Category Archives: Writing

Things That Trip Up in the Night

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It has been a happy and sorrowful week. Annalisa, my younger daughter, celebrated her fourteenth birthday. Anna, the stray cat we took in…well, she took us over, actually…died on the same day. Anna would spend her nights outside by (her) choice during the summer; in the morning I would open the front door and tell her, “Welcome to Egypt! Where cats are worshipped!” and she would saunter in, looking for breakfast, which, of course, was quick in coming. Anna would venture outside in the winter for a few moments, then appear at the rear sliding glass door, screaming the feline equivalent of “It’s cold and I have no pants!”

An aside: Anna’s death continues a pattern. Birthdays at casa de Hartlaub are viewed with simultaneous anticipation and trepidation. Bad things can happen. My mother died ten years ago on Annalisa’s birthday (I wanted to ask Annalisa, upon Anna’s death, “Who do you think will die on your twenty-fourth birthday?” but I didn’t, since I will be seventy by then, and, uh, well, it might be me!). My grandfather passed on my cousin’s special day; my grandmother went beyond on my father’s birthday, who in turn, died on the same day as another cat of ours, and of the same cause. My birthday, of course, is on September 11. No explanation necessary.

We spoil our pets around here; Anna, as a result, has chosen not to leave just yet, despite being buried in our backyard pet cemetery. She follows the example of Madrigal and Rebel, our other deceased cats, who choose to dart across our paths occasionally in different parts of the house at all hours of the day and night. Madrigal, a Siamese who loved me like no other creature ever has, has tripped me a few times in the middle of the night when I have gotten up from bed to do what old men do in the middle of the night. The first time it happened was startling; now, if she doesn’t do it once a month, I wonder where she is. Cats are not the only spirits who visit us. Someone/thing at irregular intervals walks slowly across the upstairs floor. This occurs, when it does occur at approximately three pm or seven pm. It may not happen for months, but then will occur every day for three weeks. Annalisa, when she was much younger, told us that it was an angel, and that she saw it several times at the top of the stairs, surrounded by light, looking down at her. She didn’t consider it to be frightening; it was just there. She stopped seeing it when she was about four years old. Whatever it is continues to make itself known when it so chooses.

I’m not necessarily given over to haunts and the like, but I know what I see and I see what I know. I’ve only discussed so far the strange things in our house which I am able to explain. The cats all belong here. The angel, or whatever it is, seems to have come with the house. There is one thing that occurred, however, which I am at a loss to understand, and which accordingly comes closest to that state we call “frightening.” I got up one night about three am (that old man thing again) and when I came back to bed my wife Lisa was moaning in her sleep. While I was debating whether 1) she was having a nightmare and 2) I should wake her up or 3) just let her sleep, I heard a voice in my head, the voice of a young woman, asking “Are you okay?” Lisa, still asleep, answered “um hmmm” with a lilt, as if in affirmative answer. She remembered nothing about it the next morning; I will never forget it.

Not all houses are so benevolent, particularly in fiction. Hopefully you have been watching the stylishly gory AMERICAN HORROR STORY, which has something that will offend and titillate nearly everyone. It is a psychological thriller dressed in ghoul’s weeds, centering around a family who has moved from the east to the west coast in hopes that a change of scenery will salvage their relationship. Of course, the house that they move into is loaded with ghosts. It is the family, however, that is truly and fatefully haunted, and as they continue to make the mistakes that caused them to leave Boston the viewer slowly comes to realize that they can’t get away from themselves. It’s just the thing to watch as the spirits of dead pets sit and sleep in the corners, waiting to trip the unwary in the middle of the night.

Finding My Way to The End

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By John Gilstrap

Earlier this week, I got to type my two favorite words: “the” and “end.”  Truthfully, neither of the words does much for me individually, but taken in context (and in order) at bottom of a 415-page manuscript, they bear a sweet message.  It means that Damage Control, the fourth book in the Jonathan Grave series, is finally finished–at least until such time as my editor sends me the Dreaded Letter.  In the meantime, I need to submit an outline and first chapter for my next book, which I’m currently calling Untitled Grave Five. Yeah, I know, the title needs work, but I need to deliver that finished manuscript to my publisher next September 15, after which I will need to deliver an outline and first chapter for Untitled Grave Six by next October 15.

Somehow, between now and November 15, I also need to write a short story for an anthology while traveling pretty much nonstop for my Big Boy job.  It will all get done.  I’m not entirely sure how, but it will all get done.  I know this because somehow it always gets done.

