My writing process is a mixture of general topic curiosity, subject matter knowledge, personal perspectives, and tons of research that all gets processed together into thoughts and sentences that eventually make sense and tell a story.
My current writing mission involves writing an article for a transportation think tank about transportation in the early 1900s and the sitting U.S. President.
To give structure these are the three overarching big picture questions functioning as my north star:
What did our transportation system look in the early 1900s?
Who was William Taft?
How did President Taft shape the transportation landscape?
Here are some of the questions that are steering my research curiosity:
What were the primary Pre-WWI transportation modes?
What was happening in transportation innovation or travel in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and DC between 1909 - 1913?
What was going on with the goods movement?
How was the automobile evolution coming along?
How did Taft travel?
How did Hearst travel?
Had the airplane been invented yet?
What materials were used to make streets?
What major bridges were being built during this time?
What did leisure travel look like across socio-economic classes?
Was this pre, during or post the Titanic sinking?
What were the major immigration trends at the time?
What was the major transportation technology of the time?
Was there any major transportation innovations or policy during Taft's presidency?
Which U.S. cities had subways, street cars, or metro systems?
How long did it take to travel from DC to New York?
Was it common or allowed for women to travel alone between cities?
How many railroad companies existed and where did they travel to?
What types of bicycles existed and who were the major bicycle makers?