Encyclopaedia Me

I found this older post from a retired blog of mine today and thought I would re post it here.


As a freelance writer, I have had to become a subject matter expert on just about everything. Some of my newly found knowledge is pretty useless today but maybe it'll come in handy some day soon.

In the last year of this career, I have had to get knowledgeable about a lot about a lot of things. The things I didn't know, I had to figure out real fast. I'm finding myself becoming quite the fountain of information.

Learning To Write About Anything
Not only do I have to write like an expert, I have to be able to do it fast. Today, I took a walk and was thinking about all the things I've learned in the last few months and it felt good. I feel like I am not only learning how to be a better writer and hone my skills/fine tune my instrument but I'm also learning as I go.
I've learned about a lot of different subjects in the last several months.

Just Write

When I'm lost for words, I just write. Writing helps me learn. If I can't figure out what to write about a particular topic that I know very little about, sometimes it helps to interview myself about the topic. I give myself a few questions and determine what I want to know about something and then take those questions and go searching for the answers. I might go to Wikipedia, About.com, ehow.com or a free article site to delve into that subject matter. Usually I can find out enough information fairly quickly to write an informed article on the matter. I'm learning to search in different ways to bring up new information and sometimes great info isn't on the first page of google. You don't want all your work and info recycled anyway...

Jill of All Trades

So now it's surprising me how much I write about in my freelance writing career. I'm writing about waste management, equestrian how-to articles, everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask about constipation (lol, yes, I'm serious), organic food, and more...and that's just in one particular week.
This afternoon on my walk I looked at a home and knew why they had attic vents installed, I thought about stress management and why one of my neighbours had a boat cover and knew instantly why it was so important (after 73 boat articles written by me a while back, 20 on waste management and 60 articles about home repairs) and felt like I have the best job around...I get to write, learn and earn.

As my ten year old would say, "Go me!"