Decisions, Decisions

I've put a lot of thought into this. Years, really. I've always seen myself going into gaming journalism because gaming is something that I've been interested in for much of my life. On top of that, I've worked in the retail portion of the industry for over four years, and I've written about games since I was 14. Most importantly, I feel really comfortable with my writing, like I could jump right into a gig on a professional magazine or website.

But then there's music. Music has been the main love of my life for the last four, five years. I own over 500 albums and am always adding to my collection. I download regularly to discover new artists and to find rarities. I read about music, write about music, talk about music. I'm almost wholly responsible for the musical interests of my closest friends, whether they'll admit to it or not. And yet, I don't feel as comfortable with my writing on music as I do about gaming. Which makes sense, as I haven't written nearly as much as I have on gaming over the years, and the music industry is so much larger.

But it's so clear that music is my larger interest, by far. I still game, but not nearly as much as I did a few years ago, and certainly not as much as I listen to music. Even with these things apparent to me, I've still seen myself going into gaming journalism because it would be such a safe and easy option. But what kind of life is that? What kind of respect can I have for myself if I'm unwilling to challenge myself; unwilling to work on bettering myself as a writer?

When I've written about music before, people have enjoyed it. And while I'm happy with some of the pieces I've written in the past, I just look at a publication like Rolling Stone or SPIN and feel totally outclassed. But these people have many more years of writing experience than I do, so I shouldn't fret. I am outclassed. It's okay, I can deal with it. I'll get better. Ultimately, I'd love to be a writer like Chuck Klosterman, a man who can drop an entire text purely comprised of random musings on pop culture... and have it be total gold. I would love to have that wisdom.

What I'm getting at is this: clearly, music is my main interest, thus I should be following that as a writer. And I'm going to. From now on, expect more of a focus on music writings. That's not to say that I'll never write about games or movies, because I probably will. But I need to be able to feel comfortable as a music writer, and feel like I'm skilled in that area.

I will probably ask you guys, as readers (if you're out there), to help me with this. I've made it so that anyone can comment, not just registered members. So please, if you've got comments or criticism on anything I write, please take a moment to leave a comment. Also, I've thought of an idea where you guys can assign me an album that I've never listened to, and I'll give it a few solid listens and crank out a review like they do in the magazines. Thank you.