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I studied every article that I had promoted (funnily enough, most of my front page edits came from former managing editor Brett Bates). I pored over the writing and grammar tips. And my writing improved tremendously. I did exactly what Ira Glass said in that quote above; I worked hard, and after a while I started to match my ambitions for high quality, well-researched writing more regularly.
Then I got my break. I'd already done some articles for Australian Macworld, but they were just for free games and a magazine subscription. Ars Technica posted a call-out for freelancers who could write good long-form articles. I sent three pitches. They accepted two of them. I became a freelance features writer, getting good money and hits a couple of orders of magnitude higher than my entire Bitmob portfolio. (Edit: I'm particularly proud of my latest piece for Ars, a history of ScummVM: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012/01/maniac-tentacle-mindbenders-of-atlantis-how-scummvm-kept-adventure-gaming-alive.ars )
I'm still only writing part time, with the started company that brought me onboard (again, thanks to Bitmob teaching me the ropes and polishing my skills) preparing to launch its website "when it's done." It's called Archive.vg, and it looks like it'll be going up against the likes of GameFAQs, Moby Games, and Giant Bomb. I'm in charge of the blog/articles section. And I'm putting to use everything I learned right here on Bitmob -- polished writing and editing, good interview practice, putting a unique spin on stories, engaging with the community, and not being afraid to try something different.
I expect that I will eventually go full-time -- be it with Archive, freelancing, or another publication. And I'll always credit Bitmob with giving me the skills, confidence, and platform to push me over the line into professional writing."
Like Steven said above, many games could benefit from using silence more effectively -- those that have scored soundtracks with music always playing could try throwing in some silence during the tensest moments rather than always upping the tempo and crescendoing. I always find silence far more dramatic, especially when it's used in a tension-building way alongside music (either you cut the music for silence or you swap the relative quiet of natural-sounds-only for music (a la Tomb Raider) in the most dramatic of moments). The key is to not let it become a crutch, though, and mix things up, or players will see through your intentions."
The old Mac game Dark Castle has a Christmas-themed easter egg if you play on December 25."
Thanks for sharing. It's always great to learn more about Bitmob community members -- I'd say doubly so when they're on staff."
Perhaps by going in fresh, with almost no knowledge of the story or mechanics, I can find some of the magic I felt when Tomb Raider 2 blew me away more than a decade ago."
It's great to read something on a topic that doesn't normally get much coverage. Nice work, Layton."