Here’s the thing, though: Unlike the consensus reached after Nancy Cohen’s post the other day that most of my Killzone colleagues think continually about their writing, I find not-writing to be the easiest thing in the world to do.  I consider myself to be an observer of people and something of a dialogue sponge when folks say interesting things, but it’s rare that I think that something in life would make a good story, or that fascinating surroundings would make a good scene.  At least I never think it real-time.

Generally, I think about writing when I sit down to write.  Take this blog post, for example–take most of my blog posts, in fact.  It’s Thursday night, which means it’s time to write something.  This is what occurred to me.  Next week, I’m pretty sure that’s how it will happen again.

The short story I owe will be based on a photograph.  I chose the photo because it’s strange, and as of this moment, I have no idea what narrative I’m going to tie to it.  Next weekend, though–which is the start date I’ve assigned to myself for the short story–I have every confidence that when I sit down to write, the story will be there waiting for me.  I’ll employ no tricks or gimmicks or exercises; I’ll just start to write.  Three, four, or ten drafts later, it will be done.  I just don’t know how.

The lack of predictability in my creative process scares the bejeebers out of me.  Unlike so many other authors I speak to, I don’t have a file of potential ideas, or biographical sketches of future characters.  I wish I did, and I admire those who do.  Nine books into my career, with #11 and #12 under contract, none of this ever gets easier for me, even though I tell myself that I’m getting better at it.

One thing that has changed, though, is that I’ve learned to accept my process for what it is.  It’s my way, it works for me.  I think that my ability to turn the fiction spigot on and off is what allows be to have both a book deadline and a stressful Big Boy job.  Certainly, it helps.  One thing I know for sure, though, is that the more I try to make it easier on myself, the harder it all becomes. 

So what about you?  Are you content with your creative process, or are you fighting to change things?

The Bi-Weekly Report From Rabbit Burn

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John Ramsey Miller

As I’ve written here, I’m probably going to try my hand at going straight to eBook with my next novel. I’ve been dragging my feet for a year or so, tinkering with two manuscripts, and thinking about what I want to do going forward. Since I have no publisher on the hook for this closest one, I had no editor to guide me. I need a heavy handed editor to tell me what I should already know and point to where I should know to go. I have been told on numerous occasions my talent is of the raw variety and can be lacking in the focus department. I have heard it over and over from the best editors in the business—and I’ve worked with the best. So I found a veteran editor who left NYC for the wilds of Ohio and who is raising a family instead of a brood of needy authors. So I have ten pages of notes in a chapter-by-chapter dissection. Great stuff, and I’ve got a hearty rewrite in my near future.

For the past two weeks I’ve been clearing a couple dozen trees—cutting them down, sectioning the trunks, splitting them, dragging the limbs into the pasture behind my four-wheeler, and stacking the wood to burn this winter. I’ve got central heat, but we like the wood-burning stove. I’m actually cutting the trees to make a yard in the ex-woods for the grandkids. I’ll build a fort, move the trampoline over and have a place kids will enjoy. My grandson has been here for three weeks. I work and he collects lizards and bugs in jars. Every night we release his catch so they can go home to their mamas. Weather has been wonderful.
Cool.
Bright
Clear.

I have not been writing, and that’s the thing I’m writing about.
I’ve been living life and thinking about writing as I go through the days.
Doesn’t matter at the present, but it might tomorrow.

I turned 62 last week.
Didn’t hurt a bit.
Didn’t mind it.

Next week I’m going to talk with my editor and start a long overdue rewrite. Then we’ll see.
I’ll keep you posted.

On the road

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On my way back and still not really online until I touch down back in Oz. I had forgotten just how long it took to travel from Melbourne to New York so I am steeling myself for the three flights needed to get home. It took us about a day and a half of travel to get here! Good news was that my agent was really optimistic and upbeat about the way the publishing industry is headed and my speech at our friend’s wedding anniversary went well.
Will update you all more next week.
Now back to packing and preparing myself for the horror that is flying these days!
Clare

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

FISHING FOR READERS: It’s all about the Hook

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By: Kathleen Pickering  http://www.kathleenpickering.com

Some hooks look like this: 

fishing tackle 

Other hooks look like this:

– I bared my balconet-supported breasts on the grocery line to see if they matched the bosoms the gossip magazine hanging on the rack featured as mine.

– Stella broke his arm with a thought; the sickening snap thrilling her like a deep, wet kiss.

