Writing a book seems like it might be easy. Just write a title and make people believe it by the time they reach page 1589. This is how non-fiction books are done. When I first thought about a non-fiction book I scouted around to see how others do it and that’s pretty much the process.
I need a key concept. That’s what we writers call a topic or idea. We use as many words as possible. Topic is too concise so we say “Key Concept.” Then we make it the title of the book.
Another piece of sound advice I’ve often heard is “write about what you know.” Sounds simple enough. So I scouted around and discovered I don’t know much. Sure, I’ve reviewed a lot of non-fiction books and watched a lot of Discovery Channel shows, but mostly I use that stuff to help me fall asleep. And my gullible tubes are burning out so I’m not sure I believe a lot of what I read or see on TV. You shouldn’t either.
The other problem is that if I see it on TV or read a book about it then it’s not my idea. I’m not above plagiarism but I can’t see trying to copy a whole book. I’m also not above loafing and copying a whole book seems like a lot of work. I need a key concept all my own.
Recently I made a trek to Nebraska. The purpose was to visit relatives and wish happy birthday to a 90 year old cousin. Along the way I visited Oregon Trail sites.
The Oregon Trail is where John Wayne and a couple hundred happy go lucky pioneers (extras) set out from California toward another place in California. At least that’s what it looked like in the first movie I saw about it. In subsequent history classes and various books and TV shows I got more facts but I didn’t get a true sense of what it must have been like.
I have relatives in Nebraska because some of my ancestors settled there. They were among the people who wisely didn’t set out across the plains and mountains in a flimsy covered wagon. “I’ll wait for the train” is pretty much what they said.
The Oregon Trail (along with the California Trail, Mormon Trail, gold miners, army, Pony Express, Telegraph, oxen hauling freight wagons, and the first railroad west of the Missouri) is a major reason people settled in southeastern Nebraska in the 1800s. So I wanted to see it for myself.
The trip looked like a good way to get a key concept for my book. There are many places along the way that have books for sale. I checked the titles and even got a couple for myself. They cover every aspect of the pioneer trails including accounts written by people who actually made the trip. All very fascinating. All well researched unlike any book I might write.
Problem is they cover the subject pretty well. No unique key concepts popped up. There are several accounts of modern day adventurers who set out to do the trail themselves. That might be fun to do, as long as I could fly home and sleep in my own bed every night. So I’m not doing a book about my trek along the trail. Besides I might have to cite some actual facts and I tend to shy away from that kind of thing.
One thing I noticed is the railroads still use the route to haul coal to power plants. One day I counted 10 of those extremely long coal trains heading east. Eight were stopped a various places waiting on track maintenance and two were moving. There were a number of empties heading west along the route as well. It’s astounding how much coal is coming out of the ground someplace. 10 loaded trains in a 6 hour period translate to … ummm, hundreds per year. Lots of power being generated.
But there are so many books about railroads that I don’t even want to think about inventing a key concept in that area.
Usually the key concept is the title. There might be a book titled The Moon is a Lump of Dung. Shoppers at Barnes and Noble might see the title and simply say “No it isn’t” and pass on by without even checking the dust jacket to see if the author is handsome.
The key concept is out there for all to read and only those who really need help falling asleep will pick it up. So I’ve decided the best way to write a book is to put the key concept out there and not bother with all the supporting facts and data. Why bore everyone? I’m not out to make money or to get my picture on the dust jacket (although I am handsome).
OK, what did I learn along the Oregon Trail that might make a key concept for a prize winning book? Thinking back on the trip I remember driving along country roads looking for markers and trail sites with the windows open. The weather was nice and not too hot so the breeze was comfortable. But as we passed near trees we heard this tremendous noise that can only come from cicadas.
I found one of these creatures and it’s pretty ugly. They emerge in late July and August which is probably good since you wouldn’t want that noise around all year long. We don’t think they hurt people and they don’t eat much. Why not make one a pet? Easy care, benign, no cleanup, no need to fence the yard, and most of the year you don’t even have to look at it. And that’s my key concept:
“Cicadas Make Good Pets, If You Can Stand the Noise.” No need for a lot of boring facts and data. Either you agree or you don’t. If you want facts and data go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada . They seem to know a lot about cicadas and there are plenty of pictures.
Al
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