Thursday, November 20, 2008

Topic: Writing--People Sources

10-second review: Keep a list of people who will explain research, give personal experience, provide background details and give useful, succinct quotes as sources for your writing.

Title: “7 New Ways to Find an Expert Source.” L Palmer. The Writer (December 2008), 13. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Summary: Begin with the people you know, doctors, writers, teachers with avocations, a Verizon lineman who also knows plumbing, electricity and uses books to fix up his house, etc., etc. They may be your friends, but they are also sources of information for your writing.

Comment: I never thought of this idea. Among my friends, associates and acquaintances are civil, mechanical and electrical engineers; an engineer who owns a number of patents; a retired sports writer from the Washington Post; a lawyer who graduated from West Point, fought in Vietnam and is now practicing elder law; housewives who specialize in certain kinds of cooking; and the list goes on. My doctor, my dentist, a tax expert who is also a former minister. Funny, I seem to look at my friends as my friends, not as sources of valuable information for my writing. A useful idea. Rays.

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