One of the toughest spots for beginning writers and journalists is establishing contacts. If you're not on the West Coast especially, where most companies and major events take place. However, there's no shame in starting small, and sometimes the best places to meet smaller studios is at meetings for the International Game Developers Association.

I found Philadelphia's monthly IGDA meetings through MeetUp.com, but you may need to do a bit of Google searching in order to find connections. However, this is a great place to find smaller developers eager to discuss with other studios what they are up to and philosophies on game design. It's like having the opportunity to meet developers at GDC every month, only on a smaller scale and much more local. If a writer can establish contacts with smaller studios, get interviews and previews and even review copies that they can freelance or use for their website, then it should get the experience and attention that bigger paying sites may be looking for.

I am currently using my own contacts to write an article. Of course, the downside is developers tend to be busy, but because these are smaller studios they will be just as sure to e-mail you with an update of their status as you might to them. It's a great place to start for beginners and will help you learn some of the necessary skills needed for when you take that trip to PAX East, or even E3.

Thanks for this info, Chris. The IGDA also has a Writing SIG, whose aim is to promote the art and craft of game writing to the industry as a whole and to dispel the myths and aid the successful integration of game writers into game development. As there are a lot of journalist / writers here, this "Special Interest Group" may prove to be useful as well.