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Re: Source Notes and Nonfiction
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From: Meghan McCarthy <meghanmccarthy007_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 12:51:51 -0700 (PDT)
" I suppose that's why I only publish a book every few years. It's a very time-consuming process. I might also add that with this approach to writing nonfiction, it's extremely difficult to make a living."
Agreed! When I wrote fiction I used to write 2 books a year. Easy. Now I do one a year and it's a struggle. Of course there are other things in the way (my part time job for health benefits, etc) but nonfiction is extremely time consuming. Not only do you need to write a compelling story just as you do with fiction but you also need to make sure that all the facts are correct and it can be a headache! I usually use the 3-rule. I don't trust anything unless I see it 3 times from reliable sources. There are some exceptions such as first--hand accounts, etc. Thank god for the internet - where I can get every newspaper in existence for few dollars... and then there's ebay! I can find out-of-print books and artifacts from all over the country and the world. I got an actual cell drawing from the cartoon movie about Balto, and an out of print book from the 1920s with beautiful endpapers with dogs all over them, and I've gotten wonderful antique photographs to use as photo references, and when I was working on the W ar of the Worlds book I got an old book with all the statistics of every person who reacted to the radio broadcast and where they were located. It's amazing information that we can get now with the internet. I don't think I'd be doing nonfiction without it.
Again, though, I agree that writing nonfiction is a huge battle. I struggle everyday to pay the bills and I don't see it getting any better. But I learn so much every time I do a book and I when I talk to school children and see how excited they are I remember why I bother.
Meghan www.meghan-mccarthy.com
Received on Fri 22 Oct 2010 12:51:51 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2010 12:51:51 -0700 (PDT)
" I suppose that's why I only publish a book every few years. It's a very time-consuming process. I might also add that with this approach to writing nonfiction, it's extremely difficult to make a living."
Agreed! When I wrote fiction I used to write 2 books a year. Easy. Now I do one a year and it's a struggle. Of course there are other things in the way (my part time job for health benefits, etc) but nonfiction is extremely time consuming. Not only do you need to write a compelling story just as you do with fiction but you also need to make sure that all the facts are correct and it can be a headache! I usually use the 3-rule. I don't trust anything unless I see it 3 times from reliable sources. There are some exceptions such as first--hand accounts, etc. Thank god for the internet - where I can get every newspaper in existence for few dollars... and then there's ebay! I can find out-of-print books and artifacts from all over the country and the world. I got an actual cell drawing from the cartoon movie about Balto, and an out of print book from the 1920s with beautiful endpapers with dogs all over them, and I've gotten wonderful antique photographs to use as photo references, and when I was working on the W ar of the Worlds book I got an old book with all the statistics of every person who reacted to the radio broadcast and where they were located. It's amazing information that we can get now with the internet. I don't think I'd be doing nonfiction without it.
Again, though, I agree that writing nonfiction is a huge battle. I struggle everyday to pay the bills and I don't see it getting any better. But I learn so much every time I do a book and I when I talk to school children and see how excited they are I remember why I bother.
Meghan www.meghan-mccarthy.com
Received on Fri 22 Oct 2010 12:51:51 PM CDT
