How To Write a Video Game News Article

The video game industry is one of the leading entertainment industries in the world; with mobile games taking center stage it is growing faster and bigger than ever before. So you want to write for the video game industry as a journalist, content review writer or feature writer. It’s been your passion for large part of your life, but where do you start? Unless you are experienced or are in the field of journalism, it is often a daunting task to write news without regurgitating someone else’ work. Let’s face it, nine out of ten times you won’t be the first one to report this; it’s just the way the Internet works. Because of that you’re often stuck re-writing something you have already read, but spinning it into your own work through quality.

At Gamersyndrome.com we like to write in the inverted pyramid style starting with the most important information first to the least.  The key to writing in any field falls into a structured writing approach; if followed, it can be applied to almost any industry. As long as you follow this format or a similar one, news writing can become a great asset and skill to round out your repertoire.

So what are the basic parts of all news articles?

It’s broken down into these simple sections with 3 and 4 able to be put into one section for shorter news posts:

1. Headline
2. Opening Paragraph
3. Supporting Facts
4. Details and or background
5. End notes and Closing, Summary, Action

Headline

The headline is always what grabs the readers attention first; this is the main title of the post. You want to make this title as exciting as possible but still have the proper keywords in tact that explain what the news post is about.

Opening Paragraph
The opening paragraph or introduction is your “hook” it summarizes all the essentials of what the news piece is all about. It’s the key to keeping the reader interested in reading the rest of the post. This single piece of information should be short and sweet but give the brief overview of what your news article is about; if they can’t figure out what you are going to talk about within the first paragraph then you have probably failed this point. The plain and simple fact is that news articles are to the point, and don’t beat around the bush. If you want to have a kicker or surprise at the end of the post… then you’re probably not writing a news article.

Supporting Facts / Details or Background
After the opening paragraph you will want to include details on who, what, when, where and why. Supporting information often includes actual facts or history about the main topic, it may also include things such as comparisons.

Closing
Facts and opinions are summarized and sometimes include a closing action such as a website link or a comment. Make sure to note the publisher, release date, title, and price where applicable.

Other Notes
Just remember, with news, you’re not writing long story or a book. News is meant to be just enough details to get the reader to know what is happening. If you want to write in more detail then it becomes more of a feature article rather than a news post.  You should also read the AP Style Guide and read it in its entirety.

If anyone else has tips for writing a video game news article please let me know in the comments below and I will be glad to consider adding them!