About this quote

Words feel honest only when they come from experience, not from armchair thinking. If you spend all your time planning and none living, what you write will sound thin to anyone who has actually been there. Try one concrete thing: talk to the people involved, do the small awkward task, or go where the subject lives. That will give you the raw detail and confidence your page needs.

When to use it

• Newsroom edit: When a junior reporter hands in a feature based only on press releases, I say, "Go spend a day with the people you're writing about, then rewrite it."
• Thesis supervision: At a thesis meeting I told a student, "Don’t file that chapter yet—collect three real interviews first and bring the notes."
• Running coach blog: I told a colleague who writes about trail running without ever hitting a muddy route, "Run a rough mile outside before you post the how-to."
• Memoir advice: A friend planning a memoir asked how to start—my reply was, "Live in that town for a month, talk to the neighbors, then write the first scene."