Long hours

[Andrew Groen]

Debate: is it fair that any game journalist who wants to make a half-way decent living (let's say $30K US) has to work a bare minimum of 55-60 hours a week? Does the often enjoyable work load make up for the lack of over-time pay?

If it's not OK, what's the solution?

[Nathan Meunier]

I've managed to scale my work week back to about 50-55 hours from some ungodly number I was working before. I typically pull 9-10 hour days and often will spend a few hours over the weekend chipping away at quicker/easier assignments that I can complete without working all weekend. The tradeoff is my workdays are pretty flexible. I can spend an hour running errands here, spent a few playing review games, and generally adjust my workload from day-to-day on a whim. I'm a bit of a workaholic, so even when faced with the option to chill out for a bit, I tend to fill that time with something constructive that helps me get some work done. Getting better rates with a lower word count for pieces can make a big difference, but it can be tough to finagle that even from medium-size outlets.

Writing about games and related culture makes for a very interesting and entertaining job. That said, it's not all fun and games. I'd say 80 percent of my time during the day is spent writing, pitching and researching, which also includes managing invoices, billing, and tracking income/expenses like you would with any individual business. The rest is typically spent trying to plow through review games for various assignments and getting other things done.

Another interesting point ot bring up: Even though some freelancers are lucky enough to pull in $30k+ for their grueling hours and financial uncertainty, that's not so hot in the end when we're taxed so heavily that a third of that income gets funneled away the The Man the second it comes in. I just pretend a third of each check I get doesn't even exist. It makes the sting of watching it siphoned away hurt a little less.

[Nathan Meunier]

Also, thanks for bringing up something interesting to talk about.

[Stew Shearer]

I've kind of given up on it being a full time thing and am instead trying to find a situation where I can do it alongside another job in order make a decent living.

[Jared Newman]

I think journalists in general tend to work more than the traditional 40-hour week. It's a career of passion (for the money, you're really in the wrong industry if you don't love what you do), and that entails spending more time on the job.

The bright side is that the more you hustle, the more likely you are to get better gig. You'll also become faster at the work you're already doing. If you can make it work, you'll feel great knowing how much time you put in to getting there. Then again, I don't write exclusively about video games, so maybe the prospects are bleaker.

[Pat 'iTZKooPA' Mulhern]

I think the problem with the pay tends to be the respect, actually the lack of it, that video game writers as a whole get. With no respect comes now compensation. The video game industry we cover is still largely considered to be "for kids," so many people assume that covering it is incredibly easy.

As you noted, and Nathan elaborated on, thankfully it is work that we tend to love, which eases the pain. Still, I've always kept a second day job for benefits, and just in case something crazy happens (the internet fad goes away).

[Nathan Meunier]

I agree with Pat, lack of respect is a big issue that goes hand-in-hand with lack of pay.

[Stew Shearer]

Yeah, I've noted that as well.

My wife loves that I'm doing something I enjoy and as I haven't found a more permanent job alongside this one as well, when people ask what I do she just says I'm a freelance writer. When they find out I write about video games you can generally tell they aren't too impressed.

Sigh...

[Jared Newman]

That's one nice thing about general tech journalism. Everyone has, loves, hates or wants an iPhone, but no one gives a shit about Demon's Souls.

[Nathan Meunier]

Definitely. With public meetings and other stuff to cover, I used to pull a 40+ hour work week when I was a newspaper reporter. That was a bit more stressful than freelancing in the games industry. I don't really mind the long hours because I actually can wake up each day and generally look forward to tackling whatever tasks I have lined up on any given day. A love of writing, learning the craft, and constantly picking up new tricks is a must to be able to hack the grueling hours most journalists clock in.

As for the hustle, I can attest to that. I pitch constantly and frequently cold-pitch new editors with ideas for features and to introduce myself. Doing that for the past year has opened a lot of doors that I wouldn't have been able to open if I had been complacent with the few gigs I had at the time. I think the crappy economy and the prospect of any major gigs potentially falling through at any time also keeps us freelancers on our toes.