Articles

The Ideas of March

While I was writing monthly articles for MtG Paradise, I have always dreamed of the day that I would be paid for my writing. Sure, I get paid in self-satisfaction, compliments and recognition but being a student, I probably would have enjoyed a bit of money for food. I mean, you can only pretend that they put salmon in cat food for so long.

So when Scott Hunstad and Paul Vanderwerk bought MtG Paradise and needed ideas to promote their baby, I suggested to them, why not hold a competition with a writing contract as a prize? That way you can attract undiscovered talents AND make some university student very happy. Not only can the winner use the extra cash, he or she can also boast to their friends that they are professional writers. Not to mention that steamy hot columnists like Joe Tobin and my self are living proof that very few women (perhaps only can be measured in billions) can resist the charms of men that writes about Magic.

For those who hate reality television, you might be wondering, why use the Idol format for this
competition? To be honest, I hate reality TV too but the Idol idea seems ideal for an Internet Web Site with a strong forum community because the competition would give members an excuse to chat, bitch, flame or do whatever people on forums do. It also provides new
members an opportunity to participate in discussions with people who are in the exclusive “in group”. For instance, I know for a fact that Alex Burrows has been dying to be cool for a while so this would be my olive branch to him and all the newbies.

The bite to this competition is that if you have never written a Magic article in your life, you would probably find it pretty hard to get started. This is because most Magic article ideas have been run to the ground like sleazy American teen movies (I am not talking about the ones you download from the Internet) and it is HARD to come up with an idea that you want to write about.

Tournament reports are often long, tedious and…long with flashes of brilliance like DRAW, TAP, RIP! and Win. Terribly exciting stuff for some, reasons to commit suicide for others. With Betrayers of Kamigawa out, the idea of writing a Limited Review for this tournament would be very tempting. The thing is, readers may be interested in reading the first one but when your submission turned out to be the third, the tenth or the hundredth Limited Review, most people
would find the content a bit hard to swallow.

So what else is there to write about in Magic you ask? Well, there seems to be no lack in demand for“Affinity for Dummies” and “Type 2 101” type articles and if you can write about a rogue deck that wins major tournaments, your article would sell like hot cakes. For those who are brave enough to try, writing about your drafting experience (for instance what card you take over which and why) appears to be the ‘it' thing at the moment. If you are a player of some renown, you can write an article that teaches less talented players like Paul Vanderwerk how to play Magic so he won't drag our feet at this year's Team PTQ.  (Kidding Paul)

However, if you want to write something truly special, then you would have to dig deeper. Neil Gaiman, author of “American Gods” and “Sandman” was once asked where he got his ideas from, to which he replied “I made them up”. It is that simple, if you have an idea for a Magic article that you can elaborate into more than 1, 500 words, then go for it. It can be about your local card store, gaming community and even a topical piece about why Magic players are not devil worshippers. The important thing is, you have to enjoy writing it because if you don't, no one would enjoy reading it.

Oh and because I came up with the competition idea, it would seem extremely self-serving and RIGGED to enter the competition myself. Plus, I have moved on to better things in life now, goodbye cat food and welcome tuna!

Good Luck!
Minga