If you haven’t read last week’s article ‘The Gamers’ Guide to Writing for Games — Part One’ yet, I suggest you take a peek at it before reading further here. That’s partly because you’ll find that information relevant when reading ahead, but mostly because I get paid more if you do. Why the honesty? Because self-promoting (as nasty as it sounds) is one of the best ways to achieve success in this here writing business, and that’s mainly what I’ll be talking about today. Getting started. Getting better. And getting known.

Getting started, getting better, getting known; and get hired

Getting hired in the writing industry (and doubly so when writing for games) is a long, tedious and often painful process — and unfortunately, there

hen we’re young and invincible, we believe we can become anything. From Astronauts to Aeronautical Engineers, Paramedics to Porn Stars, nothing is a stretch; nothing seems too far out of our reach. When I was young, I wanted to be a writer. More than that, I wanted to write about video games. It seemed like the logical choice really, I spent my childhood playing them; studying them, reading about them, cherishing them and criticising them — why not do it for a living?

But it was just a dream. Just one of those goals you set, but always know you’ll never really achieve. I wasn’t going to get paid to write about games any sooner than I was going to make my living designing aeroplanes or exploring the bitter reaches of space.

At least, that’s what everyone kept