John Walker in: Quite Possibly The Best Blog Post In The World

I yield to John Walker, the man who is better than me at everything, ever:

I’ve met over seven people in my life, and of the four that would speak to me, two of them wanted to be involved in games journalism – that’s at least 50% of the population of the world. No career is more coveted, not even being an astronaut or the president of an incredibly important company. Simply put, I am one, and you are not, and it is important that you note this. I play games for a living, while you probably have to put things on shelves, or even use a mop. You poor things, you must so desperately want to be me. I play games for a living.

And on and on it goes. How sick I am of these guides to ‘getting in’?, as if being a games journalist is some insurmountable achievement, beyond the possibility of all but the Grand Few, and only accessible once one has followed the prescribed route of another. It’s so ridiculous – this industry, with its head so far up its arse that it patronises all outside with the belief that they must surely want in, but couldn’t possibly fathom it for themselves.

Here’s how I got started: I sent some writing to a games magazine, and they liked it so they gave me work.

And as much as my other post more or less falls into the exact same trap he rants on about, in that I did, and often do make it seem a little as if I thought Games Journalism is some sort of VIP exclusive club only to the talented few – I have to say – it’s a self perception thing. Yes, I do probably have confidence issues, and I hate myself for it sometimes. Yes, I probably need to tone down the slight hero worship of other writers as if their jobs are some unreachable goals, but most of all – I need to stop thinking like I’m shit.

Yes, I have been offered work experience at PCGamer some time ago. It’s time for me to grow some balls and know that I really just might be that fucking good.

Thanks John.

EDIT:
And then everyone else whose blogs I regulary read (or should be) has gone on to give their input into the same subject. And I’m reading every single one. You should too.

Affectionate Diary
Richard Cobbett
Kieron Gillen
The Triforce
Log
Tracker Bill
Matthew Kumar
Bill Harris
Stuart Campbell
Tim Edwards
Jon Hicks

Oh, and then Tom Francis has something good to say.