– Leaning forward in their chairs for his next answer, the audience remained clueless to the fact that Rodger Heller no longer stood before them. (Future hooks by Kathleen Pickering)

Fishing tackle 2Not just for fishing any more, hooks are considered the number one lure for catching readers.

Your first line—your highly polished bait–attracts readers and gets them to bite again and again, turning pages and creating fans.

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While ancient fishing tackle and cave paintings suited small communities and worked for plying waters close to shore, today’s audiences are huge and are easily distracted by flashing media and super-speed technology. Today’s hooks, although still the ultimate writer-tackle of choice, must be sharper than ever.

Hooks–so many types! Of the various suggested techniques, I’ve listed my five favorite hooks below.

1. Three-Pronged Hook. This is a wonderful approach using three sentences to pull the reader deeper into the story.

Here are three, expertly crafted Three-Pronged Hooks:

“I sleep with the dead. I don’t remember the first time I did it and try not to think about why. It’s just something I do.”  (In the Arms of Stone Angels, by Jordan Dane)

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Or:

“Two Whom It May Concern: My name is Wilfred Leland James and this is my confession. In June of 1922 I murdered my wife, Arlette Christina Winters James, and hid her body by tupping it down an old well. My son, Henry Freeman James aided me in this crime, although at 14 he was not responsible; I cozened him into it, playing upon his fears and beating down his quite normal objections over a period of 2 months.” (Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King)

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Or:

“The boy stood naked in the middle of the road. Sam Hall’s headlights caught him there, frozen in position, like a deer. He was covered in something slick and it dripped down his flesh.”  (The Evil Inside, by Heather Graham)

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Makes you want to read more, yes? You’ll also see that expertly composed hooks manage to combine techniques to create a masterful atmosphere. With hooks created by the guest authors I’ve featured here today, if readers were fish, they’d be jumping into the boat.

2. Startle Hooks. These hooks capture audiences quickly because the readers can’t quite believe what they’ve just read (like those hooks above). Folks will keep reading to discover what is really going on. Another example, and shameless plug, is in Mythological Sam-The Call, where Sam Wilson starts the first chapter with a surreal visual:

"I steer around the bend and my breath catches in my throat. A hideous, mythological hydra suspends across the bay, clawing each shore with twin, snarling heads straining towards the sky." (Mythological Sam-The Call by Kathleen Pickering.

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Couldn’t help but include myself here, especially in such good company, but  I hope you’ll agree that no normal dude driving along the road is going to see a snarling, mythological beast where a bridge is supposed to be. I’d like to think the startle factor will keep the audience reading to learn what’s really happening.

3. Describe a personality and elicit emotion.  See how a master handles this one:

“Myron lay sprawled next to a knee-knockingly gorgeous brunette clad only in a Class-B-felony bikini, a tropical drink sans umbrella in one hand, the aqua clear Caribbean water lapping at his feet, the sand a dazzling white powder, the sky a pure blue that could only be God’s blank canvas, the sun as soothing and rich as a Swedish masseur with a snifter of cognac, and he was intensely miserable.” (The Final Detail, by Harlan Coben).

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Superbly done. (Applauding from my chair!) This hook flashes Myron as a law enforcer of high caliber who knows danger, attracts sexy women, lives life like a hedonist and is bored out of his gourd, eliciting both envy and concern from the reader over a intriguing personality. All done in one sentence. Amazing.

4. Establish a Setting. Mr. Coben also combines setting into the above hook, so I will cite the same quote. While establishing a setting is a gentler hook, when professionally cast as Coben has done, the results reel readers in hook, line and sinker. (I just know you were waiting for me to use that cliché!)

5. Introduce the Main Character. This hook is most effective when working with character driven plots, especially if the author is establishing a series with a particular character. Here, F. Paul Wilson’s character, Repairman Jack, has developed a cult-like following by portraying a darkly dangerous Jack with a quirky yet endearing, under-the-radar life style.

"Jack looked around the front room of his apartment and figured he was either going to have to move to a bigger place, or stop buying stuff. He had nowhere to put his new Daddy Warbucks lamp." (Conspiracies – Repairman Jack Series, by F. Paul Wilson)

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Paul told me Repairman Jack was only supposed to be a few books. Instead, Jack’s huge success spawned fifteen Repairman Jack novels. Paul recently released a Repairman Jack young adult series to explain Jack’s formative years. Yes, indeed. Dr. Wilson must own a pretty snazzy tackle box to hook such a huge fan base.

So of the various techniques for creating hooks, including use of dialogue, and introducing conflict and/or problems, these are my top five picks. What are your hooks of choice? Feel free to give examples. I’ll check back later because I’m off to bait another hook. I’m going deep sea fishing, this time!

