What is the first thing people ask you?

+ What is a good way to describe this group? + February Meeting Invite

February Meeting

Google Event Invite

Tuesday, February 25 · 5 PST - 6 MST - 7 CST - 8 EST

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/jhh-hogx-ggd

How should we describe the types of books group members create?

“Nonfiction” is in the title of this group, and when I have a few more words, I say it’s for “nonfiction non-memoir” to specify further. Sadly, “nonfiction” and “non-memoir” are both negative words, and I was wondering if I should call our work something else.

Furthermore, I think this group would be of value to someone writing hybrid memoirs, reported memoirs, science memoirs, or similar. (A member said at the last meeting, “The science memoir is hot right now!”)

The reason I add “non-memoir” is because I find that a majority of “nonfiction” writing groups focus on memoirs and have certain goals that aren’t quite the same. Here’s where I think ANBIP differs from most nonfiction author groups:

(Disclosure: I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with anything on the chart!)

So, those writing strictly memoirs without a lot of reporting aren’t likely to benefit from most of what we talk about. (In fact, someone floated the idea of making a memoir version of this group, which I support!)

Still, should I add a different word than “non-memoir” to the description of this group since partially memoir-ish books could do well here too?

“Journalistic nonfiction” and “reported nonfiction” as descriptors make sense, but I don’t love that they’re likely to require further explanation. I’m not sure if they’re really established terms.

“Narrative nonfiction” and “creative nonfiction” are already established terms, but I think they mostly are for memoirs.

Vote below and/or comment your ideas and thoughts!

Member success: Daily Show!

Member

Vince Beiser

discussed his book Power Metal: The Race for the Resources that Will Shape the Future on The Daily Show!

DISCUSSION:
When you tell people you’re writing about X, what is the first question they ask you?

This can help you figure out your driving question or at least point to something very important for you to cover.

It’s unbearably frustrating to read an article about “X explained,” and my very first question remains unanswered throughout the whole piece. It’s never even brought up.

For example:

• A guy lives in the forest and almost freezes to death each winter despite having enough money to live wherever. The journalist never asks him, “Why?” The reader is left annoyed and confused.

• Feature on dumpster diving for food. The average person’s first question is, “How do you ensure that it’s safe to eat?” Even if that question is cliche, and even if I personally would skip the answer because I already know it, the journalist needs to ask it. Get the quote.

So, the question of the day is, what is the first question people ask you when you explain your topic? Answer on this post or in the meeting on the 25th.

Going off of that, a really common question is…

What do you personally do differently now that you’re an expert?

I met Jacob Silverman, author of “Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud” at the Jackson Hole Book Festival. I don’t know much about crypto, and I’m sure someone who knows a lot could talk all day about the costs, benefits, and nuances of whether to invest in Crypto, how much, which ones etc. But I wanted to skip all that and asked, “Do you have a lot of cryptocurrency?”

Fallow deer I saw here in the East Bay of SF!

As a journalist, I often figured it would be annoying and invasive to ask such basic questions. You could also argue that it’s none of my business, as the facts in the book are not about him. What do his personal choices have to do with anything?

But as a reader, I want to know: does this person who knows a lot more about crypto than I decide to invest in it personally? (Answer: no, he does not have a significant amount.)

Here are some other examples of asking authors about their personal choices and behaviors. What do the following hypothetical examples tell you? NOTE: the following are inspired by true stories, but I haven’t gone and fact-checked them, so assume they’re illustrative.

• An author writing about dermatology’s only skin-care routine is nightly and mourningly face-washing and daily wearing of sunscreen—no complex routine or drawer of products.

• Someone who has written several articles on the importance of getting a flu shot one year did not get one. (Because she’s busy and not sure if her insurance would cover it—just like you.)

• Someone who wrote about the bloodstained avocado industry, who has seen the horrors of cartel murders involved in some Mexican production, still eats avocados. (“In fact, I probably eat more than I did before.”)

• A firefighter cut down all the trees within 50 feet of her house.

• Someone who wrote a paper on pet-associated zoonotic infections (getting sick from your dog or cat’s germs) “doesn’t encourage his dogs to lick his face, and he washes his hands after cleaning up their droppings. When his children were under five, he made sure to keep the dogs’ faces away from his kids’ faces so that they couldn’t spread germs too intimately by licking their mouths.” (True, I wrote about it for LifeHacker.)

Consider having both data and anecdotes. Answering these questions about yourself and how you’ve changed in relation to your topic is in service to the reader, and it helps them make sense of the science.

Let me know what you think and what your answers are to this! See you soon!