Reaction to: "The Lack Of Articles"

Written by Serun

I guess introducing myself isn't a bad idea seeing as how the only other thing I have done for the scene is write an article in the last Hugi. My nick is Serun and I am 16 years old living in Southern California, US. I got my first computer when I was 12, and instantly wanted to create demos, like the ones I had seen on my brother's Amiga. I started with BASIC, touched on some concepts of C, and pretty much went full bore into 16bit realmode Assembler. I soon decided to start on Windows, and I worked with DirectDraw for a while up until about November '98. I have now taken on a new platform, the BeOS, and am working on code for a few games and some effects I wish to program. That pretty much sums up most of my computer life. So now that my lengthy autobiography is finished, on with the response!

I must agree with Maharaja that most sceners probably don't consider themselves good enough writers, and therefore decide not to write. I was exactly the same way not more than a few months ago. I have come to the conclusion that articles are fun to write, and if someone doesn't like your article, who cares? I have come to a point where I believe that I need to get involved in the scene some way or another, or my time is going to be up and I won't get the chance. I haven't given up on coding (my main passion), but until I have chosen the platform I want to code for (I think BeOS is the one for me, see my article 'BeOS RULEZ!' in Hugi #14) and have gathered the skill and knowledge to create intros/demos, I can easily write an article or two in order to support the scene I love.

The great thing about articles is that all you need is Notepad and some ideas (and preferably fingers and a keyboard). You don't need to know every single thing on Assembler, you don't have to be an artist, and you don't need to be able to compose tunes in trackers. Therefore, all the people that sit in the background and just watch demos but don't think they have something to contribute should open up Notepad and plug out some articles while they hone their skills in another field, or decide which field they prefer.

I guess all I'm trying to say through this cluttered article is, "Come on everyone! Write, write, write!" Get in touch with editors and find out what they are looking for, respond to other people's articles (just like me!), or write new articles about observations or experiments with your field of choice. If I can do it, I KNOW that everyone else can too.

- Serun