When I wrote my book about Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments, “Behind the shock machine : the untold story of the notorious Milgram psychology experiments” I broke many of my own rules for writing non fiction.
I love how-to articles. What I particularly like is the way they present simple rules. I’ve published hundreds over the years, in womens’ magazines, on websites and in newspapers. Everything from how to deal with a tantrum-ing toddler, to how to overcome procrastination.
How-to articles, when written well, offer the seductive promise that complex processes can be broken down into a series of simple, achievable steps. That, in combination with a bossy style where each point begins with a verb (Create! Think! Plan!) makes them addictive to read, and to write.
My favourite how-to articles are those about writing and getting published. A friend and I even wrote a book called ‘Write to Publish’ filled with how to-s of writing and publishing non fiction.
So you’d think I would follow my own advice. But no. Here’s the rules and how I broke them.
Start with what you know
I have a background in psychology, so I was familiar with Milgram’s experiment. Trouble was, once I started my research the story I thought I knew and the one I was discovering were two very different things. Milgram’s published accounts of his research and the unpublished version I found in his papers at Yale were often conflicting, if not downright contradictory. The more research I did, the less certain I became about what I thought I knew.
Keep an open mind
I went in search of people who took part in Milgram’s research. It wasn’t until I met some of them that I realised I was wearing blinkers. That I’d made all sorts of assumptions about them before we’d even met. I expected them to be the way Milgram had described them – enlightened by the experience and glad to have taken part. This experience revealed to me how much of our reactions to Milgram’s experiment have been shaped by Milgram himself. And how important it is to view things from the different points of view of people involved.
Get interest from an editor before you start
Did I approach any publishers at the start of my project with an outline of what I was planning to do? Nope. I began the whole project to satisfy my own curiosity about the obedience experiments. The idea of a book came later.
Don’t talk your book idea away
I’ve always been wary of talking too much about my current writing projects, worried that I’d spend my enthusiasm before I got words onto the page. But my family, friends, passing acquaintances and complete strangers will tell you that I talked endlessly about the Milgram obedience experiments. I was continually testing my ideas and listening to people’s questions about the research to see if my book was providing answers.
Keep two desks
I’ve handed out this piece of advice countless times. The idea is to keep the writing and the editing parts separate. That’s where the idea of two desks comes in – one for writing, the other for editing. With this book I worked not at two desks but on the kitchen table, in bed, on camping trips, in trains, in doctor’s waiting rooms as well as in Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library.
Don’t give up your day job
A common sense piece of advice. Writers need roofs over their heads, bills paid, food on the table. But sometimes when a project starts taking over every waking minute, you’re not doing yourself, your book or your day job any favours by trying to juggle them all. Quitting a day job I loved was both the hardest and smartest thing I did. It gave me time and space to do justice to the stories that so many people shared with me about their experiences in and beyond the obedience experiments.
Your tips?
What writing rules do you find invaluable and which do you find yourself breaking?