You All Need an Editor
Every so often, your friends in the game journalism community go through a fit of melodrama. Even though their job is pretty self-explanatory - play games, scribble something neat about them, and tell people whether to buy them - game journos, and even the best game journos, like to wring their hands and question their roles and try to set new standards for themselves. They go into bouts of ennui and wrap themselves in circular arguments over ethics and best practices. And everyone else just has to sit there and listen to it. (Or not.)
I won’t repeat or relink every facet of the latest debate, let alone all the Twittering, but much of the flare-up comes from a new Symposium run by Shawn Elliott. I took a look at the questions that launched the Symposium. I tried to answer them, like a few other bloggers have. But it made me dozy. Several questions discuss ratings for reviews, and I don’t give scores. Others worry about the influence of PR people and game companies and their intimate, spoonlike relationship with the press. That’s not an issue for me - I get my promos by raiding the mail bag in the arts department of the New York Journal-Ledger, and no publicist is offering me a beer. And I don’t even know if you’d call what I write “reviews” anymore, anyway.
But the Symposium scares me just a little, with its rigorous assessment of every step of a reviewer’s job - can you read advance press, can you watch a preview, what’s the difference between a 9.6 and a 9.7. We’re not judging show dogs. The whole thing tells me that game journos - all you beautiful, hard-working people with your snazzy ideas and rich prose and anal back-knowledge of Japanese import cartridges and every single flaw in Mirror’s Edge - well, you all work hard, and some of you write well, and yet you still feel like you need more structure, an official playbook, a board of approval somewhere to validate what you’re doing.
You guys need an editor.
But what kind? I work at a newspaper, with real journo vets who know how to turn vague thoughts into hard copy. They could tell you all what to write: a review with facts, and details, and crisp, clear opinions, in an inverse-pyramid, with no dumb jokes and no use of the first- or second-person. Dunno if you’d enjoy that, but it might take care of the daddy issues I’m seeing in most of your complaints.
Let’s take a step up, then, to the classic William Shawn-style magazine editor. Someone who has standards and practices, but will give you a leash. Who can take your wild copy and sift out the gems. (Hunter S. Thompson may’ve been King “Gonzo,” but much of his prose is airtight.) Someone who can pour a drink when you need it and help you help when you want it and do whatever it takes to bring out the best in you. How many games writers have this?
Let’s be clear: I’m not criticizing anyone’s grammer or spelling. I’m calling out what seems like a widespread feeling that the field is not producing its best work. That’s where a great editor steps in.
I wish I had the chops, the title and the money to hire you all and fill this role, or to hire someone else who could. (Would we nominate N’Gai Croal as our emperor-king? Probably.) But while I have nothing to offer the wizened pros, I have some tips to pass on to some of the bloggers just joining this debate. These are newbie tips, and they all came from women and men who were smarter than me. But they’ve helped me, and they’re free.
- Write a tight lede. That’s a cute spelling for “lead.” If you wander into your argument somewhere after the first paragraph, the audience will wander away.
- Are you writing about something, or arguing a point? If the former, try the latter.
- Is anyone getting your point? When you write your masterpiece on Final Fantasy VII, you’ll get plenty of comments from people who just want to say what’s on their mind about FF VII. But if none of them is engaging with your argument? You’ve got a problem.
- 1,000 words is a lot. It really is. I’m at 745 words, and doesn’t it feel like we’ve been here a while?
- Play the game before you write about it. You’d be surprised how many attention-getting blog posts don’t do this. Brain-dead stuff, folks.
- We link to a lot of garbage. I catch a lot of reputable, prominent blogs linking to stories that have nada to offer. But because the post reminds you of something you wanted to talk about, you might wind up linking to it. Why not just write what you were going to write and save us the time and the link?
- Personal experience is great. Your first-hand experiences are fantastic. Some of my favorite blog posts come from the frontlines. Just don’t forget the punchline.
- Write like you give a damn. Look at us. We have a platform to the world. and something we care about. Why are we always so worried?
10/12/2008 at 8:34 pm Permalink
I do need an editor! But I don’t have one, really. I agree–it probably explains a lot.
10/12/2008 at 8:38 pm Permalink
Interesting perspective. I can’t say that I entirely agree, but I can’t exactly put my finger on why. Perhaps it’s just my own reluctance to say anything negative about some of the best videogame writers on the Intertubes (or I think so anyway).
I like your tips though. I’ve picked up on some of them along the way and it’s always a struggle to stick consistently with them.
10/12/2008 at 8:54 pm Permalink
You’re not wrong. I might actually rather edit, coach, and direct other writers than mumble about mechanics on the internet. Unfortunately, most folks seem to feel that editorial positions are to be given out more as lifetime achievement awards after “putting in your time” as a writer. That’s cool, though. I’ll just go back to my ivory tower.
10/12/2008 at 9:04 pm Permalink
Just clarified my post to make clear that I’m not saying that game journos can’t write - rather, that if people keep throwing Symposia about this stuff, they must think we’re not doing as well as we could.
And there are no criticisms here I wouldn’t level at myself. @Ben, I keep these lessons stapled to my forehead too.
@Wordsmythe - You’re right; a great editor who earned their job is rare. And the bad ones give us an excuse to weasel out of taking any criticism of our work …
11/12/2008 at 6:38 am Permalink
Thanks for the tips! I’m definitely a n00b, so I’ll try to take them to heart.
11/12/2008 at 6:55 am Permalink
As far as I can tell, the point of the symposium is to get reviewers to look critically at their own work, while also giving us a chance to learn from one another (even if we’re not participating directly). How this has become at all controversial or problematic is beyond me. What I’ve seen some people refer to as “navel gazing” could also be called “introspection.”
And, no, we’re not doing as well as we could, and we should constantly be striving to do better.
11/12/2008 at 7:19 am Permalink
I’m not against the Symposium, but I’d personally follow it more closely if instead of talking about how to write criticism, it focused on writing criticism.
For example, the cream of the crop music critics get together every year for The Experience Music Project Pop Conference, and present papers on an agreed-upon topic, and mingle and talk shop. It’s a chance to talk about music crit, but to do it by responding to a topic or challenge that guides the session. Something like that would be a hoot, even if we don’t have an EMP to pay for it …
12/12/2008 at 8:38 am Permalink
Gah…I need to get away from this topic. I’m steadily pissing off more people the more I get angry about it.
The reviews would be a helluva lot better if they established a critical culture that the reviews could be founded on. Like declaring touchstones, talking about what made them great, and comparing new games to them. The corruption, shoddy writing, and cultural bias is never going to go away because the publishers are going to keep finding some twit who will praise their game. Does anyone even read a review expecting anything profound?
I got barked out on my own blog about it but I’ll end on the same note: a little less conversation, a little more action please.
16/12/2008 at 11:59 am Permalink
I too work at a newspaper, and an editor is very valuable.
I write with Nukoda.com to contribute my piece to the game journalism world, and yes you bring up very valid points. It also helps to work in an office full of creative writing energy and people who return answers when you yell an inquiry over a cubicle.
Solid piece, bravo.
05/08/2009 at 9:50 am Permalink
I’m in love with you, my Adonis.