Just rambling about writing...stuff...

[imbecamiel]

I 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

Comments

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Do you have a beta reader or writer's group you can bounce your ideas off of?

Barring that, I suppose reading examples of non-fiction books already written in that area might give you some direction. You can look at them for layout and how they cover the basics that you need to know in order to understand the contents.

Another thing... it seems to me that it's best to assume your audience has a working knowledge of your subject, unless of course you're writing one of those "For Dummies" books. :) But I'm always in favor of overestimating your readers' intelligence--that way you don't condescend, which to me is more egregious than talking over their heads.

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

Cirtholien has always been very encouraging and helpful (heheh, and patient with my incredible slowness XD) when I've sent her things. :3 I do think it would be helpful to have some more outside perspective(s) on my ideas. Unfortunately our local writers' group, which was supposed to be something like that, just... wasn't, and now they've kind-of-sort-of-but-not-quite quit meeting. :P

I do think that the idea of writing with the assumption of intelligent readers is helpful to keep in mind, though. A lot of the things I write do tend to be geared somewhat toward the inexperienced/beginners, but even there... I think I've hesitated, sometimes, to apply what I know from fiction (that my favorite authors tend to be ones that assume that readers will be able to keep up with cleverness and twisty plots, without over-explaining, even - sometimes especially - in YA literature) to non-fiction.

[scarvenartist.livejournal.com]

Yup. I know exactly that feeling. Like cairistiona7 said though, I do think it's best to overestimate the reader's knowledge. This was something I feel like college successfully weeded out of me, for the most part, because professors really pounded that into us.

For instance, if you are writing an essay on Frankenstein, there is positively no need to summarize the entire plot of Frankenstein, because you are working under the assumption that the only reason anybody would read your treatment on the issue is because they've already read it, or are basically familiar with it. Of course, in a college context, I think some people ended up taking the summarizing route less because they were concerned about their audience's knowledge, and more because hey, summarizing a text nicely feels up a large chunk of that 15-page requirement.... XD

I also think, to a certain extent, it's helpful to write to your peers? When you write under the assumption that your readers share your general knowledge-base, you tend to end up writing to an audience of people who are of a similar mind--and the goal of your writing becomes a little less information/education, and something like the sharing of ideas. Like-minded people profit from the insights of like-minded people.

All that said, I really can't say that I think your non-fiction writings that I've read (like your recent blog posts--lovely!) suffer from being too much forest, not enough trees. ;) I'm also one to over-complicate things, so I certainly understand where you're coming from, but I don't really see much reason for concern, personally.... *hugs*

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

Mmm. I do think the mindset of assuming intelligence and a basic background in the subject is really... quite freeing. (LOL, if you're not desperately trying to think of something with which to fill a minimum page count, that is. XD)

I know in fiction, I've thought enough about the idea of writing to your most intelligent readers regardless of the specific target audience, and not feeling the need to over-explain, how well that can work (Meghan Whalen Turner FTW!). But for some reason, illogical as it may be, I've hesitated to just latch on to the idea and go with it in the same way, because my brain keeps derailing into infodump-everything-I've-ever-learned-on-the-subject-here-now mode. Like discussing basic shading techniques in spriting, and suddenly wondering if I need to actually explain color theory too... No, brain. Because this is a basic getting-started guide to one specific medium, not an overview of art as a whole from the moment you first pick up a pencil. :P

*hugs back* Thank you so much. Heh, trying to blog regularly has introduced a whole new level of angst and self-doubt to writing of late, and it does mean so much that you think it's turning out well in the end. :)