10 Tricks to Balance Game Journalism With Your Day Job

Posted: May 14, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Ever since I started writing a weekly column, I’ve gotten one question over and over from aspiring game journos:  How do I balance a full-time job and a weekly column?

Well now that I’ve left the full-time job I can reveal my secret.

I didn’t balance them.  Not nearly.  For the last six months I’ve been harried, under-slept and feeling three steps behind on everything.

There’s no such thing as Work/Life Balance.  Hell, I had a hard enough time with Work/Work Balance.

But despite all that, I survived.  Critical Intel has done well, gained an audience, and kept a high level of quality.  I got good reviews at my day job and was considered a don’t-know-what-we’ll-do-without-you asset when I left.  Despite burning every drop of midnight oil I had, I was at least functioning at a pretty high level.

So can I tell you how maintain Work/Live Balance?  Hahahahahaha no.  Yeah, nope.

What I can do, though, is tell you what makes putting out that much work  possible and a whole lot less painful.

1. Plan Your Content

Do you know what you’re writing about this week?  Sure!  No problem, right?  So ok – what about next week?  What about the week after that?  If you’re putting out content weekly, you need to develop a plan.  I never approach a deadline not knowing what to write about, because that’s suicide.  While it’s true that I’ve sometimes found myself a few days out not knowing which article’s going to go out that week, it’s always a question of which of these three articles am I going to write? rather than what am I going to write?  Ideally, I schedule content three weeks out.  I know what I’m writing this week, I have one or two possibilities I’m developing for next week, and a treasure trove of ideas I can use for week three.

2. Plan Your Week

For any article that requires an interview, I’m sending out emails two weeks out.  For anything that needs extensive research, I start reading sources and marking paragraphs at least a week before the deadline.  First draft starts several days beforehand, finishes the day before the deadline, and then a series of 3-4 edited drafts before it’s due.  And honestly, this is way too close to the wire for my liking, but I’m trying to be realistic about what actually happens when you’re carrying a full-time job and a weekly deadline.  Once you’ve hit that deadline give yourself a night off to recoup sleep and do it all again.

3. Get at Least A Week Ahead

If you don’t do anything else, do this.  I started Critical Intel with the first and second weeks of content already filed, kept an article in reserve as long as I could, and I was waaaaay saner.  Then Christmas happened and I basically lost a week – just couldn’t get anything written – and I was back to scrambling like a quarterback with no linemen.  Don’t do this.  When you’re starting a new weekly endeavor, be kind to yourself and have some extra articles in  your back pocket.  Less pressure, more chance to redraft and your writing will be better for it.  Think like a gunfighter – always have a backup in your waistband.

4. It’s Okay to Softball (Sometimes)

When I tell you the shit’s gonna hit the fan, buddy, I’m not kidding.  One week the shit will hit the fan, and it will get thrown everywhere and make everything shitty.  Also, presumably, your fan will stop working because it’s gears are caked with shit.  Maybe you’re fighting with your spouse and writing isn’t the uppermost thing on your mind.  Maybe your computer crashed.  Maybe it’s Christmas Eve and you’re spending time with family or, alternately, wandering drunk around Downtown Disney, reevaluating your life choices.  At times like this you can either use one of your backups, or you can write a softball article.  Now don’t misunderstand what I mean by “softball” – its not a bad article, or a rushed article.  It’s just an article that’s easy.  Something that’s been in the back of your mind, or draws on your own knowledge, something you don’t have to read forty pages of source material to write.  Strangely, in my experience these columns actually tend to become popular.  Desperate Housewives of Skyrim was one of these for me.  So was the recent The Perfect Non-Gamer Girl, which I wrote because my spare time was nothing but wedding errands.  Industry Secret Time: you know why there are so many top-ten lists at the end of the year?  Because game journos are tired and it’s Christmas and PR’s not returning emails.  Top ten lists are easy, that’s why content mills like Buzzfeed churn them out.  Have a few ideas in your notebook you can flee to in times of need.

5. Learn to Cook in a Crockpot

Or else learn to live off soup, sandwiches, and fast food.  If you’re writing as well as working, the writing is going to cut into your time, including mealtimes.  That often means shortening meals or, alternately, learning to cook dinners that require little attention.  I consider stews, roasts, curries, pulled pork, homemade soups, and the like writer food.  Chop some ingredients, dump them in a pot, and let it boil in the background while you write.  Also provides a good, mindless action if you need to think between paragraphs.