The Zombification of Miller

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John Ramsey Miller

I’ve been reading a lot of Zombie books lately, and I’m not truly remorseful. A guilty pleasure. There are so many, and so many authors writing in that horror sub-genre write great books indeed. Damn it, people just like Zombie hoards. It seems to me that before NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, Zombies were unfortunate people brought back to life by a Voodooie priest to become a slave of some sort. Usually there was a secretish herby drug involved that accomplished this and (supposedly) there have been actual cases of Caribbean-based people who were once dead, and had no memory of their prior existence. Whatever. But the point is (as far as I know) they didn’t spend their time above ground, looking to eat flesh and brains until John Carpenter’s low-budget Chittlin’ yard party outside the old farmhouse near Pittsburgh.

James Scott Bell’s Zombie lawyer, Mallory, breaks the mold, and it’s an hilarious book. A Vampire’s trial held at night is a hoot I know he thought his book through, and made his zombie more realistic than most authors writing about Zombies. But his book is comedy and not horror so much.

Each Zombie book, like the Vampire ones, is different but shares certain similarities. There are lots and lots, but I’ll list a few.

1) Some sort of virus (celestial based or scientific experiment gone bad) gives the dead their locomotion fuel

2) The physical sharing Zombie Juice, or the airborne Zumbo-dust that covers the world, makes you become one upon dying

3) Being Zombified cuts IQ toward single digits. They can move around mostly in a shuffle, but can’t open doors, or use ladders, although steps are not a problem.

In some of these books Zombies learn tricks like opening doors and even setting up ambushes.

4) only opening the skull and scattering brains stops the things. They can see other Zombies get their brains scattered but (in denial like living people) do not think it can happen to them.

5) They do not respect old relationships and will eat their immediate family as soon as they’ll eat a politician

6) They begin to rot out and decay which adversely affects their appearance and gives them an unpleasant odor

7) They can walk if they have retained their legs, or crawl if legless, but wheelchairs are too complex to operate. If immobile, a zombie head can lie waiting like a rock until an ankle or a finger finds its way into its mouth.

8) All they think about is eating flesh and or brains

9) They have a keen sense of smell, see and hear well above the average living human

10) They often repeat old habits like going home to eat their friends and family, or go to the mall

10) They tend to gang up

11) The children zombies are usually faster moving than the adults

12) They coexist peacefully until preying

So this got me to thinking about how much disbelief I should suspend. I was asking a Chiropractor the other day how if tissue and muscle was rotting normally, how long could a Zombie walk around before critical disconnection and failure of the ability to locomote. If they can “live” just fine for years without eating, why do they go to so much trouble trying to eat something they can’t digest or pass? He said, “None of it is possible.” He wasn’t willing to theorize. I can believe all of it in a well-written story, but I do have questions galore that I often wonder how the writer can deal with. Bodies decay to bones, which are connected by living tissue and not even a reanimated brain can make tissue regenerate.

I think people are so into Zombie books because it appears society could degenerate and the institutions that keep us safe, break down. When anarchy is the norm, the strong will try to subjugate the weaker members of the non-society. I suppose that is a big factor in the surge of popularity. Plus, I think people just like seeing Zombies get it, more than they do ghouls or politicians.

If you want to read two very good series, try Stephen Knight’s GATHERING DEAD series, or Joseph Talluto’s White Flag of the Dead series.

What’s your guilty pleasure in novels?

CONFERENCE NETWORKING: Essential Part of the Writer’s Job

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by: Kathleen Pickering  http://www.kathleenpickering.com

I love my job.

I may get a tad over enthusiastic about it, but hey, why not? I mean, how many folks get to climb onto a plane, fly to somewhere with a personality of it’s own, like New Orleans. Stay in the French Quarter in an historic hotel, that may or may not include a ghost with the room. Attend a poetry reading,

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a Civil War era cocktail party,

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then attend and/or speak on panels about writing the next day until it’s time for the Civil War Zombies for Peace dinner theater that evening—costumes and all?

NOLA-lincolnheather kathy paul

Top that off the next day with an English Tea, a well stocked book signing, a power lunch with a fascinating few where possibilities are hatched for future projects, finished with a romp through a really scary Haunted Mortuary,

nola14 NOLA22

and I’ve worked hard at my craft all weekend.

What? Don’t all writers do this?

