But as I listened to the conversation, I began to see the strategy John had used when he decided who to invite. We swapped stories about the stupid things men sometimes say when they encounter a woman hunting. As we talked, I had sudden insight into a problem that's plagued me. At the same time, I've watched writers who started after I did pass me by and move into higher-paying markets that I've been unable to tap. Listening to the conversation swirling around me, I suddenly understood the problem.
Most outdoor writers come to freelancing already knowing how to hunt and fish.
What they have to learn is the writing game. When I began writing about hunting and fishing, I was also just starting to experience the outdoors. I wrote my first fishing story about the same time I started fishing. I wrote my first hunting story about my first successful deer hunt. But while I was struggling to figure out the difference between a bass and a crappie, other writers were taking years of outdoor experience and writing about what they already knew.