It’s struck me, recently, that a good number of freelance writers today started off as a some other profession in a field of their liking. Clothes salesmen and women become fashion copy-writers, investors become opinion piece contributors, and lawyers become legal writers.

I’m someone who enjoys playing video games and writing. Naturally, I combined the two. But, unlike the original examples provided, playing video games isn’t a profession in most cases. Not only that, and more to the point of this article, it doesn’t necessarily branch into that many areas of exponential value.

Websites need content that draws audiences, sure. But what else? Writing up a game’s script? That job would more likely be given to an already-practiced screen-write than someone who knows how to freeze a lane properly.

Advertise a new game? How much is Infinity Ward really going to pay you for putting the amount of additional guns coming out in a new title on their website? Perhaps blog posts on their website regarding game development? That is probably going to be given to people who are actually developing the game, A.K.A programmers.

The idea here isn’t that writers who use video games as their niche are going to be out of work if they want something with a high pay ceiling, the idea is that finding that kind of work is going to take a lot of dedication. Like any high paying job, of course, but with a little more creativity in landing it. You have to be crafty, I’ve found, if you want to land jobs that aren’t simply article content. Practicing up on copy-writing, creative writing in the form of a story here ‘n there, and a lot of marketing.

This website, for example, is just a tool for me to throw content into the internet that I usually wouldn’t be able to post for a client, given the random nature of each piece. This means I can practice up on writing where I otherwise wouldn’t be able to while also compiling work that other clients might be interested in.

And that’s probably the most important variable here: Clients. How many are you talking to? Are you talking to them with the energy of someone who wants to work, or someone who’s hoping to work?

It sounds gimmicky, but casting a wide net to pull as much work as you can is the best way to make your niche expand into multiple practices. Some people just might need game-driven talents for copy-writing, script editing, or literally anything else. But you’d have no way of finding these people if you don’t shake as many proverbial hands as you possibly can.

And, just as importantly, they have no way of finding you if you don’t have a network of business-related pages, websites, and posts to call your own.

The point being that even in the contest between a writer looking for a buck and the steer that is a 150 billion dollar industry like video games, the outcome is not certain.

GLHF,
-E