6. Insomnia is Not Your Friend, But it Can Be a Powerful Ally

Let’s me be straight about this one: you’re gonna lose some sleep.  You just will.  It’ll happen.  Best to come to terms with it.  I’m lucky to be one of those people who can drop off to sleep pretty quickly, so if I’m going to bed at 3:00 AM and waking up at 7:00 AM I’ve slept a half a night, but not everyone’s like this.  Frankly I could write a whole post on writing and insomnia and strategies to get enough sleep, but let’s just leave it like this: you’re going to end up pulling late nights, sometimes multiple times a week.  This will literally let you add more hours of work to your day, but if you push it too far you’ll have a breakdown or a car accident.  Be very, very careful about how much sleep you get.  Consider getting up early instead of staying up late, or starting your articles earlier in the week.

7. Limit Your TV and Videogame Time

Yeah, I know this one sounds counterintuitive, especially coming from a videogame journalist.  Here’s the thing though: you’ve got a limited amount of time in your day and can’t afford to burn daylight.  So instead of watching six TV shows a week, pick three.  Instead of playing the game you’re writing about and also ten hours of another game, maybe cut that extraneous game down to a couple hours.  Personally, I like to watch a TV episode while I’m eating dinner, since I can justify the time by multitasking.  Also, just bite the bullet and get TiVo or some form of digital cable, or else just work on Netflix and Hulu.  Watch TV when you have time, not when the TV tells you to.

8. Schedule Writing Time

My fiancée knows not to schedule anything on certain nights of the week.  Those nights are writing nights.  Figure out your own time and lock your environment down.  Shut off Twitter and Facebook.  Get out of the house if you have to – retreat to a library or cafe or a bar.  Whatever you do, set a time when you need to put your ass in a chair and just write.   This time could be every week, every day, or every couple of days.  It can be as long or short as you want.  Get up early.  Stay up late.  Knock out a page during your lunch hour each day,  on the C Train, or stay at your desk an extra hour after punching out – if someone calls you, tell them you’re still at work and will call back.  The last one really works well.

9. Make a Little Progress Every Day

Even if you’re not actually writing your article, just keep moving the ball forward.  Bookmark some research, do some reading, play a game.  Waiting for your girlfriend at a restaurant?  Take out your notebook or cell phone and jot down ideas for articles or interview questions.  Outline something you haven’t started on – it’ll take five minutes and save you an hour.  Correspond with PR or interviewees.  Above all write everything down.  To put out content every week you need to become a wellspring of ideas.

10. Be Kind To Yourself

You’re going to do better some weeks than others.  That’s just the nature of writing on a weekly basis and, frankly, writing period.  One week you’re going to put something out you’re crazy enthusiastic about and the next it might just be alright.  Serviceable but not soaring. Good stuff, insightful stuff, but not a world-beater.  Inevitably, you’ll put a lot of work into something you think is really fantastic that practically no one reads, the bastards.  You might write something people hate.  That’s just going to happen and you can’t get too twisted up about it.  Try harder next week.  The fact you met a deadline and have shown the world you can publish on a regular basis – and get paid – is a form of success in itself.  Don’t beat yourself up.  Falling short of excellence isn’t the same thing as being comfortably mediocre.  It probably isn’t even as bad as you think (probably).  Just keep reaching higher each week and you’ll improve.

My Schedule for PAX East

Posted: March 21, 2013 in Controversy, Critical Intel, Escapist, International, PAX East
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There’s really nothing quite like PAX East.  Prime is great — many people prefer it — but it’s too spread out for my taste, too sprawling and diluted.  East is smaller, more concentrated.  At Prime you can get lost in the crowd, but at East you’re constantly running into people you know.

Which is as good a segue as any…

If you want to run into me at PAX East, you’ve got a couple of options.

If you’re a freelancer or an aspiring freelancer, I highly encourage you to attend the Freelancer Meetup described in the last post.  Yeah, it’s early in the morning, but it’s a really great opportunity to meet fellow game writers in a no-pressure environment.

