Research vs. Procrastination and I'm Off to See The Agents, The Wonderful Agents of Mine (Sung to the Wizard of Oz)

Tomorrow, I'm off to see my agents in San Francisco We are supposed to discuss "time lines." I guess that means how long I have to promote myself and my work before they can help me get this next project of mine off and running. If you recall, my agent did not manage to sell one of my projects, and her husband sent me off to promote another one. They said I was "antsy" when I asked if I could find another agent who might take the project on immediately and suggested this meeting. I guess we also will take a look at where I am going, how I am going to get there and how they will help me. Those are my words. I want and need that from them. Anyway, that's tomorrow's agenda, and I'm a little nervous. I don't often get a chance to spend time with them. I enjoy their company and value their time, but I'm always a little afraid of doing something "wrong." Just my stuff... I'll let you know how the meeting goes.

Here's another short bit of news: I finished the first draft of my Write Nonfiction in November project. In fact, I sent it off to my agents, along with a bunch of other stuff. It needs some work, but it's not half bad. I think I told you that its a booklet based on a four-part teleseminar series I taught. I plan to sell it at the back of the room when I teach or speak and on line as well. I'll produce it as an e-book, too.

Okay, a short post on research vs. procrastination (as per Linda's request). Here's my take on this subject, for whatever it's worth. It's very easy for a nonfiction writer to waste away the hours doing research, especially on the Internet. I have often found a whole day gone by without noticing as I've read surfed around the net reading all sorts of things that seem related to my topic. If you've got time to spare, this poses no problem. If you have a deadline or, like me, have few hours in the day to work, this does not serve you. So, Google your subject and try to find the websites that look most promising. Follow your best leads and links. Give yourself a time frame within which you have to quite researching -- 2-3 hours or whatever you can spare -- and then begin writing.

Use this same principle when reading for research. Tons of books have been published on most subjects. You could read for years. Pick the best few books, or the most recent few books, or the books by the most-well-known experts, and then call it quits.

I prefer conducting interviews over reading books, because I don't have enough hours in my day to read as many books as would be necessary to do extensive research. I read a few books or parts of books, and then I start interviewing the authors or other experts. They can tell me what I need to know in a lot less time than it would take to read their whole book. Plus, they answer my questions specifically. Be cautious about spending too much time interview, though. This can become a trap as well. You can spend all your time talking to experts and never get around to writing.

Then, of course, you simply need to know when to stop researching and start writing. Ask yourself, "Am I just procrastinating and putting off writing? Do I have enough research to begin writing?"

I always err on the side of doing too much research, and I don't recommend this. It makes writing more difficult. I think it might be better to research just enough, begin writing, and then go back and do extra research to fill in gaps. The way I do it, I end up having to distill pages and pages of research or interview transcripts into just a few paragraphs of copy. However, an overabundance of research does give you excess material for more articles, books, essays, etc.

Write What You Know or Know About What You Write

I want today to give nonfiction writers a pat on the back for taking what they know and putting it down on paper. I spend a lot of time editing books written by authors who have come up with a great idea of their own, fleshed it out and put it down on paper. They may have done a lot of research or learned from a variety of teachers, but in the end they came up with a new take on the information they were given. They had the wherewithal and the gumption to take their own "invention" and run with it in the form of a book. That book may have come out of the workshops they have been teaching or the lectures they have been giving, but in the end they took what they knew and wrote a book (and possibly some articles as well). They deserve credit for that – not just for the writing but for writing what they know.

I’m not saying that fiction writers don’t do research or conduct interview or put what they know down on paper. They do. My novel was inspired by a real-life event as well as a place I knew well. One of my favorite novelists started out as a researcher and bases her stories on extensive research, but in the end fiction writers make up their stories.

In journalism school, I was constantly told to “write what you know.” I think this represents great advice, but I believe a really good nonfiction writer can write about anything. If you are good at doing research and conducting interviews, you can learn any subject well enough to understand it so you can write about it. You can become the expert on whatever you are asked to write about.

During my career as a nonfiction writer, I’ve written about life insurance tax law, ascension, same-day surgery, stepfamily dynamics, laser surgery, business, celebrities, bird migration, corporate communications, employee relations, parenting issues, marriage, allergies, the death of a pet, Jewish spirituality, nature activities, corporate community relations, legal issues… You get the idea. I wasn’t an expert on most of these subjects when I began writing about them, but I was when I finished.

So, I say, write about what you know, or know about what you write. Either way, when you know something, write about it. And then commend your self for doing so, especially if it’s your idea and you’ve written a whole book on your own unique knowingness about something.

Articles are Nonfiction, Too

I focus so much of my time on editing my client's nonfiction books and on writing and promoting my own nonfiction book projects that I sometimes forget that I'm trained as a magazine journalist. I still love writing articles, though, and I often use my skills as a journalist. I love to query magazines with ideas and to get assignments. I enjoy conducting the interviews and then taking the information I've compiled and putting it together into a cohesive and interesting article. And I enjoy seeing it in print, not just on the screen of my computer.

I use my journalism skills in other ways as well, including every time I promote myself on the Internet by posting free "news releases" to e-zine directories. I do this a few times a month. While it's good for business, I get a lot more satisfaction out of writing an article that appears in good old fashioned print and for which I receive a big fat check.

There's nothing like writing an essay or an article, submitting it to a magazine or newspaper and then opening up that publication to find your story published there -- hopefully word for word -- with your byline showing off the fact that you wrote every one of those words. And then to get paid for doing what you love...well, that's even better.

And there are so many different types of articles to choose from. Profiles, news stories, trend pieces, human interest articles, personal essays, and opinion pieces -- take your pick. Depending upon what you like to write about, you can surely find one or two article forms that you'll enjoy using and numerous magazines, newspapers, trade journals, or e-zines that will be happy to have you write for them.

If you aren't concerned about pay, of if you are looking to promote yourself or you other work (such as your nonfiction book), writing for the numerous e-zines provides great exposure. If you're just starting out as a writer and need bylines and clips to prove that you can write and meet deadlines and article specifications, try writing for small or regional publications. They usually like "free" writers, and working for them can be a fun way to become a nonfiction freelance writer. Additionally, you might try writing for trade journals published on your area of expertise.

As I said, I interned every summer in high school and in college without pay. I ended up with some great clips that helped me land my first few jobs after graduation.

I teach Writing for Publication classes that expose attendees to a variety of article forms. As a magazine journalist, however, I love writing profiles of interesting people and human interest articles. I also love to pen a good essay, which is an article form I did not learn in college. Essays fit my lifestyle these days; I'm usually very short on time, and they don't require me to do any research or interviews nor are do they have to be too long. My life experience is enough fodder to fill several pages with type since I've lots to say about what happens to me, why it happens to me and what others can learn from what happens to me. Getting paid for essays is fun. I write something off the top of my head and someone pays me for it. What could be better?

And as long as I didn't make it up, it's still nonfiction. (Ah...Those of you writing memoirs remember that.)

So, if you are trying to figure out what to write this month, try an article. It's doable in a month, that's for sure. Pick a topic and a form, then do whatever research is necessary, and start writing. You can easily finish an article in the days left in November.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to work on MY writing project...which, between writing this blog and my other blog and editing a book for a client, seems to be falling by the wayside. And I am determined to finish it before the end of the month.

(Okay...I technically wrote twice today, since yesterday's blog was written after midnight this morning. I guess that makes up for technically missing Tuesday. If nothing else, I'm writing lots of nonfiction in this blog, that's for sure!)