I've been making a lot of personal changes in my life lately, all with the goal of rejecting old bad habits and aggressively striving to improve myself. (This tangent will lead to videogame related material, bare with me)
In November, I called myself out on my two-faced approach to writing. I say my dream is to write a novel, yet when push comes to shove, I've put no effort into actually writing one. So, I rose to the challenge and wrote over 50,000 words in one month (that story is available as-is to anyone who provides me an email address to send it to. I'm not posting it online). While it's not a complete story, and there's a ton of editing to do on what's already there, I proved to myself that I could write if I put the effort in, and learned that putting out a decent word count in not NEARLY as hard as I thought it was. Those 50,000 words were really written in only 15 days!
For the last two months, I've finally had enough of being the cliche overweight, out of shape gamer. I'm better than that. So, I've gotten smart about what I eat, renounced soda, and practically go Super-Saiyan on each of my days off with how hard I work out. I mean, my workouts are INTENSE. My motto is, if I can still stand at the end of the workout, I wasn't working hard enough (and that's almost how hard I push myself). The result? I've lost 8 pounds in 5 weeks, and workouts are getting noticably easier. I'm starting to see the payoff, which makes staying motivated to keep going easy.
As I continue to solidify my success with these two tasks, I am already turning my attention to new frontiers. One goal of mine is social in nature, which I'm not going to talk much about until some progress has been made. The other is professional.
Again, it's time I kick my own ass into gear (nobody else is going to) and actually chase what I want, instead of just talking about it. Throw myself out there, instead of waiting to be discovered. Find ways to make myself useful to x360a (I haven't written a review for them in months), or find someone else who wants what I have to offer. Or both. I need to work what few industry contacts I have, and keep myself in top form by continuously writing content.
So, new goal: If I have the day off, there shall be a blog post (there will, of course, be some exceptions to this. Life happens.). And not all of them will be "what I've played" posts, either. I need to get back into review form, so I will be writing a review of every game I finish, no matter how long ago it was released. (Even if you don't care what I have to say about Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, I'm going to write that review for my own benefit, at least) I also need to sharpen my editorial skills, and provide creative features, so look for that too. Special topics will be a part of this blog again if it kills me.
I'll be spending a couple hours each off day working this blog or putting myself out there, chasing my goal of getting into the industry on a paid basis.
You can help. I want to completely overhaul the design of this blog, including taking it off blogger and developing my own site if I have to. Unfortunately, I lack the skillset for this, and the effort required to make a nicer looking blog or website would probably be better spent actually making content. So, if there's anyone reading this who thinks they can help me launch an improved blog or my own small gaming website, I'm receptive to your ideas, and willing to work out a deal to compensate you for your efforts. I'm not expecting a freebie here.
To my kind believers out there, who have been supporting of my desire to get into the industry, you can help me out too. Be my viral marketing team. Talk me up. Retweet my tweets you think others would care about. Link to a blog post you like in the various forums you post to. Basically, if you like what you see (and what will be coming) spread the word. The more people who find out about this tiny little corner of the internet, the more likely it is someone with the power to hire me will take a gander.
I'm tired of being passive about my dreams. I've had enough of looking around myself and thinking "This is good, but I could do better." In my apartment, I have a motivational poster on one of my walls. It shows an eagle soaring over a mountain top, and reads "Achievement... only those who fly high can land on a mountain top." I'll keep pushing on with stubborn determination until my goal is met. No more half-efforts and crapping out.
It's time to crank this blog to 11.
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