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Just rambling about writing...stuff...
Feb. 28th, 2012 02:23 pmI enjoy writing non-fiction. I really do. But you know what tends to really get me? My inability to narrow my focus.
I'll start out with a great idea, and lots of enthusiasm. I know my subject, I love talking about it, I'm confident that I have something helpful to share. Just lay out the basic organization of the topics I'm gonna cover, choose a starting point, and get going!
Only... the moment I actually start delving in, I wonder if I really need to start at an earlier point. Cover more of the subject. Explain things more broadly to give people background. How much can I actually leave out without confusing people? What is essential, and what is interesting but ultimately unnecessary? Am I starting out with too many assumptions?
And before long what was once a clearly defined idea gets lost in a swamp of uncertainty, as I attempt to write The Ultimate Guide To Everything Ever Remotely Related To This Subject.
And this is why I tend to have trouble actually finishing these projects. *sigh* Largely... I think I have trouble figuring out what knowledge base most people are likely to be starting out with. Sometimes I think it may be partly because I was homeschooled: Obviously, no one's education is "complete" so to speak - however well-rounded it is, there will always be gaps in knowledge or experience. But because my education was organized very differently from that of the vast majority of the country, I feel like sometimes the placement of those gaps is out of step with other people's experience. That some things other people consider so obvious they can't even remember learning it are... not so obvious to me, and vice-versa. If that makes sense?
Eh. Or maybe I'm just over-thinking and over-complicating things. Again. Because I tend to do that. >.<
I don't really know what my point in this is, other than - *flails* I may never finish a book, ever. XP
I'll start out with a great idea, and lots of enthusiasm. I know my subject, I love talking about it, I'm confident that I have something helpful to share. Just lay out the basic organization of the topics I'm gonna cover, choose a starting point, and get going!
Only... the moment I actually start delving in, I wonder if I really need to start at an earlier point. Cover more of the subject. Explain things more broadly to give people background. How much can I actually leave out without confusing people? What is essential, and what is interesting but ultimately unnecessary? Am I starting out with too many assumptions?
And before long what was once a clearly defined idea gets lost in a swamp of uncertainty, as I attempt to write The Ultimate Guide To Everything Ever Remotely Related To This Subject.
And this is why I tend to have trouble actually finishing these projects. *sigh* Largely... I think I have trouble figuring out what knowledge base most people are likely to be starting out with. Sometimes I think it may be partly because I was homeschooled: Obviously, no one's education is "complete" so to speak - however well-rounded it is, there will always be gaps in knowledge or experience. But because my education was organized very differently from that of the vast majority of the country, I feel like sometimes the placement of those gaps is out of step with other people's experience. That some things other people consider so obvious they can't even remember learning it are... not so obvious to me, and vice-versa. If that makes sense?
Eh. Or maybe I'm just over-thinking and over-complicating things. Again. Because I tend to do that. >.<
I don't really know what my point in this is, other than - *flails* I may never finish a book, ever. XP
