Give Your Articles the Voice of Authority

Give Your Articles the Voice of Authority
by Karen O'Connor

During my early writing career I met a woman who gave me five tips forgiving my articles the voice of authority. She taught me how to become what she called a 'temporary expert.'

Perhaps you'd like to broaden the base of your nonfiction writing. If so become willing to tackle unfamiliar subjects or to look at familiar topics in a fresh way. This challenge will give your nonfiction article and book ideas a new voice of authority. Step out and become a temporary expert in whatever subjects you wish to write about. Here is my friend's five-point plan that has worked for both of us. I have followed it with good results (sales!) for over twenty years.

SELECT A TOPIC OF INTEREST

Go to the library and gather books, magazine articles, surveys, government documents, press releases, and any other pertinent material. If you have access to the Internet, so much the better. Download information on the topic youšre interested in. Don't be fooled by the obvious simplicity of this most basic step. Many--too many, in fact--new writers do not follow through on this. I've met student writers who begin and end their research with the encyclopedia.

Did you know, however, that back issues of popular magazines and professional journals provide a wealth of solid, useful information on almost any topic you can think of? While I wrote my book on homeless children, I scanned myriad publications and microfilm at the library. (This book was published before I had a computer so I did not have the Internet to turn to.)

You can locate appropriate issues by checking the subject guide to periodical literature and the newspaper index, both available at the library and through the Internet. This is a sound and reliable first step to becoming a temporary expert.

CONTACT PROFESSIONALS IN YOUR TARGET FIELD

A librarian can help you here. So can a good Internet search engine. While researching the topic of women and their money addictions, I made a list of the top eight behaviors that indicate out-of-control behavior. I also attended a 12-step support group whose focus was to help people with addictive spending habits. There I met women who agreed to interviews as long as I did not use their real names in print. I also became familiar with organizations such as Consumer Credit Counselors, that work exclusively with people who are in debt. Without such referrals, the book would have lacked the breadth and power of real-life people in real-life situations.

For my children's book on a refugee family from Kurdistan I spent many hours visiting a Kurdish family who had settled in San Diego where I live. I also tagged along and took notes when they hosted other Kurds in their home, and when they participated in an International Festival in their community. No one else could provide better or more accurate information about their native land and their new life in the United States. With their help I became a temporary expert on Kurdish refugees.

MEET THE (REAL) EXPERTS

Next, I call or write individuals whose names I found while reading, or through my initial contact with an organization. For example, while researching my chapter on extraterrestrial trash for a book on waste pollution, I read a magazine interview with Don Kessler of the Johnson Space Center (JSC). Mr. Kessler, I learned, is a space debris expert. I knew immediately he was someone I wanted to talk with.

The following day I called JSC to speak with him. He answered my questions, put me in touch with the JSC newsletter editor for copies of published articles on space debris, and make it possible for me to receive free photographs.

It all started with a trip to the magazine morgue in the library. Before I finished the chapter I was a walking, talking (temporary) expert on space pollution!

CONDUCT YOUR OWN RESEARCH (when possible)

It's good to get your information from an original source whenever possible so your writing will ring with authenticity as well as authority. A friend of mine traveled to Stockholm to do research in Swedish for her book on women who have won the Nobel Prize.

Not everyone can afford the time or expense of travel, however, and publishers are not likely to fund such a trip. If you cannot find an original source, look for a reliable 'secondary' source. For example, for my book on Vietnam, I spoke with Vietnamese natives who now live in the United States. I went back to these folks several times to verify details about life in their country, for help with the pronunciation guide, and to gather recipes or folk tales that only they could provide.

Careful research of this kind has turned many a temporary expert into a full-time expert--one editors fight over!

MAKE THE EXPERIENCE REAL FOR YOU!

Experience is a writer's best friend. There is nothing that will give your article more of the voice of authority than the events you live through. Bake a loaf of bread, then write up the history of this food staple for a kids' magazine and include a good recipe. Make the rounds with a trash collector. Then write an information article for children on how our daily garbage is disposed of. Watch meteorologists chart the weather. Then report on what you witnessed. Interview a zoologist, then put together an article about working with animals.

When people find out you are writing an article or a book, they want to help. I think you'll find them eager to show you and teach you what you need to know.

So donšt put off that article or book you've been dying to write. Become involved in the fact-finding process. Get your feet wet, your hands dirty, your mind engaged, your heart beating. Look, listen, taste, touch, and smell. Then write about it and it will ring true because you were there. You know what you're talking about. You're an expert--at least temporarily!

Karen O'Connor is a published writer of 40 books and hundreds of articles for adults and children and an instructor for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild. She lives in San Diego, California. To learn more about Karen, visit her web site: www.karenoconnor.com.