Other than that, I’ll be on two panels:

The Escapist Movie Night: Saturday, 9:00 PM, Merman Theatre – Come see the stars of the Escapist!  Check out never-before-seen videos from the Escapist’s most talented content creators, plus a live Q&A from the likes of MovieBob, Loading Ready Run, No Right Answer, Susan Arendt, Shamus Young, Johnathan Grey Carter of Critical Miss, and of course myself!  If you have any questions about Critical Intel — how I do it, where I conduct my research, or how I got started in game journalism — this is the place to ask.

Borders and Bullets: Global Game Controversies: Sunday, 10:00 AM, Naga Theatre — If you’re a political animal as well as a gamer, don’t miss out on this panel.  It’s a roundtable discussion on a host of topics from violent media, to links between the game industry and the gun industry, and even whether games can be used as a diplomatic tool.  My fellow panelists Steve Watts, Elisa Melendez, and James Portnow of Extra Credits fame will help bring the Borders trilogy to a close — it’ll be one for the record books.

And hey, aren’t coming to PAX but want to watch Borders and Bullets anyway?  Not only will I be taping the panel as normal, but Twitch TV will be streaming it live!

See you out there in the big nowhere.

PAX East Freelancer Meetup

Posted: March 17, 2013 in Freelancing, Game Journalism, PAX East, Writing
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Breakfast is the most important meal of the day — and if you’re a freelancer at PAX East, it might be the only meal you get.

During PAX Prime last summer, a small gathering of freelancers met in the press room and headed out into the city for drinks.  It was a chance to connect with other writers and meet people we’d only known through bylines and Twitter handles.  There were only two problems: everyone had different parties to go to, and by the time we got together, PAX was nearly over!

To solve these issues, we’re kicking things off early this year — we’ll be meeting up on Friday morning right before the floor opens, buying up coffee and crumbly pastries from the Westin Starbucks and lounging around the lobby.  Be there bright and early to meet new people, connect with old friends, and get to know the fellow press badges you might run into on the expo floor.  PAX is a flood of humanity, so we might as well put some familiar faces in the crowd, right?

We’re holding it at 8:00 AM in the Westin, so everyone has time to get to the Expo Floor before it opens for press at 9:00.  (Though remember that the PAX shuttles don’t start until 8:00 AM, so get your T passes ready.)

WHAT: PAX East Freelancer Meetup

WHERE: Lobby of the Westin Waterfront, near Starbucks (the hotel connected to the Convention Center)

WHEN: Friday, March 22nd, at 8:00 AM sharp

DETAILS OR QUESTIONS: Follow event coordinator Rob Rath on Twitter @RobWritesPulp

See you at PAX!

My Five Favorite Critical Intel Columns of 2012

Posted: January 20, 2013 in Critical Intel, Escapist, Freelancing, Game Journalism, Games, History, International
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Critical Intel is off and running.  Originally, I’d thought the column would provide an interesting side note with niche appeal, but instead I’m seeing comments from regular readers and getting appreciative messages in my inbox.  (That’s always humbling, wonderful, and weird.)  It seems CritIntel‘s audience is larger than I anticipated.

Given that, I really want to thank everyone who’s read, commented, tweeted, and shared in support of the column. At the risk of sounding biased, CritIntel readers are my favorite audience on The Escapist.  You’re overwhelmingly positive and engaged, and when you disagree with me, that dissent is (with only a few exceptions) well-reasoned and polite.  Moreover, you’re all pretty kind to each other even when discussing controversial topics.  I think it says a lot that I wrote a column on the Mexican Cartel War the comments didn’t explode into xenophobic tirades. Despite writing about contentious political topics like conflict minerals, drone warfare, gay rights, and BioWare, I haven’t received a single piece of hate mail to date.  You guys are amazing.

So here’s to another year of thoughtful analysis and clean comment threads.  To celebrate, here’s my favorite columns of 2012:

1) King Washington the Wicked

This column was the essence of why I stared doing Critical Intel - I wanted to bring players smart, detailed analyses of the real-world content in games that include the perspectives of subject experts.  I’m still on pins and needles waiting to see if my predictions for The Tyranny of King Washington come to pass.

