Words on a page

No one likes to admit that they don’t know something. But no matter how intelligent you are (or think you are), there are always going to be gaps in your knowledge. Polymaths are rare. Anyway, chances are you don’t have the time to devote to becoming an expert (or just knowledgeable) in multiple fields.

As a writer, you shouldn’t be ashamed of being ignorant of … well, whatever area in which you have no knowledge. Instead, you should follow the path of the philomath, embrace your ignorance, and turn the situation to your advantage.

How? By learning about something and writing about it. Not only will you pick up a new knowledge and/or a skill but you can be paid for it and will be able to share what you learned with others.

Why you?

Why not you? Humans have an incredible capacity for learning. And two qualities of a good writer are curiosity and the ability to do research. You get a killer combination when you combine the two.

One advantage you have over someone who has written about a subject for a while is that you can bring a fresh perspective to it. You won’t be as encumbered by prejudices and preconceptions. What you write will sound a bit more open, honest and, I hope, humble.

Types of knowledge

I tend to lump knowledge into two types. The first is in-depth knowledge. That’s what you need to make you into something resembling an expert. It takes a long time to acquire, and has its uses. For a writer, those uses could be writing a book or a series of articles. You’ll read extensively. Books, journals, articles, and essays. You’ll make connections and come up with your own theories and ideas.

The other type of knowledge is situational knowledge. Situational knowledge consists of what you need to know for a smaller a project. To gain it, you read and absorb a lot of information in a short time — you get what a friend of mine calls instant expertise. In reality, you gain a decent grounding in a subject quickly, and can supplement that with further research and with interviews with actual experts. You use that knowledge, then move on. I’ve gained a lot of situational knowledge over my writing career. But after about a year or so, a lot of that knowledge slips from my memory.

Beat down your doubts

Don’t let your doubts stop you. And you know what doubts I’m talking about: that someone else knows more about a subject than you do. As I discussed in a previous post, that may be true but who’s to say that what you write isn’t worthwhile?

Think about something that you’ve learned in the past. A language, rock climbing, how to repair a bicycle. So you remember the feeling of wonder you felt when you started out? Do you remember how gratifying it felt to be learning something new? It’s that kind of emotion and enthusiasm that draws readers in. As long as the emotion and enthusiasm are genuine (and you shouldn’t try to fake either), then your writing on a subject that’s new to can will be a cut above the competition.

Slings and arrows

Understand that you will make mistakes. Understand that you’ll get a couple of things wrong. And be prepared for someone to angrily jump on you with both feet about it. Then, learn from your mistakes and ignore the negative comments. And, believe me, those comments can be very negative.

Don’t take any ad hominem attacks in comments, emails, or letters to the editor personally. Read them, but try to glean something from the content. Sometimes, there is something to learn from someone’s negativity. Usually, there isn’t. That’s either because the person making the comment didn’t or couldn’t give any details, or the slings and arrows that they launched were intended to make them feel better about themselves.

Don’t let your critics get under your skin. Try to learn from them, and if you can’t just ignore them.

Summing up

Not knowing is nothing to be ashamed of. be willing to embrace your ignorance and banish it by doing research. Doing that has the potential to become an income-generating sideline.

What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to leave a comment.

Photo from http://sxc.hu

Related posts:

1. Keep learning
2. Taking a break
3. Writing to learn

This entry was posted on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 5:36 am and is filed under writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.