Choose how you'll collect and record your expertiseYou're ready to become an expert, hurrah! So, how will you actually record what you learn and read? There are lots of options!
Keep it in your headFirst, you might not record it at all. Some people learn best by writing notes or typing things up and reading over them later but everyone has a way of learning that suits them best. Maybe reading is enough for you and you don't want to take notes or keep track of your research. That's totally fine!
Share it (and use it as a marketing tool)Perhaps you'll feel more motivated to follow through with your project if you share what you're learning, in which case you might start a blog, newsletter, social media account or YouTube channel where you discuss the project as you go along. Explain your goal and let others follow along with you! You could write reviews or summaries of everything read, draw up a timeline of the genre, record videos where you discuss the novels you're reading, invite others to read along with you, the options are endless! This could then become a really useful tool to help you connect with your audience and other writers in the genre, particularly if you've built up a newsletter list of people who are interested in the genre and invested in your project and therefore keen to hear about any future book releases!
Keep notes for your own referenceIf you're like me, you need to write notes in order to keep track of your research, and there are loads of methods for this, including but not limited to:
- a physical binder or folder with dividers where you can store handwritten notes, photocopies, book reviews, print-outs, etc, and refer back later
- a scrapbook (this would be great if you're crafty!)
- notebooks
- a bullet journal (great if you're arty or a doodler)
- post-its stuck into a book
- digital note taking / organisational software
- Word documents or Google Docs organised into categorised folders
- a spreadsheet that tracks all your reading
You can get as creative as you want with your notes, whether they're physical or digital: colour-coding, adding images, adding post-its, using stickers, etc.
My own go-to method for any research depends on the material I'm reading.
If I'm reading something academic or non-fiction like essays or a craft book, I'll usually start by making notes in a squared paper Moleskine notebook (thanks to my husband for turning me onto these) and using lots of highlighter pens to keep things organised.
If I'm reading a novel, I might stick post-its onto the pages when there's something I really want to remember – and I have been known to scribble in the margins – but most of the time I just try to stay immersed in the story and makes notes after.
If I'm reading blogs or websites, I'll bookmark anything interesting and copy & paste useful extracts into my note-taking software, along with a link back to the original. I use Evernote, but there are loads of similar programmes you can try.
For this project, I would create a 'stack' in Evernote called something like 'Genre Expert Research' and make a notebook for each category of research I'm going to do. For example:
- Recently published middle grade & YA books
- Middle grade or YA from last 30 years
- Childhood classics
- Recently published adult fiction
- Adult genre bestsellers
- TV and film
- Non-fiction
- Writing craft guides
- Blogs to follow
Or I might set up a notebook for the questions I want to answer, like 'what are the most influential books in the genre' or 'where should a genre newbie start first?'
Then I'd create a new note for each book or article I read (or film I watch) and jot down anything interesting I learn or any favourite bits. I might create a book review or story analysis template that I fill in for each new novel.
If I wanted to track the history of my genre, I might order the books I read in order of the date they were published to create a timeline of the genre all the way from the earliest titles up to the present day.
I have the Evernote webclipper plugin on my web browser so I can quickly save any website or article I read into the relevant notebook without needing to open the app.
I'm not an Evernote affiliate, I promise! I just like it.