Maybe not exactly that, but I have yet to meet a dedicated writer who just sits on his/her duff. For example, there’s Jordan Dane who shoots guns and blow up bombs. (I’d love to be right behind her!) Or, Basil Sands who hosts radio shows and views the world from his perch in Alaska. Or Joe Moore who knows how to infiltrate the Internet-within-the-Internet to retrieve information that no man should see. Or, James Borne who uses his knowledge in law enforcement to enhance his writing.

Writers can’t write unless they experience life and indulge their voracious curiosities. That includes attending conferences to keep one’s finger on the pulse of the industry. Since I’d already landed my current editor and agent from previous conferences, I really didn’t need to pitch anything. Only network. This time I met a producer from Hollywood looking for books to pitch for TV options. Chatted up a ‘sleeper’ work of mine to a boutique publisher and captured his interest. Not bad for leaving an open space to see what might materialize from networking. You never really know what nugget of success you’ll find, but the bottom line is: unless you attend you won’t know.

The weekend I described above was spent at Heather Graham’s Sixth Annual Writers for New Orleans Workshop. Heather began this tradition intending to help infuse the local New Orleans economy after Hurricane Katrina. What she didn’t expect was to develop what is now a six year tradition of bringing writers together from as far away as Australia into a pool of enthusiastic camaraderie, information gathering, and creative inspiration. Despite her lack of sleep, one of our cohorts was so inspired, that she began writing her next book on the flight home. Each year in New Orleans gets better and better.

Heather’s workshop is only one example. I’ve mentioned before how critical networking is for a writer’s career, especially now. The age of communication and technology demands we put ourselves into the current. coral-24It’s like the writing industry is this huge ocean reef, with our little coral tentacles waving in the current for sustenance. If you’re not waving, you miss the juicy bits. Me? I’m waving with both hands and feet! After all, this is my career, we’re talking about. Research. Writing. Riding the Conference Current. It’s all part of the job.

If I couldn’t physically be present at conferences, I’d have to find another avenue, like YouTube. But, quite honestly, I don’t think anything works better than being there. The flow of energy alone from all that talent in one place is worth attending.

So, my author friends . . . do you ride the conference current? What’s your focus, and what are your goals when you do?

I CAN’T TEACH YOU TO BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR.

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John Ramsey Miller

Once, just before THE LAST FAMILY was released, I mentioned to my editor that I was thinking about taking a creative writing class at a local university. I had never taken a writing course in college–never graduated. She told me not to let any teacher tamper with the way I write. She said that they had nothing they can teach me without messing with what came to me naturally. She referred to my ability as a gift. She said nobody should trade what comes naturally by learning what others think you should pay attention to. I didn’t take the course. In fact I’ve never taken a writing course, or an English class after graduating high school. I am not an academic, never have been and never will be. Nothing bores me quite so much as formal learning.

I guess if I were operating in the art world I’d be what they call a primitive. In high school I was terrible in English classes, couldn’t diagram a sentence, and confused adjectives and adverbs. As a writer, I’ve been called a natural, but I’m not impressed with me because I’ve always operated at half speed and in my comfort zone. It comes easy for me, the writing thing. I’ve been told many times that were I more competitive and aggressive and a self-promoter I would be far more successful. I am what I am, what I have become based on my personality and experience, and I’m comfortable with it. I have two million books in print, and I enjoy telling the stories I tell, and it’s never been about the money or the prestige or anything but enjoying myself and making people forget their lives for a few pages at a time.

I cannot teach others how to write, or how to become published authors. I did it the way I did it and I don’t think my way could be repeated by anyone else. Had I known what the odds were, I might have done something else. I was lucky in how the cards hit the table. I met the right people when I was ready and all of the stars lined up in a certain way…

I think this the struggle is different for everybody because everybody has different strengths and weaknesses. There is no right way or wrong way to tell a story that is teachable. Either you can write or you can’t. Either you can tell a story or you can’t. I write the only way I know how to write. I write the way I talk.

I don’t think I have anything to tell anybody that will make a difference in their careers. I wish I did. All I can tell anybody is that if you know you know that you have it, go for it. Show us. Work hard, think harder. I never thought for one minute that I would fail, it just never occurred to me that becoming a published author was not probable. It just fit me. I truly believe I was born to it, that I was meant to do it. I never doubted myself. I just always knew. I never saw myself as a best selling author, but I saw myself as a successful author.

