Dear John,
I am wondering how you bridge the gap between the general public that seems much less specific and knowledgable about areas of hunting and shooting. Your article on the 338 Winchester Magnum was excellent and I couldn't help but notice that another writer in the same issue just straight up failed to convey any useful information about the 243.
Yesterday, I had a high school student and his girlfriend who lives 1/4 mile down the road show up at about 9AM knocking on our door. He had gotten his 88' rear wheel drive Chevy Impala stuck in the ditch and without anybody home they went house to house until they got to ours. He was in a puffy coat but had sneakers and shorts. It was about -10F and he was not in great shape. I went ahead, loaned him a pair of coveralls and helped helped them out but I remember when the standard answer was that if you get stuck that you have the technology and knowledge base to get yourself out of the ditch.
It got me thinking which is probably a dangerous thing. I was looking at that same Rifle magazine that includes the articles on 338 and 243 but also included Rifle issue no.1 as a bonus. I was reading the letters and they were deep questions and were answered with very clear and specific answers. I think the scariest thing that happens with the present is that too many people accept what they read on the forums as gospel and few read or learn the necessary material to really develop an understanding. It is topical channel surfing.
There is a huge emphasis these days on shooting rather than hunting and also an emphasis on fair weather guns that give up on functionality to come in at a low cost point and hit targets at a long distance. Better bullets and better more consistent factory ammo has made it very easy to have a topical knowledge on things. Your rifle doesn't group then send it down the road.
So I have noticed that you are one of the few writers that grasps Feynman's method of knowledge and learning that you simplify your basic message down so that an 8 year old can understand it and yet have elements that get to the real limit of knowledge and study in the area. There are a lot of writers out there but I don't think that there are very many who can do that. Basically what I am asking is your steps to the writing process. I think it would be beneficial to many of the people on here to know how you do that so maybe they can get a few pointers and learn to write better. Not grammarly or use of spellcheckers but actually developing content that is useful to the beginner and to the looney.
Have a great new year in 2019.
Thomas
