It's common for you, nonfiction writers, to go forth into an area you know little about.You may worry that you are not qualified to bring the story back.I feel that anxiety every time I start a new project.I felt it when I went to Bradenton to write my baseball book Spring training.Although I've been a baseball fan all my life, I had never done any sports reporting, never interviewed a professional athlete.Any of the men I approached with a notebook could have asked.What else have you written about baseball? But nobody did.They didn't ask, because I was sincere.It was obvious to those man that I really wanted to know how they did their work.Remember this: when you enter a new area and need a shot of confidence, what matters is how you do it.Also remember that your assignment may not be as narrow as you think.Often it will turn out to touch some unexpected corner of your experience or your education, enabling you to broaden the story with strength of your own.Every such production of the unfamiliar will reduce your fear.
