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Ashbee
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17/07/2008 20:07
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FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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So, what are your favourite non-fiction writing subjects? And how do you find things to write about?
I love local, family and social history but I've only ever written essays for graduate and post graduate courses so some one else has set the title or the subject. Ho hum!!!
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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Any subject that someone will pay me to research and write about. So far, war, the media, arms control, organic farming and a wide variety of reports that were not published under my name, but which I authored either on my own or in collaboration with someone else, and was paid for (if the pay is good, I don't mind my name not appearing!)
It helps if you can get some recognition as an expert in your field and get recommended to a publisher by someone they trust. You need really good research skills and a willingness to cut down your work ruthlessly - you may have 100,000 words of utterly fascinating material, but if your publisher wants 50,000 words, you cannot be precious about it!
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Ashbee
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(member)
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18/07/2008 08:26
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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That's interesting, valaber. Sounds like you were approached rather than made a pitch? How did you get started? And given a free hand, what would you write about?
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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Local history, social history, local legends, anniversaries, British traditions.. the last one published nationally, was in Best of British on the 'Comfort of comfort food' and was all to do with those things so innately British.. Birds Custard, Oxo, steamed puddings... brand names etc. On a more local level the last were in a Yorkshie county mag about childhood memories and in Norfolk about a man who set up a fruit farm colony - a touch of the 'good life'. I love the researching involved, and of course, the internet is now invaluable for this.. when I began over ten years ago, I had an old typewriter and the village library!
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issi
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(member)
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18/07/2008 22:11
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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I have only ever written about what I know, teaching shorthand and typing. I did send an article to the newspaper in Staffordshire about my early years in a mining community and the local working men's club. I phoned beforehand to see if they were interested, then I sent it with a covering letter to the person responsible, and then ... nothing. No reply. Nothing. Wish I had a degree - does it help?
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Ashbee
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(member)
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19/07/2008 08:45
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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Degrees don't help. Most of the really successful people, writers included, don't have degrees. They are just determined and persistent...
It's frustrating when you hear nothing, though. It seems rude but I guess these are busy people (and we aren't of course). For people interested in non-fiction writing I've found a really interesting book: The Renegade Writer: a totally unconventional guide to freelance writing success by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell. It's American (of course - don't they have a can-do attitude) but I still think it applies...
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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No amount of qualifications will make a difference... in fact I was once told that if you send a covering letter with your name on it and letters after it, they often think you are just showing off. Qualifications are no replacement for talent, for enthusiasm, commitment. Persistence and a bloody-mindedness combined with a belief in yourself help too!
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Ashbee
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(member)
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19/07/2008 12:02
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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I listened to the american writer, Elizabeth Berg, being interviewed yesterday and she said she had only been a nurse before she decided to try her hand at writing. She started writing essays as she claims it the easiest way to get published (might be in the US) - is it over here?
And issi, the book I mentioned earlier says that the biggest non-fiction 'rule' you should aim to break is the one that says 'write what you know'. Learn to discover ideas (even recycle ideas from other people) and research them - expertise not needed, just an ability to gather a few facts and write them up in an interesting way...Ok, that might be a bit simplistic but you get my meaning...
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issi
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(member)
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20/07/2008 14:14
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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Thanks for those tips Gothfairy and Ashbee. I am feeling the muses hovering above me!
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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Sorry, have only just come back to this thread. I was approached by two different publishers to write about the Falklands War (that arose out of some research I'd done) and also to follow that up with another book on a defence topic.
A publisher of a small Welsh cultural magazine asked me to write a couple of pieces. I've also written reports for various organisations - not with my name on them, but I have provided the initial working draft.
Don't know what I'd write about given a free hand - probably nothing! I need someone to want me to write for them in order to get started. Then I can write about almost anything, provided I have time to reearch it.
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Ashbee
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(member)
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26/07/2008 22:16
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Re: FOR WRITERS- non fiction subjects
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So how did you get started, Valaber? And I know you've joined in our 'exercise' but do you write fiction for publication or for fun or just write non-fiction on request?
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