writing | Polygamer

Polygamer #87: Tifa Robles and The Explorers of Azullucent

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Ken Gagne

Tifa Robles is the author of The Explorers of Azullucent, a young-adult fantasy novel currently on Kickstarter. Over 16 years in the making, this book features a trio of diverse female protagonists on an epic adventure of discovery. Tifa is no stranger to writing, being a regular contributor to the board game website Tabletop-Test. Her love for gaming continues as co-host GenCon’s TableTakes show and as founder and former organizer of the Lady Planeswalker Society, a community for introducing players to Magic: The Gathering.

In this episode, Tifa and I reunite after three years since her last appearance on Polygamer. We chat about how her book has evolved over almost two decades; the advantages of going the crowdfunding, self-published route; who she turned to for help with peer reviews, art design, and crowdfunding; how a degree in creative writing informs her non-fiction writing; how a minor in biological anthropology can be essential to developing empathy; the challenges and tricks to being a writer with dyslexia; and how she juggles it all with being a mom.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:05:34 — 30.9MB) | Embed

Polygamer #63: +1 to Journalism at PAX East 2017

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Ken Gagne

This week’s Polygamer podcast is the audio from the PAX East panel "+1 to Journalism: Becoming a Better Writer", held on Sunday, March 12, 2017, 4:00–5:00 PM in Bobcat Theatre.

What do you need to know to make it as a games journalist? What pitches do editors love to get, and what tropes have been done to death? Whether you’re helping consumers make informed purchasing decisions, unearthing the history of a franchise, or critiquing video games as art, you have to convey a lot of meaning in just a few words before the reader clicks away. Come hear veteran writers and editors share the best in games journalism and our own mistakes we’ve made along the way.

Featuring:

Susan Arendt [Executive Editor, GamesRadar+]
Jonathan Holmes [Writer, Destructoid & Nintendo Force]
Ken Gagne [Digital Content Developer, Gamebits]
Alexander Sliwinski [COO, Bithell Games]

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:03:15 — 29.8MB) | Embed

Polygamer #21: Sabriel Mastin, indie game reviewer & Let’s Player

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Ken Gagne

Sabriel Mastin is a prolific game reviewer and YouTube personality, having produced content for such sites as Indie Haven and Indie Gamer Chick. She has attended both PAX East and PAX South and is a regular guest at events in the Minneapolis area, only a short drive from her native Fargo. And, if all that weren’t enough, Sabriel is also a former roller-derby athlete, having torn up the local circuit with her unique brand of hell on wheels.

In this episode, Sabriel and Ken talk about how to break into games writing and whether it’s fair to expect a volunteer to write for free; what equipment goes into an amateur audio/video studio; strategies for Twitter networking and hashtagging; the moral objections to attending Penny Arcade Expo; the local gaming scene in Fargo, North Dakota; and teaching yourself HTML and CSS.

Download the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:24 — 30.3MB) | Embed