Dear Editor: How Do I Write This?
“Dear Editor–I’m not an authority on (this subject I’m writing about)–how do I write intelligently about it? How can I take a position when I don’t really know the issues?”
One mistake experienced editors frequently see? Early-career writers trying to write as an authority on a subject they don’t really know well. New writers–you don’t have to be the authority on a topic in order to write about it, so don’t TRY to sound like you know.
It’s obvious to anyone who does have experience in your subject when you try to fake your way through. Instead, don’t set yourself up as ANYTHING. Write from a neutral position, or write that you’re learning along with the audience. That makes for a much more compelling article than when you try to blunder your way through. Those with experience in the subject you write about will spot your newbie-isms right away.
For example: In music, there is a vast difference between microphones. Vocal mics have different sensitivities than mics that are used to record drum sounds. If you didn’t know what a pickup pattern is, you would be easily confused by the terms “cardioid” and “unidirectional” and probably wouldn’t guess that a lavalier mic is used for a specific purpose far different than a boom mic.
What do all those terms mean? To the uninformed this is a minefield because you might hear someone say “The singer has to adjust his lavalier mic to get the best results on stage” and assume that ANY mic a singer uses is a “lavalier”. That would be dead wrong–but you as a newcomer to all that jargon wouldn’t know.
It’s better just to ask the right questions–”What other mics can singers use on stage? Are lavalier mics the only kind or are therea diversity and why do they use so many different kinds?” The point is, you should write from your own experience level-don’t worry about appearing like a noob. The idea is to get the story and make your points without blowing your credibility.
