Linda Wasmer Andrews | Writer
Linda Wasmer Andrews | More About Linda
Tell people you’re a writer, and you’re often greeted with genuine enthusiasm. Tell them you’re author of the just-released Encyclopedia
of Depression, and it stops the conversation cold.
So before I lose you, let me hasten to say that the Encyclopedia is considerably
more readable than it sounds, exploring depression not only as a clinical entity, but also as a biological, cultural and historical
phenomenon. More pertinently, writing the Encyclopedia was one of the high points of my career, because it allowed me to take a topic
and run with it for 570 printed pages.
Interesting
That’s Point No. 1 about me. Like most nonfiction writers, I got into the field because I have an inexhaustible fascination with learning new stuff. I’ve written a few thousand short articles, and I enjoy them. But offer me the luxury of spending more than 1,000 words in one place, and I’m in writer heaven. (In the case of the Encyclopedia, it was more like 270,000 words, and I never got bored - honest!)
That’s Point No. 1 about me. Like most nonfiction writers, I got into the field because I have an inexhaustible fascination with learning new stuff. I’ve written a few thousand short articles, and I enjoy them. But offer me the luxury of spending more than 1,000 words in one place, and I’m in writer heaven. (In the case of the Encyclopedia, it was more like 270,000 words, and I never got bored - honest!)
I like mixing up ideas in fresh combinations,
the same way someone else might experiment with paint colors or cooking ingredients. Walking for exercise is a good topic. The mood-lifting
effect of walking for exercise is even better. But an article that explores why walking around a park might do more for your body
and mind than covering the same distance on a treadmill is my idea of the perfect writing assignment.(That's a hint, editors.)
Informative
Writing
informative, engaging nonfiction takes more than a superficial grasp of the subject. Whether the writer is crafting
a hefty tome or a short newsbrief, she needs a deep, broad base of knowledge upon which to build.
Throughout my writing
career, I’ve specialized in health, psychology and especially the intersection between the two. More recently, I’ve become intrigued
by the way people’s interaction with the natural world affects their mind/body wellness. After nearly three decades, I still may not
know the answers to readers’ questions. But I do know where to look and whom to ask.
Inviting
This all sounds very earnest and industrious, and it is. Yet no matter how profound and clever I think I'm being, I have to remind myself that a pompous windbag is no more endearing in print than in person - just easier to escape. Rather than lecturing readers, I try to engage them in a lively conversation.
This all sounds very earnest and industrious, and it is. Yet no matter how profound and clever I think I'm being, I have to remind myself that a pompous windbag is no more endearing in print than in person - just easier to escape. Rather than lecturing readers, I try to engage them in a lively conversation.
That's my writing philosophy in a nutshell. I like to think of one of my books or articles as the verbal equivalent
of a cup of green tea sipped with a good friend on a sunny patio: friendly, inviting and brimming with healthful properties.
Care
for a cup?
Copyright (c) 2009 Linda Wasmer Andrews. All rights reserved.
