Think how little you would have to write if you had to be an authority on every subject you might want to write about. That is why the process that culminates in a finished and polished work of nonfiction, whether a short article or a 400-page book, begins as a learning experience and ends with the writer knowing more than when he began — even if he was an authority at the start. This is what makes writing nonfiction an exciting and rewarding adventure.

There are a number of methods you can utilize to obtain the knowledge you must possess in order to write and complete your project. While each of these procedures will be discussed separately in the following, you will generally find that you'll use more than one for any given undertaking. For example, in an article about the Olympics you might draw on your own experiences having observed previous Olympic events; interview current and former athletes, coaches, or officials; visit and observe the venue where it is held; and research the history of the Olympics. So in just one article, you may well avail yourself of all the tools at a writer's disposal to become knowledgeable in a given subject.