2) Desperate Housewives of Skyrim

Skyrim is one of my all-time favorite games.  That being said, Skyrim‘s stilted social relationships are an endless source of unintentional hilarity.  I love writing humor pieces, and I’d like to do more in the future.

3) Killer Robots and Collateral Damage

Articles that post on or near a holiday tend to get a lot less traffic – which is unfortunate, since this piece on the portral of drones in video games was one of the better things I’ve done this year.

4) Conflict Minerals in the Game Industry: A Two-Part Series

Yes, it’s cheating to post two as one.  Conflict minerals haven’t gotten a lot of traction in the games media, and it’s a topic I’ve wanted to address for years.  I still have a lot of unresolved feelings regarding Part II, since I’m honestly not sure where I stand on what we should do to address the problem.  Still, I’m proud that I took it on.

5) Cuddly Pokemon and the Demons That Spawned Them

Confession: I don’t like Pokemon.  I’ve never played it because I can’t stand turn-based games.  On the other hand, I love Japanese folklore, especially stories of violent spirits and creatures.  Originally, this was going to be a two part column, but it dragged so I cut it down to one.  There are lots more bizarre spirits that influenced Pokemon, and I highly suggest you check them out if you’re interested.

6 Reasons You Should Back Bit Parts on Kickstarter

Posted: December 5, 2012 in Blue Goggles, Films, Games, indie film
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The Binary Investigation Team, or BIT are responsible for keeping order in the world of videogames.  Woman floating in midair?  Invisible wall?  Glitch causing human/animal hybrid abominations?  Agents One and Zero insert in to patch it, eliminate any glitches, and restore normality.  Except something weird is happening–Agent Zero is hell-bent on investigating cases that don’t line up with normal glitch activity.  It’s almost like some higher power is messing with the virtual plain, something from… outside.

BIT Parts is like X-files for videogames, where the players are the aliens.  I’m on the writing team.  We have nine days to meet our $30,000 goal, and could really use your help.

Here are 6 reasons to back BIT Parts:

1)  We Pay Our Actors and Crew

We’re creative and passionate people at Blue Goggles Films, but we also believe that professional actors, crew, and designers shouldn’t work for free.  Things are tough enough for artistic types as it is, and though a lot of us have given time (and money–quite a bit actually) to produce the first six episodes we can’t keep that up without funding.  If you’ve ever been an artist, you know how hard it is to get paid for your work–in fact, you’ve probably been outright exploited for free work once or twice.  We hate that.  Change starts from the bottom, and our part of that change is giving creatives a paycheck.

2) We’re About More Than Jokes

BIT Parts is funny.  We bring the jokes.  But we also bring a story arch that will carry us through 24 episodes of Season 1, and even onto Season 2.  We want to tell a story with characters that develop over time rather than just going for easy gags.  Here’s a little industry secret we’ll let you in on: Some sites declined to host our videos because at four minutes, they were “too long,” and didn’t contain a punchline in the first 30 seconds.  We believe our audience has an attention span that lasts more than 30 seconds.

3) Ass-Kicking Action

Part of our mission to retain and develop top-tier talent is to get professional stuntmen and fight choreographers.  If you want to see what a difference this makes, see Blue Goggles’ Assassin’s Creed video below:

 

4) Shannon McCormick

That’s right, Agent Washington himself, of Red vs. Blue fame.  Shannon’s a classically trained actor and gets to stride around being sinister as Agent Debug.  (He, er… debugs things.)

5) It’s a Proven Team

Blue Goggles has been making videogame-themed shorts for years, including the insanely popular Skyrim Intervention and Twisted Metal: Be Mine.  This year they also partnered up with GameTrailers.com to produce a videogame short film every month–that’s twelve shorts in a single year.  If you know anything about shooting film on a budget, that’s seriously crazy.

6) Because This is What BIT Parts Looks Like Without Funding

 

On the upside, this is what it looks like with funding:

 

Please consider donating to our Kickstarter.  We have 9 days to go.

Service is the Spirit of Veterans Day

Posted: November 11, 2012 in Uncategorized
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We form a social contract when we send our men and women to war: in return for their their faithful service to the nation at great risk to themselves, we are supposed to assist them when they come home.

