Always Have More Than One Source

 

Today’s writing blog post is a discussion about a suggestion that I added to my work habits as a freelance writer many years ago. This particular piece of advice is one I found to be valuable. The advice? “Always have more than one source.”

 

Some explanation:

 

When I was working as a freelance writer several years ago, I came across one particular market that advised writers in their guidelines to use more than one source for their work. Not only this, but a verifiable source (such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instead of Wikipedia). When I was studying journalism in college, one thing which my professor stressed to us students is that we must have a legit source. Not only this, but make sure we have a source that we ourselves have checked out to be legit.

 

Then, while working as a freelance writer, I learned the value of having more than one source. Not only is having more than one source backing up a claim in your writing helps readers to accept the claim, but it also shows that you are putting in the effort to prove that your claim is sound.

 

Your source is important because you want to make sure you are getting the RIGHT kind of information for your work. This is especially important when it comes to doing research for your work. You want to make sure your source is the right one to use.

 

When I do research for an article or book I am writing, I read EVERYTHING I can about it. I am also careful about what exactly I do read for it. If the material is old (such as over ten years old), then I may still read it but keep an eye out for any recent data that would back it up. (If I don’t find it, I don’t use it.) Also, if the author does no provide any proof or evidence-based data to support what they are saying, then their work becomes questionable and I have to look for anything to support their claims myself before I will use their information. (If I don’t find anything supporting their claims, then I don’t use it. I also will not use it if another source has a better counter-argument.)

 

Reading everything about my topic has helped me to not only get a good idea of what is being written about it, but it also helps me to get an objective view of what I am reading. For example, I read one book for research which had some very interesting claims about a popular subject. I thought that since the author was using a verifiable source, it must be true. However, I later learned from another book that this particular book was full of mistakes and that the author’s source later denounced his claims, as well as announcing that they no longer had any ties with the author. That was also an eye-opener. And a good reminder to take everything I read with a grain of salt!

 

If people keep saying the same thing about the topic you are doing research for, that can be a good sign. It means that information is legit. On the other hand, if what everybody is saying is just repeating gossip or an urban legend, then consider digging deeper to get to the truth. (I have had to do this with a book I am currently editing.)

 

Have a good source for your work, yes, but be sure to have more than one good source. Make sure your source is legit. Investigate the claims to see if they are verified. You never know what one source of information would say, as well as if there’s another source out there who can set the record straight.