So I've written a piece on gaming and art - didn't think it was too bad, either - and thought: why not try to get someone to print it?

Heck if I know how to, though.

First attempt was writing the Escapist:

And as you can no doubt see, I've never written a pitch before, and I couldn't really say what you're looking for.

Writing style: it's going to be self- deprecating high brow silliness. Someone called it "post- intellectualism" once, but that's a bit too much, with giving me a whole new name for a style, and all.. I'm really just having fun. In the story, I'm analysing the plot in Super Mario, classifying it - and then highlighting how the story- telling in the archetypical video- game is not what makes it attractive - and that this is the reason why "games" are not thought of as art. While describing how a real plot can make a game exceed what the archetypical video- game is limited to, and so on. That's all perfectly true, of course, but it's not meant to be read as a serious analysis, which is obvious. The twist is that prejudice is silly, and it's possible to use unconventional means for telling good stories. Whether it is science fiction, or analyses about video- games.

Length, about 1600 words. Oh, and it's already written. I'd turn it in for a bit of professional writing advice.
..please allow 2 to 4 weeks for a response.

I seem to have been in this situation before. I blog for www.uiqblog.com, and have posted a lot of content there that took a long time to write - had good standard, too - but whenever I tried to get any of it published, there's two things that crop up:
1. The reason I'm writing on the blog in the first place - I can choose my own style, and switch between analytical and plain nonsense just like I want to. Any continuity or recurring elements is optional. Factual reporting or just shaming someone for being an arse tends to be about the same, and the editorial board consists of myself and two other part- time bloggers. The biggest challenge we ever had was to what degree we were supposed to directly criticise SonyEricsson.

2. I'm not used to criticism. Not that I've had any - that's the problem. I don't know what sort of writing is likely to be accepted for a publication of some sort. Is the style I've become accustomed to using too argumentative, or too oral? Or does it add something to the articles that I explain my own thinking, or construct settings that fill in details?

I suppose what crossed anyone's minds the last time I tried - I wrote a lengthy review on a uiq phone for a Norwegian online magazine - was more or less that I was trying to continue my crusade on the blog. But it was a review geared towards business- users of smartphones, something the site sorely lacked. Trying to review smartphones as toys and video- devices.

Received no real comments on the review - at least none from the staff. So, I guess it wasn't what they were looking for.

Meanwhile, another review by the regular staff turned up for a similar phone, where the phone was hailed for being awesome - but would recieve a reluctant trashing for trading in animations on the screen for battery- life. No one mentioned ARM, processors, OS functions, connectivity options or what THE PHONE ACTUALLY WAS USEFUL FOR.

Something that - once again - sidelines anyone who use their smallish computer device for anything other than receiving MMS- messages with farting Santas. I really don't know why this happens. "Edda Media", the umbrella organisation that pays this outlet, among other publications, are not invested in online advertisement, but rather sponsorship deals and increased hardware sales. So how come there's a huge void of content directed at the business- users on that site?

But then again, I'm just an unpublished writer.

So - if someone knows of any place interested in printing some intellectual drivel on the nuances of story telling in Super Mario, contrasted with other plots only suitable for presentation in games - you'll let me know, right?

-fleinn

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