Somehow, this has been lost with this generation of vets.  They’re taking care of us, but we’re not taking care of them.  Congress keeps moving to slash budgets for veterans’ programs, vets have had to fight to get PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury taken seriously by military authorities, the military is now losing more troops to suicide than enemy fire, and for-profit schools are preying on vets to trade their New GI Bill benefits for worthless non-accredited degrees.  Some even face hiring prejudice because of worries about how combat has effected their ability to work (newsflash: it hasn’t).  Worse still, the VA–despite being run by distinguished former Army General Eric Shinseki–is completely overwhelmed at best and ineffective at worst.

On this Veterans Day, consider a donation that would serve our veterans as well as they’ve served us:

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America — Provides support, resources, and legislative lobbying for the New Greatest Generation.  The IAVA is an exemplary organization that does everything from hosting job fairs to getting veterans suits for interviews.

The Wounded Warrior Project — Seeks to create a generation of healthy, well-adjusted veterans by assisting them to recover in mind and body, as well as empowering veterans to help each other.

Homes for Our Troops — Builds accessible homes for veterans who have experienced life-changing injuries.  This can also include modifying existing homes.  All this is done at no cost to the veteran.

Warrior Writers — Is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that creates a space where veterans can share their experiences through writing, provide a community based on artistic expression, and bear witness to the lived experiences of warriors.

Call of Duty Endowment — If you’re interested in supporting a video games-linked charity, the Call of Duty Endowment helps veterans find a clear path to employment after their return to civilian life.

The American Widow Project — In addition to the veterans, we must remember the families left behind.  AWP provides support for the new generation of military widows by creating a peer-to-peer network where women can share their stories and help each other heal.

And, of course, in a day that celebrates service we cannot forget that our emergency responders and National Guard are saving lives sas we speak in Staten Island and Rockaway, which are still powerless from Hurricane Sandy.  The American Red Cross has missions in the area bringing people food and water who are unable to leave their apartments.  In addition, Doctors Without Borders has dispatched a mission–their first ever to the United States–and they could really use our help.

A deep and sincere thank you to all our veterans.

One Month of Critical Intel

Posted: October 28, 2012 in Critical Intel, Escapist, Freelancing, Game Journalism, History, International, Military, Politics, Work Ethic, Writing
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As you probably know, I’ve been hard at work recently on Critical Intel, my new weekly column at The Escapist.  It’s been a great month packed end-to-end with work that makes me really proud.  Frankly, having a dedicated space each week has made me understand what it’s like when dogs go to a leash-free park.  First they stand there staring at their owners, blinking, as if to say: “What?  I can go anywhere I want now?”  Then they’re off like a shot, tearing over the scenery as quickly as possible, making giant leaps and running circles.

I’ve always had enough ideas about games to write an article every week, the two things I didn’t have were the time and the dedicated venue.  Of the two, the venue was the most difficult part (I can make time) and I can’t thank the good people at Escapist enough for giving me my own little corner of the web.

So what, exactly, is Critical Intel?  Broadly, it’s a column that examines the overlap between videogames and the real world.  That covers a lot of territory – one week I might be talking about an historical event or legend featured in a game, another week I might be discussing military or medical uses of game technology, while I finish up the month with an in-depth look at the trouble games get into overseas.  It will be always intelligent, always well-researched, and often international.  My goal is to take you a level deeper.

Just to give you a sampler, of the three articles that have come out so far, the first was about game censorship in China, the second discussed how games misrepresent the Mexican Cartel War, and the third addressed whether Assassin’s Creed III‘s DLC pack passes muster historically.  The fourth, out this Thursday, is about something entirely different.

Writing an article every week – while holding a full-time job – has been a real challenge, but the warm response all of you have given Critical Intel makes all the long nights and sacrificed weekends worthwhile.  Thanks to everyone for sharing this new journey with me, and I’m looking forward to showing you interesting new stuff every week – bringing need-to-know information to the people who need to know everything.

Beyond Borders: Global Game Controversies (Video)

Posted: October 10, 2012 in Controversy, FPS, Games, International, Military, Politics
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At PAX Prime 2012, James Portnow, Steve Watts, Elisa Melendez and I hosted a panel on the many issues games run into by portraying real events – especially in an age where games are played around the world.

