Writing Truths to Embrace #4: Successful Writers Know Their Subject
 

Hello, Writing Friends!

 

Many clients express doubts about their writing and how to successfully navigate the process of creating their own content. In this monthly series, I bring you positive, approachable steps to help you overcome any of these common challenges. You can do it!

 

This month’s Writing Truth is that Successful Writers Know Their Topic. I have heard from many people that they do not feel educated enough to write, that they don’t possess a degree, and they can’t express themselves in a professional way.  In other words, they don’t possess a diploma that gives them the authority to write to others about their subject matter. As someone with 6 degrees, I can tell you honestly, a degree will only get you so far as an author, and here are the reasons why:

 

1.  A degree is not a guarantee that a person can actually write. Most college students have to pass a rhetoric course to graduate, but much to my chagrin as an English instructor, most of them forget how to write as soon as they complete the class. They tend to see rhetoric assignments as hoops they have to jump through in order to graduate rather than important skills they will need in the future. Besides, unless you are a researcher, chances are you’re not writing in the formal research-paper style you studied in school.

 

2. A degree does not necessarily make you an expert in your topic. Many of us are writing from the perspective of life or professional experience, and there is no college degree in that. Depending on the topic, many readers appreciate hearing about someone’s personal struggles and embrace real-life wisdom from the “been there done that” crowd. A friend who is an intuitive healer is writing a book to help others on their spiritual journey, and she brings to her project life wisdom and professional experience gained through her work with clients. I have many degrees, but I am not qualified to write her book—only she possesses the knowledge to complete her project.   

3. Different books have different audiences, and perhaps your audience simply doesn’t care about degrees. Our chosen audience determines the structure, ideas, and language of our piece (Remember the writing triangle from my June installment of Text Tips?). Would your audience benefit more from the direct, clear, simple prose, of someone who has “seen some stuff” or would they be more likely to respect the formal language of a researcher? Some readers need the author to be simple and direct in order to comprehend her message. Could this be true of your audience?

4. Having a college degree does not guarantee that the person has mastered punctuation and grammar rules. Many, many authors of all different backgrounds need an editor to help them fix writing errors, myself included (and I’m an expert!). This is completely normal! It’s hard to step back from your text to see any errors. If you feel that you need to brush up on grammar or punctuation rules, why not check out Elements of Style from the library? That’s what we editors do when we need a refresher.

If you feel that you need to get a clearer view of your topic, research can be helpful with that. Rather than relying on a degree to prove that you understand your topic, including concrete details or statistics will help the reader to trust you and to trust that you know your topic. Facts or examples will go farther in supporting your ideas than simply assuming the reader will take your word for it because of a degree. It can be challenging to tell whether or not your work includes enough details to convince your reader. Showing it to someone else may help to clear that up. Also, I am happy to point you in the right direction, so give me a call!    

 

Until next time, Friends, keep sharing your Magic with the world, and keep on writing!

 

Dr. Zhenya