Encourage Us, Don’t Shun Us

People seem to be less motivated nowadays. Yes, the country is in a rubbish state and sadly many are out of work. Students are going into university lectures with hopes and dreams of a top career and are leaving with debts and degrees that don’t guarantee them a job in the profession they want. I’ve been there myself. I didn’t graduate from university due to lack of funds and the fact that it was pointless. Looking back, I wish I had stuck it out but I know so many students with degrees under their belts and they work in McDonalds! I know that it pays the bills for my amigos, but it also saddens me.

Food crusaders.

I took a creative writing course to help me get into journalism and the area I wanted to write about was computer games. Easy right? WRONG! We were told that only one or two people would get their work published in their lifetime. You have to fight tooth and nail to become someone because everyone wants to be a writer and you aren’t something special. I guess they thought it would be better to be cruel to be kind, but it didn’t work.

They quickly added that getting your work on the Internet doesn’t count. Apparently blogs are not a form of writing – they’re classed as a hobby, not actual work. Excuse me? Look at the film site Rotten Tomatoes. Senh Duong, the creator of the site, was involved in a serious car accident back in 1999 and was bedridden for many months, so he wrote about what he loved and now the website has become a massive movie database. “Being on the Internet doesn’t count”, my ars… Xbox control pad!

That’s why I’m thankful to Ready Up. I’m not butt kissing or anything, but meeting people like our staff give us hope. Look at our own Kirsten; Frag Doll, worked for the BBC, games journalist for Official Playstation 2 Magazine and now editor of Ready Up with hubby Dan. We are a mixed team of creative minds, some have more experience than others, but we have been given the chance to show what we can do. For this, we are all thankful, very thankful.

I don't care what you say! I will become a games journalist!

You do have to fight and compete for what you want to do but when we start at the bottom, we would appreciate some encouragement and support from those who are meant to help us. I guess when it’s a job that is different from scanning items at a check out, people try not to get your hopes up because no one really wants a 9-5 job, but the majority of us get stuck with that. Again, it pays the bills. I wrote this blog to let anyone know who is down and miserable out there, that you can’t give up. You may feel like you are the only one who can’t get anywhere, but YOU CAN. It may take months, even years before you see your goal. If you want to be a doctor, go ahead. Scientist, go ahead. Teacher, go ahead. Gamer, go ahead. Good luck young padawan… can’t believe I just said that…


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2 responses to “Encourage Us, Don’t Shun Us”

  1. Mike avatar

    Amen. Journalism is an amazingly difficult area to get work in. I’ve applied to numerous posts and positions over the years with little to no response or feedback, so it’s crucial to be a part of a community that values and appraises your work.

    That blog comment is pish: it DOES count and so does everything you write, no matter where it’s published. Do websites such as the aforementioned Rotten Tomatoes and Mashable not count? THEY’RE highly successful blogs that I’m sure make a tonne of money.

    If you want to achieve something, do your best to do so. As my brother once said, the only person stopping you from becoming what you want most in life is yourself.

  2. TimG13 avatar
    TimG13

    Those above reasons are precisely why I held off from rushing to University. Yes, I would love to have gone for the social reasons, but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee you your dream job. Plus, there’s the financial side of things.

    As for posting your work on the internet not counting, that’s absolute rubbish! The feedback I’ve always got from people within the industry is to simply keep writing – it all counts towards experience. Getting published is even better, even if it’s only a small “Reader Review” in a magazine, but as long as you demonstrate a passion then you’re doing your best.

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