And now a word from our sponsor

So it looks like I've seriously fallen off the wagon. Or on it, I'm not sure which way round it would go in this case. I've not posted anything for a few days now. But I needed the rest. I'd been spending all day being busy at work and then coming home and spending the four or five hours I had in the evening trying to create a post on something. Anything. 

Sometimes, when you write something you love, it's great. The sense of accomplishment more than makes up for sacrificing the evening. Especially if someone notices and makes a comment. When you're just grinding through it to hit quota, however, it's the most demoralising thing on the face of the planet; a little piece of you dying inside as you hit 'publish' to satisfy an agreement that only you are honouring in the first place.

Thing is, I was still writing. Specifically freelance. Actual paid work. And I've got two more commissions in progress. A big feature and a 'not really a commission but I'm going to pretend it is' piece for a friend that I want to do well. Better, even, than I might publish here. I'm going to keep posting and try to get one up a day. But if they seem slight, or inconsequential, or even entirely absent it's not because I'm giving up. It's because I've written something else, somewhere else. And there is a limit you know. I am enjoying this, I just gotta take a break every now and then.

Tell me about the f*cking game

Despite what I actually do for a living I still feel uncomfortable calling myself a writer. Writers are amazingly talented people that can create worlds on a page, or change the way people think. I just put words in an acceptable order to describe things. Usually it's reviews. I love writing reviews; dissecting why things work and championing the highs or discussing the lows. I take pleasure from trying to get across a point, moulding language to deliver opinion and experience. I'm not saying I'm good. I just like doing it.

Which is why I hate stuff like this, “Perhaps Resident Evils 5's most remarkable achievement is how it deftly straddles the line between the franchises sometimes endearing, sometimes frustrating, legacy gameplay mechanics while incorporating more contemporary action adventure elements like enhanced interaction and exploration of environments and a decidedly more shooter-like control scheme.” It's a quote from a review of Resident Evil 5 that appears on Metacritic. I can almost smell the sense of satisfaction the writer got from penning that. How clever they must of felt when they said... the thing... about the... stuff. The problem I have with that sort of writing is that it tells me nothing about the game. Having played it I can tell you it's mainly about shooting angry men in the face. I think that's what the bit about 'legacy gameplay mechanics' might be about.

It seems to be a real games journalism thing. I don't think I've ever seen a film, book or music review like that. Generally they seem content to explain what the experience is like and whether it's recommend or not. When it comes to video games, however, it's all about the big words and twisty sentences, delivered by people content to revel in the belief that their every word is a gift. I've worked for two people who's catchphrase was “tell me about the fucking game” whenever they encountered stuff like this. Usually screamed through strained vocal chords while veins popped on their foreheads. The paper it was written on crushed in a balled fist and shaken to emphasise each word. I think it's because games are still a relatively new medium. It subconsciously drives people reporting on them to try and sound all grown up and intellectual to compensate for the suspicion that no one takes them seriously. What they really want to say is, “man did you see that head come apart?”

Face Palm

Here's the thing: as far as I'm concerned I haven't missed one yet. For just over the last two weeks I have written something each day. In between the bit where I get up and the other bit where I go to sleep I have crafted or cobbled together some words. Look! I'm doing it now. Not all of it's been great but that's not the point; it's about sticking to the plan, hence the title. I don't just make this shit up, you know. (Although I literally am. Look I'm doing it now).

Slight problem. The last bit where I got up, did some stuff and then went to bed involved a transatlantic flight across several time zones. This technically has two effects. Firstly, it makes me sound a lot cooler than I actually am – cycling down Venice Beach, watching AJ from the Backstreet Boys perform his own song at a karaoke night and totally get knocked back by a cute girl half his age. But secondly it means that I got up on Wednesday and went to sleep on Thursday, therefore blowing the plan. To me it's been one day. A long one, though, that's lasted about 30+ hours so far and means I've missed a day and have to set the 'streak counter' back to zero. Arse.

The get out clause

Been drinking, and as much as I'd like to write a fairly average ramble right now it's far too late. Sleep now. Hangover tomorow. Maybe I'll do two tomorow to make up for  it...

Whoz teh looz0rs?

I think a lot about the internet. As a writer who is paid to make words on paper it's hard not to. I love the freedom of speech aspect and the empowerment of everyone to talk, discuss and spread information like a tidal wave. The thing that fascinates me most, though, is the effect it's having on language. Already website commenters and forum posters have reduced communication to a primitive phonetic grunting, full of elongated vowels and experimental consonant combinations.

The basic function of English been has reduced to its barest, most minimal components. The intent is there; conversation is achieved but at what cost? What place for writers when linguistics are a majority vote decided by fashion, trends and typos, changing as fast as you can hit 'refresh'. The building blocks of words reduced to an easy, freestyling improvisation timed to the click of a mouse. Already there are websites popping up on aggregators, placing highly, getting the hits but with misspelt articles, devoid of punctuation and requiring you translate rather than read them. That said, the information gets through and word is spread, even if it's not properly used.