling of what they write – an absolute necessity if you want your articles to be read. (I’ve revised and edited this short piece for almost an hour, spell-checked it twice, and there’s undoubtedly still a mistake or two, LOL!).
Don’t’ expect any rewards other than the fun of seeing your ideas in print. Don’t expect to be a moderator (I’ve been one at several boards, ugh, a miserable job – the last person you want to be a moderator is someone who asks to be one!). If you advance the game and make it fun and interesting for PokéGym’s visitors, trust that the hallowed establishment of ‘Gym Professors, Team Compendium savants, and other such-like Pokémon godz will recognize your efforts, and the rest will be history.
‘Pop, back to you …