Freelance Tips 00001

Today I heard that old chestnut: "Write about what you know."
My response was: "WHY!"
For a start, I don't know much. Who's going to be interested in endless articles about Cuddling My Ginger Pussycat or Let's Open Another Bottle of Red Wine or Review of the Best Chocolate Bars?
No, when I write I want my imagination to soar. I want to find out about new things; I want to learn obscure facts and read about interesting people.
These days we have the perfect research tool right at the end of fingertips. Type any subject into a search engine and, more than likely, pages and pages of information will appear. Word of warning though: just because it's written down, it doesn't necessarily make it true. Make sure the source is trustworthy or that the information is verified on several sites.
I was recently commissioned to write an article about health and safety legislation (boring, I know, but I have to pay for those chocolate bars somehow). Am I an expert on health and safety legislation? Am I doodleysquat. No, my knowledge of the subject began and ended with the occasional newspaper story. You know the ones: "I was banned from baking a cake for the over-60s club in case I poisoned them all and was sued from both of my arms and legs."
But did I let my complete ignorance stop me from accepting the assignment? Why would I?
One morning's work on the internet and I had all the facts and figures at my disposal. Not only that, I had a wealth of interesting and amusing (some hilarious) anecdotes to spice up the article. Result: one very satisfied customer.
So, write about what you know? No, find out about what you don't know.