Now I have contracted with an editor, because I am an author who needs a good editor to make me a better writer. I’m going to publish my own books as ebooks. I’m going to be a movie that goes straight to DVD, and I’m going to work even harder than I have before, because I don’t have a major house to give me a feeling of security. I’m going to have to be my own marketing department. I don’t know how things will work out, but I don’t doubt for a minute that I will be successful. I’ve always been successful at doing what I love doing. I know it’s the stories, the characters, and I truly believe my books will be better than ever and I’ll be able to tell the stories I want to tell, and that my audience will appreciate my work more because it will be what I want to say the way I want to say it. I can experiment. I’ll keep you posted. I’m truly becoming excited and that is something I haven’t felt in a long time.

Well, I’ll keep you posted.

What’s your story’s DNA?

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Recently I found a fun new site called Booklamp–it helps you find new books by comparing and contrasting the content of books you enjoy, similar to the way Pandora.com helps music lovers find new music. To quote Booklamp:

“We’re attempting to help you find books with similar themes and writing style to books you’ve enjoyed in the past – comparing elements like Description, Pacing, Density, Perspective, and Dialog – while at the same time allowing you to specify details like… more Medieval Weapons.”

Booklamp identifies and parses the “story DNA” of various books, then uses that information to help you find similar stories. You can search for books by Story DNA, Book Title, Author, or Genre.

As an experiment I searched for books with DNA similar to Hostage Zero by our own John Gilstrap. Booklamp suggested matches to “similar” books by various authors, including Christopher Reich, Lisa Unger, Anne McCaffrey, Louis L’Amour, and even William Faulkner.  


Booklamp claims to be advertiser independent, which means you won’t have your results filtered through marketing budgets. This means that mid-listers and newbies will have a fighting chance to turn up in results. 


Booklamp is actively seeking publishers to sign on to the project right now–many publishers (and therefore authors) are not represented. But I’m hoping the project will catch fire.  


Check it out, and let us know what you think. Is this something you would use, as a reader or writer?

INTERNET RESEARCH: Not Always the Deep Throat of Trusted Information

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By: Kathleen Pickering  http://www.kathleenpickering.com

When turning your research sights on Internet sources for your writing, how can you be certain you’re discovering trusted information?

deepthroatIt’s not like back in Watergate days, when Bob Woodward spoke to a voice on the phone who gave him enough evidence to prove he was reliable enough to deserve the title, “Deep Throat.”

Those were the days. Drama while researching a story. Nice. Now, who knows from where comes the wellspring of Internet “facts”? How can we be sure the information we pull from the digital ether won’t leave us with egg on our face? Or worse: some reader sending an email proving our information was wrong. Major story killer!

Personally, I prefer on-site research for my stories, and so far have been able to use that tool successfully. However, I do rely on the Internet for facts. Ironic as it sounds, I searched the Internet to find guidelines for researching reliable sources on-line. I found the most reliable tips from websites for university libraries. Since the first tip was to check the authority of a source, I thought colleges would offer the most unbiased tools for determining reliable information.

research3I found when choosing an article, blog, website, government document, historical journal or any resource posted online five key areas should be considered:

1. The Authority of the author/publisher of information.

You should be able to identify the author of the work/site, his/her credentials, relevant affiliations, and past writings. The article itself should offer information, or sources like Who’s Who, the  author’s home page, or Google search the publishers/author’s name to see what other works support their credentials.

2. The Objectivity of the author.

What is the motive for your source’s article, blog, website? Does your source admit to a particular bias? Offer historical, medical or industry facts and not opinions, or affiliation viewpoints? Can you compare the information to other independent sites/articles to verify facts?

3. The Quality of the information:

Do the facts agree with your own knowledge of the subject? Can you insure information is complete and accurate by comparing with other specialists in the field? Does this author list other sources for his/her information, as well? And, believe it or not, check the site, article or blog for grammatical and spelling errors, typos. These usually indicate a non-professional delivery of information, making the facts suspect.

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4. Evaluate Date of information:

When was the information published?  Check the date on the web page for publication date and revision dates. Is the information current? Does it update old facts? Substantiate other materials you’ve read? 

5. Establish Relevance of the information:

Are these facts popular vs. scholarly? (Huffington Post vs. Wall Street Journal)Does the information use raw data, photographs, first-hand accounts, reviews or research reports? Has the information been analyzed and the resources cited? Are footnotes, endnotes or bibliographies listed?

Remember, Wikipedia is no the end-all of resources, since anyone can edit it. And, a rule of thumb is to ensure you tap at least five different sources to verify your facts before accepting your information as usable.

So far, I’ve been lucky. But, I’ve only just begun my writing career. Has anyone out there put facts in their book they pulled from the Internet only to discover the source was wrong?