Henry Stockdale’s Five Tips For Mentoring New Writers In Journalism | Winter Spectacular 2023
Mentors are unsung heroes in journalism. I've met many wonderful writers across the years who've taken time out of their own schedules to coach newcomers, helping them learn the basics in this highly competitive field. Entering any new career is daunting, especially when you don't know where to begin. As someone who benefited from such support when I returned to media, I remain extremely grateful.
I've previously discussed what writers should do if they're making the full-time leap into games journalism for the Winter Spectacular and this year, I'm looking at the other side. If you're someone who's keen to provide assistance but isn't sure how to go about it, I'm going to outline my best advice for supporting games media newcomers. With that out of the way, here are my top five tips.
Don't Fear Criticising But Qualify Your Feedback
If you're pitching an editor for the first time, they'll usually want relevant examples of previous work to assess your skills, even if it's self-published. Mentors can help at this stage by offering feedback on what a mentee plans to say in an email, but any criticism should be backed up by constructive advice your mentee can learn from. No one benefits if you withhold feedback to avoid upsetting someone, but that doesn't mean you can't be kind in delivering it. If I'm editing a newcomer for the first time, informing them that there may be heavy edit suggestions can set expectations.
For example, is a sentence unnecessarily wordy? Emphasise conciseness in a way that conveys the same message. Does the article feel unfocused? Explain what can be trimmed without detracting from the main argument. Suggested edits and comments make Google Docs my preferred method. Directly showing your mentee suggestions and outlining why they improve readability do more than making changes and hoping they notice. Give your mentee something visual to build on.
Be Patient
Constructive criticism is undoubtedly important but your mentee must walk before they run. Newcomers won't share the same understanding of best writing practices and repeat mistakes will likely happen. Continue highlighting where they need to improve, be understanding but firm, and use positive reinforcement as soon as you notice improvements, no matter how small. Patience is key for any good mentor.
You also don't want to overwhelm someone by being overly nitpicky. That's not to say you should ignore smaller issues entirely, simply that you should prioritise more pressing issues as you continue working together. A good editor/mentor won't let you rest on your laurels, they'll push you further in honing your crit. Even now, I still feel like I'm learning.
Don't Impose Your Own Writing Style
Diversity is hugely important to any field and in journalism - be it gender, creed, race, or opinions a healthy media is fostered by a varied group of voices - and that's reflected in our words too. Whether that's taking different approaches to review openings or providing contextual analysis we may not have considered, new writers can introduce much-needed variety to journalism. It's highly important that as a mentor, you don't constrain this under the veil of criticism or advice about “how things are usually done”.
Your edits shouldn't overwrite your mentee's message, you should be refining what's already there and strengthening their voice. No one likes being presented with tons of edits but many will be rightly upset if the piece doesn't sound like them anymore. It's a different story if their article is filled with factual inaccuracies or grammatical errors, sure. But ultimately, show your mentee respect and they'll respect you for it.
Share Information
Any mentor's end goal should be helping a newcomer stand on their own two feet, and networking is a huge part of this. If you've built relationships between PR or publishers across the years, share those contacts for particular games. If you know which editor/outlet is the best candidate for a particular pitch, tell them. In time, they'll begin building their own connections with these people and soon they’ll have their own rolodex ready to go.
No matter what industry you're in, everyone needs both contacts and a support network. Having people you can rely on through tougher times is essential, whether that's just being able to chat or offering advice. There's no cheat sheet with all the answers, the industry moves fast and people switch jobs all the time, but sharing what information you have can go a long way.
Be Honest
I'll cut to the chase; the games industry is in a bad way. There's been over 7000 developer layoffs in 2023, each week brings another story and games media isn't any better. We've seen big cuts across Kotaku, Inverse and Gamurs Group, while Waypoint and Launcher both shut down. Let's not forget last year saw Fanbyte turned into a guides-focused outlet, while Future publications like Windows Central and TechRadar Gaming saw layoffs.
I don't wish to scare anyone trying to enter games media, I want more diverse voices building increasingly rich coverage across the landscape. Sadly, freelancing is much more competitive than when I began and not enough staff jobs offer liveable wages, leaving many to pursue other jobs. I'm not saying to be pessimistic, though. Push your mentee to reach those goals but set expectations accordingly. Always be honest with them.
Beyond the doom and gloom, make sure your mentee knows this is still a job. Those lines can get blurred when you try making a career out of a hobby. Reinforce why it's important to keep on top of their emails and invoices, and spend time away from your PC. Burnout gets us all if we aren't careful, so reinforce taking breaks where possible. Your career won't stop because you took a day off.
