Before we plunge into a brainstorm of stylistics, writing markets and nerdy journals, let’s digress to a magical phenomenon that’s unfolding in the sultry interiors of Rajasthan—the Barefoot College. Since 1972, this ambitious endeavor has trained the most impoverished of our people in wasteland development, solar energy, education, healthcare and other such areas. With little academic training, a hopeless situation has blossomed into a wealth of possibility as an array of “professionals” has emerged out of nothingness. So maybe academic training is overrated. Perhaps the flood of “professional courses” in the modern education market shouldn’t hinder us from stepping outside academic demarcations.
After that inspiring digression, let’s charge at our challenge: how do you write on a subject you have no academic training in? Should you attempt to at all? Would it be wiser to turn down the offer to avoid humiliation? With the host of professions that require you to produce and edit content on subjects outside your comfort and qualification zone—e-learning, textbooks and comprehension series, web content writing—there’s some truth in the human potential to overcome “the phobia of specialization.”
When faced with a writing project on an unfamiliar subject, your first task is to figure out who your target audience is. Are they professionals or are they newbies like you? If it’s the latter then you’re in luck! Your reader probably has the same apprehensions as you. So you can explore this new territory together. In such a situation, chances are that your writing style could have a predominance of informal over formal elements. So you can have a conversation with your reader. Start off with something like “What’s with all this babble about fog harvesting?” or “Mind readers—a term so exploited that no one really knows what it means.” This would keep your reader at ease as you delve into the details. Simple and engaging content might sound clichéd but you’ll realize just how challenging it could be! If it’s professionals you’re targeting, you’re going to need a different kind of creativity. With any luck, your project still permits an informal style.
Avoid a very general beginning that’s likely to create disinterest and expose your lack of experience. Plunge right into the subject. “Game Ventures’ multi-player social game Howzat makes virtual cricket so lifelike, it banishes the apparition of an interface.” You can conjure up something much better!
You may have been assigned a topic or you may have the freedom to choose your own. Neither scenario is occasion for fret or elation. Freedom comes with a great deal of (sometimes) burdensome responsibility. And the tediousness of being burdened with a strange subject requires no elaboration. But you can turn both these situations to your advantage. If you have a single topic at hand, start your research with websites you’re comfortable with. Printed information is great, too, but you can cover more ground quickly online.
Choose sites you’re comfortable with ignoring all other constraints. Now that you’re a little more confident and knowledgeable about your topic, narrow in on the reliable resources your research has revealed. If you have to choose a topic yourself, it’s likely you’ve been given some parameters like “it has to appeal to teenagers or children”, “it should address an everyday problem”, “write to encourage your readers to buy this gadget”, and so on. So if you find yourself in an ocean, use these parameters as logs to cling on to. It would be helpful if you chose a subject you already have some knowledge about and explore it further. This approach might lead to better topics, too. If you’re clueless, then pick a keyword and use it as your starting point. The chances of your succeeding in finding a topic are very likely to look brighter!
Well, sometimes ideal remains ideal and you might land up with a hard-core, formal writing project. Style and substance become more crucial than ever. Of course informal and interesting writing is a challenge, but since it comes naturally the flow would be easier. Your article research has to go alongside your research on style. Study style guides like Chicago Manual of Style, The Oxford Style Manual, The Elements of Style, The Careful Writer, and others. Pick manuals appropriate to your subject. Humanities and Sciences are just broad categories. Your selection might have to be more specific. Without ample attention to style and structure, your efforts shall go in vain. Remember that creative writing and witty remarks aren’t always welcome. Let precision and brevity be your yardsticks. You need to exercise extra caution while selecting your resources. Avoid experimentation and restrict your tone to sobriety. Make appropriate use of the active and passive voice. A minor caution that can go a long way!
But irrespective of the nature of your project, never use style to compensate for inadequacy of content. Such flaws, if discovered, are unlikely to be forgiven and you may have blown a great opportunity. Don’t try to evade jargon. Deconstruct and decode. Never use jargon without understanding it thoroughly. Be aware of the danger of jargon sounding pretentious. Elaborate and illustrate jargon whenever appropriate to make your writing clearer.
And what would be the most daunting part of your research? Consulting experts! Can you think of a better set of people to rebuke you for embarking on a project you have no authority over? But their opinion might be an annoying necessity even if you’re writing an informal article. A broad-minded professional who’s eager to help you out would be a dream. Nevertheless, seize the best possible option and elicit all that you need. Think of this as an interview. Do your homework to minimize your chances of looking blank. Laugh off academic snobbishness as an inevitable evil. Your focus should be on your project: you have a responsibility to your readers and your editor, and you’ll do whatever it takes to deliver accurate, error-free, engaging content.
So the Barefoot College is making huge strides everyday and with each step, is disproving the hegemony of classroom education. Let them be your guiding stars! You’ll find that it’s usually personal inhibitions like a lack of confidence and a fear of failure that will discourage you, so battle to overcome them. Good research is indispensible and will help you through all kinds of writing whether professional or amateur. Keep your readers in mind. Find the appropriate style for your formal or informal project but don’t let style blind you. Overcome “jargon-phobia.” Don’t shy away from consulting experts. And keep your spirits up!
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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in June, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.
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—About our writer:
Suchaita Tenneti has an English degree from the University of Rochester, New York. She works with underprivileged children at a NGO called Aarambh where she is involved in curriculum development, teaching and program coordination. She has authored an English comprehension series for CBSE students and now works as a freelance writer for websites dealing with children, the youth, education, the English language, and literature. She is fluent in English, Hindi and French.
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