Have a look:

Beyond Borders Reading List

Posted: August 31, 2012 in Controversy, FPS, Games, International, Military, Politics
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We are in the midst of a sea change in the way games are made, marketed, and consumed.  Previously a product that was made only by Western and Japanese studios, and consumed primarily in Japan and the West, videogames are now a worldwide form of media with a presence on every continent.

One of the results of game globalization has been a backlash against the countries and groups of people regularly depicted as “enemies,” as well as a greater — sometimes disturbingly greater — partnership between game development, the military, and arms manufacturers.

At this year’s PAX Prime, we’ll be exploring this in our panel Beyond Borders: Global Game Controversies.  Come see us on Saturday, September 1st, at 5:00 PM in the Unicorn Theater.

After our previous PAX East panel, Borders, Bigotry, and Body Dumps: International Videogame Controversies, enough people requested extra resources that I put together a supplemental reading list on this blog.  Now that Beyond Borders is going live, I’ve updated the list to reflect new developments such as the Oliver North/Black Ops controversy as well as the links between EA and arms companies.

If you have any questions, I will gladly answer them in the comments.

Increasing Crossover Between Games and Real Life

The Trouble with Call of Duty‘s Scary New War of the Future — An exploration of the problematic nature of Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II advertising.  It is especially critical of Oliver North’s role in the campaign.

Partners In Arms — The editorial which first pointed out that EA’s Medal of Honor: Warfighter is not only partnering with arms companies, but actively advertising their products on its website.

Hotel Oasis in Modern Warfare 3 – featured as Makarov’s hideout in the mission “Ashes to Ashes” — displays a striking resemblance to the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai:

 

Representing Foreign Conflicts in Games

Ghosts of Juarez – My own article exploring the Mexican government’s reaction to Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and anticipating the fallout from Call of Juarez: The Cartel.

Extra Credits: Call of Juarez: The Cartel – The Extra Credits episode I essentially wheedled/nagged/coerced James Portnow into making on the subject.  A well-done video on what’s wrong with the game, filled with quiet rage.

Guardian Article on The Castro Assassination Mission in CoD: Black Ops – Contains quotes from the Cuban government, including the best quote in the history of videogame controversies: “What the United States government did not achieve in more than 50 years, it now tries to do virtually.”

Red Cross Report on War Crimes in Videogames

You’re a War Criminal – This article by Steve Watts not only won him a spot on “Borders, Bigotry and Body Dumps,” but is the most clear-eyed discussion of the topic I’ve found anywhere.

Representation of Foreign People in Games

Muslims in My Monitor – Writer Saladin Ahmed discusses representation of Muslims in games.  Saladin is also the author of Throne of the Crescent Moon, which is an example of someone taking active part in re-framing a problematic representation of a group of people (in this case, Middle Eastern people in Fantasy).

Dangerous games people play – an opinion piece from the UAE about Middle Eastern stereotypes in games and media.

The Ugly Paulistano — a Brazilian writer living in São Paulo feels that Max Payne 3 is a fair representation of the crime in his city.

(Also see the EC episodes on Race in Games and Call of Juarez, linked above and below.)

Game Development Outside of North America, Europe, and Japan

Is the Arab World the next hot spot for gaming? – Excellent article about gaming in Yemen, and references the development of Unearthed: The Trail of Ibn Battuta.  The Reuters article it was sourced from is worth a read, and can be found here.

Argentina’s video gamers take on the world – CNN article about game development in Argentina which quotes our own panelist, James Portnow.

Hezbollah video game: War with Israel – A good example of an unhelpful response to these issues, this CNN article is about the Hezbollah propaganda game Special Force 2: The Truthful Pledge.

Solutions

Extra Credits: Race in Games – The EC team tackles the difficult subject of how better to represent people in games.

A Renaissance Scholar Helps Build Virtual Rome – A profile of Italian historian Marcello Simonetta, who consulted on Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.

Extra Credits: Spec Ops: The Line — SPOILERS, OH SO MANY SPOILERS… The EC team discusses a game that is itself a criticism of how games depict warfare.

You Don’t Want To Eat Lovecraft’s Birthday Cake

Posted: August 21, 2012 in fiction, History, horror, Uncategorized, Writing
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How does one talk about Howard Phillips Lovecraft?

