Virtual Expert: Dan Anderson

Dan Anderson of Farm Journal magazine won first place in the Technical Feature category in the 2004 AAEA Writing Awards Program.

The Accidental Approach to Journalism

I'm an accidental journalist. A few years after I got an ag degree from Iowa State in '76 and had established myself as crop manager for a large corporate farm, I discovered that I could get paid for my opinions about the agricultural economy if I typed them and sent them to the Des Moines Register. Getting paid $25 per opinion piece for simply writing what I normally shouted at the TV during the farm market reports was a revelation.

It inspired me to buy a ream of typing paper, a subscription to Writer's Digest magazine and dive into the world of freelance writing. I learned that magazines would actually pay for my experiences as a farmer, mechanic, erstwhile motorcycle racer and angler. The old dictum, "Write what you know," eventually earned my stories onto the pages of Farm Journal, Dirt Rider, In Fisherman, and half a dozen other magazines.

Nearly 20 years later, the corporate farm is history and my day job is as a mechanic at a John Deere dealership. Once I punch out as mechanic, I scurry home and punch in as either a contributing editor for Farm Journal magazine or as a contributor to five other regional, national and international magazines that list me on their masthead.

What writing strategies do you employ?

I'm not sure if the writing strategies I developed on my unconventional career path will work for anybody else, but here are a few things I consider every time I sit down to research and write a story:

-Who is my audience? For my Farm Journal stories, I visualize various local farmers. Which farmer I target depends on what the story is about.

If it's a how-to story, I often write with Fred Pifer in mind. Fred is a 53-year old farmer who belongs to a church that doesn't believe in television. While the rest of the world vegetates in front of the tube every night, Fred studies farm magazines. He runs used equipment, does much of his own repair work, and wants stories that an average farmer, with average mechanical skills, can use to make above-average profits from his operation. His idea of a great story is how to rebuild a centrifugal spray pump. I write those stories as if I'm explaining the process to Fred over the phone, when I can't use hand gestures, sketches or tools to demonstrate the repair process.

If the story is an explanation of some new-fangled technology, I may think about Bob Fox as I write. Bob is a 58-year-old retired John Deere engineer who now farms several thousand acres with his brother. Any story he reads had better have technical and mechanical details that aren't cut-and-pasted from press releases. Bob wants foot-pounds, gallons-per-acre and specific technical information that adds to his already sizable mechanical experience. I write those stories in hope that Bob won't go, "Hmmphh! I already knew that!" when he reads them.

If I don't have something in a story that will make Fred nod in appreciation, or cause Bob to say, "I didn't know that," then I haven't done enough research.

- I often use "bing!" moments to build my opening paragraphs. During research I often read information or hear someone say something that triggers a "bing!" in my head because it's new information, a great quote, or a new approach to an old problem.

For example, when I was researching a story on planter maintenance, Ken Ferrie, consulting agronomist for Farm Journal, mentioned to me that while a Thompson machine gun fires 18 bullets per second, a corn planter seeding 30,000 kernals per acre at 6.5 mph must accurately place 22 seeds per second. Bing! Such a vivid example of the speed with which planters must operate was an excellent opening to convince readers to read more of the story.

- Ultimately, once I've determined my audience and roughed out an opening paragraph, I lay out all my typed notes on my desk (and often all over the floor around my desk and behind my chair) and just start writing. One of the best tips I picked up from Writer's Digest was to write the first draft without worrying about punctuation, spelling or grammatical details. If I can't remember a name or date or come up with a specific word, I type "???" to remind me that I need to add the information later, and keep writing. At that point, grammar, spelling and technical accuracy are secondary to allowing the initial draft to flow and develop uninterrupted.

Once the rough draft is finished I try to walk away from the story for at least two days before I look at it again. If I want sources to approve their quotes, I e-mail or fax them the rough draft and ignore the story until I hear from them. Getting away from the story allows me to see awkward transitions and unanswered questions that I couldn't see when I was immersed in its creation.

Then I imagine my name is Charlene, Katie or Karen, and do a final edit. I mercilessly carve every excess word or phrase from it -- because if I don't, they will. Only when I can't find another word to cut or phrase to fine-tune do I punch the keys and send it to my bosses.

All the writers I've talked to, whether freelancers or full-timers, have different ways to work through the creative process. Each writer must determine what works best for him. I call mine the "accidental journalist" approach to writing.