Knol: Why Should You Contribute Knols

Can You Become A Well Established Provider Of Information

Almost anyone can write a Knol, provided they understand the ABC of knowledge dissemination


Knol is a  place where everyone is allowed to contribute a "Knol", a unit of knowledge. But many people wonder as to why they should do so. Even those who have accumulated vast amounts of knowledge often wonder why they should give away that knowledge to others.

Not everyone develops all his hidden talents. Nor is it humanly possible to give attention to all of one’s abilities. Consequently everyone has to decide what he is going to develop and what he is going to leave. The ability to write does not come in what is to be ignored.

Nobody loses much, for example, if a person decides to ignore his acting or mimicry skills, but everyone in the society loses if a person ignores his gift of writing. This is an ability that helps not only the person who writes but also the thousands who read him. We could, therefore, suggest dozens of reasons why you should become a Knol writer, but we are confident that just the five reasons given below will be more than enough for the purpose.

The FIRST reason for becoming a Knol writer is to help, motivate, and guide others. Everyone has a conscious or unconscious desire to help others. However, in this busy world where everyone seems to suffer from a chronic shortage of time and resources, it seems difficult to help many others. Yet almost everyone can play a definite role in the lives of others through their pen. Your writings can help people in need, motivate the tired, uplift the depressed, and give direction to the lost. The ultimate aim is the welfare of others, and writing is a perfect tool for doing this.

SECOND, you should become a Knol writer because writing is a very special hobby. Everyone must pick up a hobby so that his free time is used properly, and also so that he has a method to refresh the mind. Writing is a unique hobby because it provides many extras, compared to other hobbies. It not only refreshes you and channels your time into a productive activity, but also helps people who are in need. There cannot be a better hobby that combines both self-fulfilment as well as helping others into one and the same activity.

THIRD, you should become a Knol writer because this provides a convenient means of earning some extra income. We are not implying that all writers become rich. They never do. What’s more, writers do not get a single penny for many of their writings. Yet once you get established, it will surely bring you some income. This will ensure that instead of draining away your money, this hobby will sustain itself and also supplement your income.

FOURTH, you should become a Knol writer to sharpen your way of thinking. While it is true that we all do a lot of thinking, we have to accept that most of it is not done in an efficient way. Productive thinking requires a lot of skill, but that does not come automatically. However the way a writer has to grapple with understanding and expressing issues is so exacting that this hobby soon sharpens his thought process, refines his capacity to evaluate, and increases his understanding of complex issues of human life.

FIFTH, you should become a Knol writer, and become one now, because these days a tremendous explosion is taking place in the electronic media. Millions of young and educated (and the not so young) look to the net as the primary provider of information. What is more, Knol is poised to become a major source of information on every subject. Thus you should leave your mark in this field before it is too late.

Think of the five points above ! No other hobby or occupation in the world can promise all these things together. If you become a writer, you will be able to help and motivate others, you will be able to earn a name, fame and money too. What’s more, you will be the proud owner of a unique hobby that enriches not only you but also others. All the while it enriches and sharpens your thinking, understanding, and expressions. The best time to develop this hobby is NOW because the exploding number of printed periodicals has created an unusual demand for writers with all kinds of specializations.

Who Can Become A Knol Writer ??

Many people harbor this erroneous idea that only special and uncommon people, who live in ivory towers and who speak only the exotic languages of angels, can become writers. They couldn’t be mistaken more. While it is true that a minority of writers live in seclusion, and a few do not speak in comprehensible language, they do not represent the majority. Most of the successful writers are just common people like me and you, but with one difference: they exploited the opportunities available to them, and became well known or well loved writers.

Only about five per cent of the successful writers were born that way. They did not need external training or motivation. However, the remaining 95% of the writers did not come equipped from their mother’s womb. They learnt the art, science, and economics of writing through the hard way. Therefore, you do not have to be born a writer to become a successful author.

