I heard about the GameSkinny Internship in late July from one of the other interns. I can honestly say that I joined expecting to learn a ton about video games and well…not much else. I didn’t know what to expect because before this program I wasn’t a writer at all.
Why I joined GameSkinny…
I joined because I wanted to improve my writing skills. Writing has always been my weakest point and I wanted to be able to enhance the way I communicate on paper–or in this case electronically. GameSkinny’s JT program has helped me grow as a writer, to where I can actually say I am one–with confidence!
What I learned from the program…
How to generate views
It was difficult, to say the least, at the beginning trying to figure out the correct formula for what will bring in the most traffic. Generally, it is a combination of good writing and networking. Sharing articles on Twitter, Facebook and any other social media site, was an added bonus to the list of things I learned.
I now know how to network with people through these important instruments of today’s society. It pays off in the long run when your articles get over 5,000 views! 5,000 people read my article and that was just after a couple of months in the program! GameSkinny is the perfect way to build an audience and interact with others in the gaming community.
More about gaming than I ever imagined
Starting out, I was not that involved in gaming journalism. Of course I would go on the occasional site to browse some of the trending news, but after I joined as an intern, I was blown away by the amount of games I had no idea I was missing.
In the program you get daily assignments for an article that you must write and by making me write about games I had to investigate first, was a major benefit to my collection of games I now want to play. I am a proud owner of an over, probably, 70% unplayed Steam library–I buy the games but I really have no time to play them all!
How to expand my writing
Before, I was one of those writers who really had nothing to say past a 100 words, but over these last couple of months I am now able to hit the required word length, no problem at all! Having to write everyday caused me to really think about how I was using words and trying not to repeat the same old phrases, I had to start getting creative with stories that weren’t so interesting, and I learned to do a lot of fact checking–but we all know that the internet never lies…right?
What’s great about GameSkinny?
GameSkinny has an awesome team of editors that really help you tweak your writing, without getting rid of your voice. They always leave constructive editor’s notes that help you with a range of things. Anywhere from how to get your articles seen to which sentences could use some clarity, they aren’t shy about telling you what’s wrong and that is what good editors do.
This site has an audience that will help you master the best times to post articles, and even what kind of content they are looking for and after a while you’ll get the hang of writing for your specific audience. People will ask you for advice on a level guide you did or ask you how you got past a certain part of the game you reviewed. You can get so involved with the community in such a short time period, it’s priceless.
I can’t wait to continue growing my audience and learning even more during the next phase of the internship. It is definitely a good experience.
