Ashtear

gmr_leon , 1 month ago to Patient Gamers

How do you like to approach writing about games?

I've noticed there are some folks writing at length here on their experiences playing games, so this felt like a good place to ask. Do you take notes as you play, and/or after each session, then write out full thoughts upon completing a game?

Or are your reflections compiled only after finishing a game, no notes?

I've dabbled with different approaches, and haven't really settled on a consistent process personally.

@patientgamers

Ashtear , 1 month ago

I keep a gaming journal, but it's only for thoughts afterward. I keep it much simpler than I used to, as there's a point where writing at length becomes work, and gaming shouldn't be work. That's the same reason I don't keep a backlog. In my longer posts here and elsewhere, it tends to just be stream-of-consciousness writing derived from those journals entries, just cleaned up a little bit.

As for note-taking, I will almost never take notes on opinion/criticism during a play. Pretty sure that again, it'd feel like work if I took notes. I also rarely write about games I don't finish unless I've played most of them (I tend to bounce off a lot of games lately). Other than that, my journal has the occasional random thought on larger industry trends, or a quick sort, like a toplist or the latest tier-making meme I saw. It's interesting to see how my tastes change over the years.