Anyone who is literate, who has the desire to write, and who is willing to pay the cost, can become a successful Knol writer. Not all of them can become millionaires, but all of them can become successful and well respected writers. The cost is to be paid not in terms of money because that makes up only a minor fraction of what one spends. The major cost comes in the form of self-discipline. The person aspiring to become a successful writer has to discipline himself in three matters.

First of all, you should be willing to invest time to get training. You should  study this kind of articles where you acquire the linguistic tools that writers need. Second, you should be willing to spend time regularly to put your training into practice. Third, you should be willing to keep studying all your life. You have to continue studying both the craft of writing as well as the subjects on which you write. You will agree that this is only a reasonable cost for the mental and spiritual blessings, self fulfillment, and the name that your writings will bring you.

You might wonder if there is any special profession to which a Knol writer should belong. When it comes to specialized writings like textbooks and monographs, the writers must surely be connected to that discipline of study. However, there is a great diversity among people who write material for day to day reading.  The majority of writers fall into this category.

Among the successful Knol writers you will discover students, housewives, businessmen, office clerks and people from almost any profession that you might imagine. Self discipline and commitment is what goes to make a good writer, irrespective of his profession. Thus, whatever your profession, you can become a successful Knol writer if you have the commitment !

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Comments

Writing Knols is something I enjoy doing- but-

Writing Knols is something I enjoy doing- but- it's sort of one-sided until one gets some feedback and/or some AdSense payments. As you can see by looking at my profile, I've written some 36 of these- many on Residential Design which is what I do.

Nov 7, 2008 3:04 PM
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Why NOT to write a knol

I am very impressed with your work, Philip. First, I am in mystery regarding how to directly communicate with a knol writer. Must one make a comment and further clog the web with personal communications? Philip, please read my "wisdom for today" and "organizing knol information" knols. I would appreciate your comments at larrylangdon-at-gmail-dot-com

Why NOT write a knol is - there's already TOO MUCH INFORMATION but TOO LITTLE WISDOM. We need to distill what we have into the BEST info. You're doing this already, but encouraging everyone to "do their own thing" won't help achieve this end. I'm curious regarding your ideas of what will help us out of the chaos of too much info to the beauty of just-sufficient info.

Please help with this! Your lists are good starts, but how do we get the BEST information on lists and leave the WORST info out? Surely not just by voting with stars. Most of my knols haven't even been rated. We need some way to get the good stuff to raise to the top. This is the idea of web 3.0 - some way to get WISDOM involved in rating. Life isn't a popularity contest, there's a REALITY factor. We need knols that include reality - like making global warming more important than knitting (isn't it?)

Not to complain - but only to encourage you to FOCUS your considerable skills on SAVING A FEVERISH WORLD THAT NEEDS IMMEDIATE COOLING - and it's overpopulated - and species are dying each day. No time to waste writing random knols!!! This is an emergency. Today we witness U.S. economic meltdown and silly posturing by would-be leaders. This is more important than one more new knol!

Last edited Sep 26, 2008 9:40 AM
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I couldn't agree more with you

Mr. Johnson,

This knol gives me a strong reason to start knolling. I have published a blog post on your knol - http://www.knoltoday.com/news/2008/09/13/why-you-should-knol/

Thanks for your insights!

Last edited Sep 13, 2008 12:11 AM
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Version 4 of document approved

Dear Sir Johson,



I would like to mention that I approve all the ideas developed in this knol (version n°8), it is very well resumed, and by the way really enjoyable to read.



I'm amazed by the amount of persons that doesn't want to come here because they "don't want to kill wikipedia". I believe knol will need a few monthes to prove it doesn't intend to kill wikipedia (I actually don't see how it could do this since it just intends to host short specialized articles to be quoted).



For my part I intend to exploit knol to help me sharpen my thoughts during the next two years, by writing resumes of my personal work. I hope to see it bringing motivation and help to other students following the same path as well. Thank you for this knol !



Yours faithfully,



Sebastien








Last edited Aug 8, 2008 11:32 AM
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Shastri JC Philip
Shastri JC Philip
Retired Professor, Physics and Theology.
Cochin University PO, 682022, Kerala, India
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