You can judge him by his fans.  Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, John Carpenter and Guillermo Del Toro have all cited Lovecraft as a formative influence.  You can see him in the Arkham Asylum of the Batman comics and the album covers of Metallica, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden.  Borges dedicated a short story to him.  Joyce Carol Oates wrote the introduction to a collection of his stories.  The Library of America published a volume of his stories.  Each week, thousands of gamers roll dice in his honor.

You can likewise judge him by his prejudices and his contradictions.  Lovecraft fetishized historical places and speech, yet found astrophysics fascinating.  He was racially bigoted toward minority groups, yet yearned for the immigrants he saw to assimilate to American culture.  (An older, more extreme version of the “Why Can’t My Waiter Speak Good English?”/”Immigrants Are Stealing Our Jobs!” crowd we see today.)  Though his thoughts and stories were profoundly steeped in antisemitism, he married a Ukrainian Jew and had multiple Jewish friends.  Truly, one of the tragedies of Lovecraft’s life was that, for a man who rose above so many literary conventions, his everyday philosophy remained mired in old-fashioned racism that poisoned his friendships and hobbled his fiction.  One wonders what Lovecraft could’ve accomplished had his “cosmic” view of humanity extended to the foreigners and minorities he so maligned.

Still, we must take Lovecraft as he was, not as we would like him to be.  Though many of his stories are problematic and some even repulsive to modern readers, any historian will tell you that a figure can be historically significant and worthy of study despite being an enormous dirtbag.

For me, the real lesson of H.P. Lovecraft is that writers have to dig deep.  Yes, Lovecraft’s greatest addition to the literary canon was the Mythos – the notion that vastly powerful interstellar beings are always a hair’s breadth from destroying us – but that’s not what made his stories scary.  What make Lovecraft sing is that every horror, every fear, every clawing unnamable thing he put on the page originated deep within his psyche.

When Lovecraft was three, his father had a psychotic break while on a business trip.  He died five years later in a psychiatric hospital… so Lovecraft wrote about madness and asylums.

Lovecraft thought he was ugly, a view his mother seemed to instill in him when he was young… so Lovecraft created The Outsider and the abhuman faces of “The Innsmouth Look.”

Lovecraft had intense dreams where he stayed lucid… so he wrote about Randolph Carter in the Dreamlands.

A lifelong fear of the sea – and a visceral reaction to seafood – made Lovecraft write about tentacled monsters and human-fish hybrids.

He had overwhelming feelings of family obligation and legacy, which gave us Arthur Jermyn, The Rats in the Walls, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Lovecraft felt small, and powerless, and isolated – so he imagined a universe where all of humanity was the same, whether they knew it or not.

The reason Lovecraft frightens us isn’t because of his cosmic monstrosities, the titanic inhuman behemoths of which he was so proud.  Actually, it’s the small, human concerns that frighten us.  It is the fear that our lives are meaningless, that our bodies will be corrupted, that we are being manipulated or worse, that the house we live in or the person residing next door conceal a sinister past.  In Lovecraft’s world, we are always living with our backs to the cliff with our heels just over the precipice.  We are never as safe – or as sane – as we think.

These are all things that H.P. Lovecraft feared.  Through his writing he managed to pass on his terrors, his helplessness, his flat-out dysfunction onto his readers.  Connections like that are the hallmark of a good writer.

Many academics talk about how Lovecraft’s stories are divorced from emotion and humanity, with paper-thin protagonists serving as detached narrators.

That’s not the case at all.  Lovecraft is all over the pages of his work.  He’s there in the crawling dread of insanity, the gnawing feeling of something outside mankind’s vision, the revolting rubberiness of a sea god, and the intricate impossibility of the Dreamlands.  These things are the humanity in his work, and the emotion too.   They’re a conduit straight to a human mind buckled by dread and constrained emotion.  The protagonist in Lovecraft stories is – sometimes literally but always figuratively – Lovecraft himself.

HPL put himself all in, and you should too.

So, in honor of that massively-head-screwed genius:  Write.  Squeeze your soul.  Hold it above the page and ring it out like a dish sponge.

Write about things that scare you.

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