So what's this blog all about?

In short: 

Learning about games by teaching about games.

For a bit more context:

Shock and Pause is about a lot of things. It's about me and my future. My journey to joining the games media industry. It's about taking control of the direction of my life, and pointing myself at the place I want to go. It's also about getting out of my shell, interacting with people more. Don't expect to see a lot of posts about my personal life - if any. That's not what it's about. It's about my journey, but it isn't a diary and I don't want it to be.

Video games are so much more than just spinning discs (or cartridges) in expensive black boxes. They let us live lives that aren't our own, transport us to places we could never see, do things we could never do. Games can tell stories and create worlds, and to me the industry that brings that game to life is as fascinating as the story that game tells.

I want to know what happens in the world of game development. I want more than just to bemoan bad games and praise good ones, I want to understand the difference and how they turned out that way. My goal is to contribute to the industry that has enamored me. I want to break into the world of games journalism, and be someone that people can trust to deliver content they can enjoy and be informed by. But I'm not ready for that yet.

I don't have a lot of resources at my disposal. I don't have the access or connections for high profile (or ANY profile) interviews or features. I don't have a fancy gaming rig or an expensive capture suite (I wouldn't know how to use it if I did). I don't have the money to buy and review every AAA game that gets released throughout the year, and I don't yet have the skills or perspective necessary to deliver a critical review that people can rely on. What I do have is an Xbox One, an old-ish iBuypower PC, a middling talent for writing and a love and curiosity for all things gaming. 

The ultimate goal of this journey I want to take is to fill in the blanks - and right now there are a lot of them. That's where Shock and Pause comes in. They say that repetition is the mother of all learning and that's always held true for me. When I see a gaming term I don't recognize, I'll define it. When a question occurs to me I'll answer it. It's about learning and growing, becoming better at what I do and what I want to do.

I don't expect a lot of followers. It would be fantastic to have feedback and even more awesome to know there are people taking this journey with me and enjoying it, but I expect it will be a slow build, at least until I can figure out exactly what I'm doing, get a posting schedule established and then maybe focus more on promotion. 

So to anyone reading this very first post, thank you. Sincerely. I can't wait to see where this takes me.