Bread with cheese: The greatest ingredients of a writer

BOOM! A volcano erupted into black steam flying in the air. Located five miles from the volcano stood a private office that was guarded by a human robot. The robot was dressed in a white metal suit that looked similar to an astronaut’s uniform. Behind him stood Player 1, who was dressed in purple.

“I have a feeling that someone just caused some trouble,” said player 2, who was dressed in pink.

The white robot turned around and spotted the two players. Player 1 quickly grabbed his laser gun and aimed it at the white robot― making him fly to nearest wall.

“Am I dead? Am I dead!” said Player 1.

Damian Gordon smiled as he watched the You Tube video, “Red vs. Blue Revelation: Episode 4.”

Gordon, now 22-years-old, has a passion for video scripts. He likes to take short clips from video games and turn them into stories.

As a kid, Gordon wanted to be everything, whether it was acting, singing or saving people’s lives. Two things for sure: Gordon wanted to produce movies and write stories.

“As a kid, I just loved communicating with people; I loved asking questions and finding out about them. It gives me something to write about,” Gordon said.

Gordon was 18 when he knew exactly what he wanted to study. Gordon decided to stick to journalism, just like he has stuck to bread with cheese his favorite food as a child.

When he was in high school, Gordon was not involved in any writing clubs, and did not take any courses in journalism. “In high school, I just worried about passing my classes,” he said; although, he wrote fun and entertaining scripts for home videos with his friends― before YouTube was famous.

He is shy and timid; he is soft-spoken and quiet. His hobbies consist of five different things: writing, playing video games, sleeping, eating cheese sandwiches and dancing. He also enjoys going out to the clubs, like Club Space, and dancing to rap, trap and EDM.

“Since we live in Miami you kind of have to learn how to dance to Spanish music,” Gordon said.

Gordon is currently attending Florida International University. He says he did not think about attending any other school since FIU was not far from home.

“I wanted to save money,” he said. On a regular day of school, Gordon wakes up, puts on a plain t-shirt and jeans and is ready to head out. He says he skips breakfast but will usually have slices of bread near lunch.

Gordon writes two to three times a week or sometimes weekly, if he is given an assignment for his Writing Strategies class. When thoughts relating to future projects come to mind, Gordon quickly pulls out his phone, from his jeans and starts typing down ideas.

“If you don’t write something down, you will forget.”

Gordon prefers to write in places where he can lay down and relax, his bed. “Sitting in a chair feels a little off,” he said.

Because of to his passion for writing, Gordon can write about any given topic. Although his best work has been written when he feels motivated and inspired. He says he doesn’t write when he feels sad, depress or happy, but he rather writes when he is mad.

“I feel motivated when I am angry,” he said.

And despite the fact that Gordon has a passion for writing scripts from video game clips, he prefers to lie down and enjoy playing a video game rather than coming up with ideas or stories. Gordon says he gets inspire by the characters in his games― “but that’s all.“

“You kind of have to come up with possible alternatives on your own. You have to be the most original as possible. Sadly, it’s hard to make anything original nowadays, because everything is pretty much out there,” Gordon said.

Gordon believes that a great journalist has to find his/her own voice. In addition, he gets excited when people tell him they can hear him speak through his writing.

Gordon enjoys writers such as Neal Shusterman, an American writer who writes

young adult fiction, as well as Collin Moriarchy, a former IGN, a game-based company writer. “I like writing that keeps me engaged and informed― that’s an experience!” Gordon said.

Furthermore, Gordon looks up to Greg Miller, who is also known as “GameOverGreggy,” and is a former editor and video host at entertainment website IGN. “He came from the middle of nowhere, now he has his own website and is his own boss,” Gordon said.

Like bread with cheese, you can make some of the best recipes by just adding those two ingredients.

Through text, Gordon is a-men-of-few-words and usually takes his time to answer verbal questions; he is a man who thinks before he speaks.

After taking several sips of water, Gordon said he wanted to make videos for websites, movies, and videogames or upload his own You Tube videos; however, his heart belongs to video game journalism.

Gordon says nothing can stop him from reaching his goals and dreams, but “helping others before I help myself is probably my weakness,” he said.

Gordon imagines himself living in California, in a place that is not as congested with traffic, as it is in South Miami. He wants to work in an office located in San Francisco’s IGN building. His working environment will not look like a simple slice of loaf bread, but will have some type of cheese to add “personality.”

“Some people are given the opportunity to work from home― not me― I want to tell my friends ‘Hey, let’s grab a drink after work!’” Gordon said.

By expanding his blog and “writing for different places around the school,” Gordon is working hard to build his portfolio. He also owns a You Tube channel, but will rather keep it private for now.

In a piece of notebook paper, Gordon wrote: to take it day-by-day, till one of those days leads me to my dream job in California.”