Keeping a Knowledge Log for Writing
A Guide for Writers Hoping to Write More Detailed, Accurate Stories
Dec 26, 2008
Most writers find themselves producing the most content in subjects that interest them. Likewise, most of their study—whether serious research or casual web browsing—centers around the very subjects about which they write.
A “knowledge log” is nothing more than a computer document dedicated to the topics a writer is most interested in. As he or she learns more about a given subject, that writer will update the document with newly acquired information that can be used towards a future (or current) piece.
Suppose that a writer is extremely interested in the Arctic, Middle Eastern fashion and the St. Louis Rams. (What an interesting story that could create!) Her knowledge log would include three categories, one for each subject of interest. As she learned more about each, she would use the knowledge log as a way to keep track of the incoming information. Over time, her knowledge log would encompass a great deal of knowledge that she otherwise would have overlooked or forgotten.
The Sources for a Knowledge Log
Maintaining such a document does not require exhaustive research over a short period; rather, it is intended as a repository for bits of information collected over a long span of time. A writer’s information on the Sahara, example, might come from a news brief on Algeria, a travel infomercial, a collection of Wikipedia pages and half an hour spent looking through an atlas.
Such pieces of information would not be of much use of their own. However, when added together and preserved in a document, they would serve as a valuable resource for writers hoping to include more facts and references in their stories.
Harnessing a Knowledge Log's Benefits
Thanks to the internet and the modern media, writers come across dozens, if not hundreds of knowledge sources a day. But how much of that information will they remember the next day, let alone the next month?
The idea of a knowledge log is to store up such information until a writer has a purpose for it. A feature on banjo repair in April might not be very useful to a music freelancer, but when October rolls around and he is tasked with an article on instrument maintenance, the summary of that story could give him a number of facts with which to base a story. At any rate, that knowledge log would build the freelancer’s research skills by teaching him to summarize and take note of important information.
In helping writers learn more about subjects that they wish to write about, a well-maintained knowledge log can make the difference between a factual, detailed story and one built on conjecture.
