Thoughts in the Margins, Part Three: Craft a Topic Worthy of Your (and Everybody's) Time
Third Installment of a Multi-Part Series about Writing Compelling Nonfiction
I am fascinated with the history of the United States. More specifically, I am interested in the events that informed the American Revolution and the early constitutional period. More specifically than that, I am captivated by the intellectual history (the history of ideas) that inspired the philosophical underpinnings of the revolution and the design of the American system of government. This was a topic that was large enough, (yet) focused enough, worthy of my time to research primary sources for, to scour the scholarship of secondary sources for, and to provide my own analysis regarding the topic in order to offer something new. If I had not chosen something of legitimate interest to me, it would have been a lost cause. It is vital, then, to decide on a topic and a thesis where your interest grows as you conduct your research, rather than wanes. This is a point that truly cannot be overstated. If you are bored constructing your work, on the research or the writing side of the process, then why should you expect it to be something that anyone would be excited to read? An engaging article or book is likely one that was similarly appealing for the writer to create. If you are not excited about what you are making, you are on the wrong track.
This does not mean that the process will be a million laughs a minute. Research and writing is hard work and requires a level of devotion and discipline that honors this reality (see Chapter One). Nevertheless, hard work can be fun, especially when you are excited about the history and analysis you are working with. It is thus not necessary to equate hard work with drudgery, nor enjoying your work with it lacking rigor. The point is, instead, that the enjoyment you generate in the production of your project should, and likely will, translate into a satisfying experience for those who read your work. If that level of anticipation and pleasure is missing in the process of the production of the essay, article, or book, then it should not come as any surprise when the response to your project is tepid. Effective writing transmits the importance and enthusiasm of the topic implicitly. This happens as early as the first day of research, taking initial notes, and writing early drafts. Consistently asking yourself why the information you are working with should matter to people will keep the energy up in your process. It will also bring effective questions and concepts during the progression of the research which will allow you to dive deeper into the material and generate more meaningful analysis.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming that the topic they find interesting would not be of interest to others. They seem to forget that it is the job of the nonfiction writer to make these things interesting to people. They forget that although some people have the same interests essentially from the cradle to the grave, others discover and develop interests in things later in life or in ways they don’t expect. Many potential writers thus overlook their opportunity to be the source that could spark curiosity in others on the very subject or idea that they are personally invested in. They appear to forget that it was likely a certain writer or group of writers that inspired their curiosity in the very topic they now themselves lament not enough people are drawn to.
Other people make things interesting to us, and we endeavor to further investigate that topic accordingly. Similar to how a lack of excitement will produce an unexciting work, a lack of confidence in believing that others will find interest in your work will keep you from generating something inspiring, or may well keep you from taking the necessary first steps into pursuing such a project. Ultimately, a lack of confidence in believing there will be an audience for your work is a lack of confidence in yourself as a writer. It is a declaration of failure concerning your own abilities to demonstrate the how and the why regarding the relevance and critical nature of your potential project before you even begin. This is a bad practice and should be avoided at all costs. Not only is it unhealthy for one’s psychology, but it also keeps you from being excited about the work, which has already been asserted to be of primary importance if your readers are going to feel the same.
If you are bored, then you are boring. It is not the world’s job to make life exciting for you. It is your job, as a thoughtful and creative writer of nonfiction, to make life, ideas, and history exciting to the world. This should not be very difficult, because as a (potential) writer of nonfiction, you already know that these things are interesting and exciting. Discovering how to convey this to your audience is thus your job. Make it easier on yourself by avoiding subjects that you will not maintain genuine interest in. Model psychological and intellectual investment in something that is worthy of your time. If it was not worth your time to write (because you found no joy in doing so), why would it be worth anyone else’s time to read? Choose a topic you find fascinating and generate a unique thesis (your point of view or argument) that draws attention to the topic in a way unlike anything anyone else has done. The following chapter focuses on this point further.
[James M. Masnov is a writer, historian, and lecturer. He has been a contributor at Past Tense, Pure Insights, New Discourses, the Brownstone Institute, Armstrong Journal of History, and the Oregon Encyclopedia. His newest book, Rights Reign Supreme: An Intellectual History of Judicial Review and the Supreme Court, is available here. His first book, History Killers and Other Essays by an Intellectual Historian, is available here.]