January 11, a week from now, will mark the two-year anniversary of my first article published online (
a retrospective of the classic Mac game Maelstrom). I’m amazed at how much my writing has grown and matured in that time, during which I’ve written some 100+ articles and a handful of short stories. What better way to look back—and to celebrate—than picking out my favourites and collating them here on my blog.
Here are the best things I’ve published online, sorted alphabetically, with a brief explanation of what makes each one special. Most of them are about games, but a few are short stories and several stand up as interesting no matter what your interest in video games. Enjoy.
At the beginning of December, 2010, I got an unexpected email. Ars Technica had, some weeks prior, put out a call for freelancers who could write good long-form content. I responded to the call, sending three pitches as per their instructions, and thought I’d never hear back. I was wrong. They liked my pitches, and wanted me to do two of them. I agreed to do one immediately, and suggested the other could come later if things go well.
A week later, I’d signed a contract and agreed to write 2500-5000 words about the history of graphic adventure games. I finished off my research and wrote the story, which eventually—after a few drafts—ended up at around 6700 words. My first professional feature article was a big one, and it attracted a huge number of readers.
An excerpt: “Sam and Max also find exploitative tourist attractions such as a gigantic ball of twine and a small rock that utterly fails to look like a frog, and a country music star lives a life of absurdly extravagant self-indulgence that includes two gigantic statues and an escalator-equipped bed.”
Click here to read the whole thing.
