Blog: “Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing”
(Quote: Werner von Braun)
When you start a new venture, there’s lots you won’t know. Sure, it’s daunting, but nothing ventured, nothing gained; right? Sarah Jeffers (and many others) have said ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m an introvert and self-proclaimed wallflower. For me -and most people who aren’t introverted- ‘putting yourself out there’ with a new venture is scary and it’s HARD work. So how can you make it easier on yourself? For starters, you can ‘know your stuff’. Knowledge is power and if all else fails, you can have confidence that you’ve created strong foundations for your new-found project if it’s based on informed decisions.
So where to start?
Research!
These days, there are so many avenues of information and tools to help you along the way. The flip side of this is that it can be overwhelming. You have to begin somewhere though and remember, that when you are confronted with endless amounts of information, it is OK to trust your own opinions and instincts to support the facts you find. When you come across information, you can take it or leave it.
But where do you find the facts?
Read. Read books, read articles, read tweets, read Facebook posts…
Don’t like reading? Listen to Podcasts.
Don’t like listening to podcasts? Watch videos.
Videos are not for you? Ask. Speak to those who have walked the same journey you are travelling on. “The best research you can do is to talk to people” (Terry Pratchett).
A couple of weeks ago, I was parked up in my car, watching fighter jets take off. Watching jets is my current ‘research’ of choice and one of my chosen ‘happy places’ for writing. The car windows were down (to get the full sensory experience during my visit, of course!) and as I sat there, I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation between the two chaps standing near to my car. Now obviously, I tried not to earwig. Well, it’s just not polite, is it? But then, when you tell your brain not to listen, your brain hears the word ‘listen’. Shortly after I’d inadvertently ‘tuned in’, I heard one of the chaps say “I’m a children’s author.” The conversation progressed and in a few short minutes, he’d shared the name of his books, a description of his characters and the very impressive fact that he was published and signed to one of the biggest and most well known international publishing houses. Wow! I was overwhelmed with excitement at the thought of speaking to a real-life successful author.
However, being VERY British, incredibly shy and most definitely introverted, as much as I wanted to dive out of the car to talk to this stranger, my legs wouldn’t physically allow me to get up. I sat and pondered for a while. I flipped from trying to listen-in to trying really hard not to listen-in. After stewing for another few minutes, I impulsively dived out of the car and launched myself in front of the two poor unsuspecting men and introduced myself. Now, this particular environment is a sociable one. Aviation enthusiasts are a friendly bunch. Personally, I don’t tend to chat to strangers while I’m there; partly because I go there to get in my own headspace, but partly because I’d never get any writing done if I were to stand around chatting. That’s as well as the aforementioned fact that I am not great at ‘putting myself out there’ and am happy cocooned in my own company.
So yes, I dived out of the car and presented myself to the two chaps and nervous, verbal diarrhoea ensued (my own - not theirs).
At risk of repeating what happened word-for-word and sharing the barrage of ‘chat’ with you, I’ll cut to the chase. The author was lovely. He was very kind and supportive. We swapped contact details and he offered to help and answer any questions I have about publishing. The whole experience left me with a feeling of such positivity and I learnt lots about branding, presentation and about being ‘the face’ behind your product. After seeing how other people do things, you may be inspired; alternatively, you may be surprised and you may choose to do things completely differently. That’s OK. When you find out facts and are given suggestions, you can make an informed choice as to how you proceed. The venture is yours. Your product. Your individuality. Your choices.
Just like the inspiration for your book…or for your online shop…or your creation…or whatever your venture may be, inspiration is all around. Similarly, there is the opportunity to acquire knowledge all around too. Take a look online: forums and groups are a great place to start.
The best advice will always come from the people who are able to see where you’re coming from, because they were there once, too.