Hey guys, could you read this?

[Jerial]

I'm sending in an application to Team Dignitas (Site link), a pro gaming team. They're looking for unpaid writers to send weekly or bi-weekly articles/blogs for their site (another link, to the application request on Reddit). TL;DR: they want 16-20 year olds with little other commitment, like myself. Since esports and journalism are two of my passions, it's a great opportunity for me.

Could you guys read this for me and see what you think?
____________________________________
Sui and the Dignitas team:

First off, my name is Matthew Wegner, known as Solanstusx on the NA server. I'm a 17-year old metalhead gamer from the tail end of nowhere, southeast Kansas. I've been playing League for a little over a year now, with more than 700 games under my belt. I've had a lifelong love for gaming, starting at age five with Mario Kart and continuing into a seven-year streak of World of Warcraft .

I also have a passion for writing in all its forms. I'm seriously considering majoring in journalism or creative writing when I reach college. Why do I want to write for Team Dignitas, and LoL in particular? Working in esports is a dream for me. I believe my English skills and my fascination with League of Legends fit what Dignitas is looking for perfectly, and my schedule would allow me to frequently write articles/blogs for the site. I have deep game knowledge and could likely write any of what you specified, but I would feel most comfortable writing about the meta or a specific champion. In the future, I would like to learn to analyze games more closely and explain the decisions made through the course of a game (such as the brilliant article Jatt recently wrote about Fnatic vs. Roccat).

How frequently? Well, I'm on a normal 8-3:30 daily class schedule with occasional extracurricular activities after classes. My weekends are almost always completely free. I am on my high school's yearbook and news staff, and have taken both a business-related computing class and a mass media class. Part of the responsibility in all these classes is/was to write formal and in most cases journalistic pieces. In both of these classes I received an A for both semesters. I also actively attempt to improve my writing (I'm currently reading the Associated Press' Guide to News Writing).

You can contact me at matthewwegner777@gmail.com. I would be happy to give you any further information or sample material.

Thanks for this great opportunity!

Matthew Wegner, 'Solanstusx'
____________________________________

[Brokk]

Looks good, man. Do you have any sample posts or reviews you've written for league of legends forums that you could tag on as a reference?

[Jerial]

I'm not on the forums much. I was thinking of writing a sample article, but I thought I would just mention it in the application and let them decide whether or not they want to see one. They said they had a training process.

[Brokk]

Ok, but anything and everything you have to give yourself an advantage helps. Good luck, anyway!

[Saruna]

Take out 'the rest of', 'Sui and the Dignitas team'looks much smoother.

It's not clear to me if they're looking for a formal or informal application, in any case if it's not a resume I would get rid of the bold bits (unless, of course, it's what they asked for). They look clunky and a bit unprofessional to me -- you headed it like you would a letter, so you'd be better off writing it like a semi-formal letter. Introduce yourself and transition smoothly into your experience. Transitions tend to be a killing point in semi-formal writing (which is why I do not critique papers for my friends, because their transitions suck so badly I don't even want to read them), so showing that you can do smooth transitions would be to your benefit.

Get rid of the small formatting. It looks unprofessional. Likewise the (IRL) is unnecessary. They aren't stupid, they can see that it is your real name. "known in the LoL world" looks a bit dorky, I'd consider rewording that. " I've been playing League for a little over a year now and I have" get rid of that second 'I' as it is unnecessary. As well, tell them a bit about your schedule. They are looking for people with time, so you should give them the implication that you have time and ability along with the passion.

Furthermore, as a high IQ individual, I naturally obsess over subjects I'm fascinated with, so my League knowledge is very high, to the order of naming every item and its build path, or naming every ability a champion has and what it scales with. Once again, it's something I've come to greatly enjoy.

Get rid of it. Having a high IQ tells no one anything about what you are actually capable of. Obsessing over subjects does not translate to doing work. Instead, tell them about how regularly you write. Tell them that you're eager to learn, to be a team player, and to share your love of LoL with the greater community. Tell them of your past experiences with writing articles, and how you'd like to take that experience to them and grow it.

If you need anything else

don't say shit like that as there is a chance it could be taken badly. Instead you can say something like "I can be contacted at . . . "

While perhaps not necessary, consider having a more professional sounding email for future opportunities.
If you have any previous work you can link them to, do that. Generally speaking, you want to give them something upfront, and then say that you have more work you'd be happy to share.

"and I hope to be writing for Dignitas soon!" - I would err on the side of caution and get rid of that.
And get rid of that dash, it's not necessary.




Take all of the above with a grain of salt as I have never had articles published (have not tried, am not interested). At most I have job experience, and I essentially work for a newsletter. When it comes to game articles they tend to be a little whimsical and humorous, and it's fine to showcase that, but you also want to sell yourself as someone who will act responsibly and professionally. All the intelligence and enthusiasm in the world will do them no good if you turn in articles late or badly written.

Kick ass, man! Good luck!!

[Saruna]

one more thing

Team Dignitas is looking for active and motivated writers to keep the wheel of our content section spinning. We're looking for any type of gameplay guide/article: champion guides, theorycrafts, game analyses, gameplay guides (e.g. jungle tips, support guides etc..) and so on. We're also looking for interviewers to interview the LCS pros online and possibly at events in the near future. We will assist you as much as we can when trying to grab top players for some input for your article, or incase you are trying to interview them.

With something like that, you should specifically state what you are interested in writing for them. Even if it's all of it, you need to say it outright. And, too, definitely write up a guide/theorycraft/game anylyses so they can see you in action. Otherwise all they have is your word that you are a good writer etc, and that means shit because they don't know you.

If you write something specifically for this, make sure you state that it was written specifically for this. That will save them time of looking for it (though they probably will anyways to make sure you aren't plagiarizing).

And, I know this is ironic coming from me, but keep the intro a half page to a page at most, and your sample as short as possible. They'll have a slush pile, and you'll need to grab their attention fast.

edit - also, references from past journalism work if you have them.

[Katona]

While perhaps not necessary, consider having a more professional sounding email for future opportunities.

Since you have a gmail account, you should just set up a new account designated to be your "professional" account and, for convenience, combine accounts or have emails forwarded to the main account. mattwegner@gmail.com or something like that.

[Nadejda]

A good way to close cover letters/application things that I've used a lot is "I look forward to hearing from you." It implies eagerness (without being a snot) and confidence (without being an arrogant piece of suck) and sounds all professional-like. As a job-haver, I recommend it.

I also second Kat's suggestion to make it as concise as possible while still being informative.