(Honor, Enforced Project Overview here)
Why My First Book Project Failed
Problem Set 1: Deciding on a single narrative/too much information/getting oriented in an unfamiliar world
In the end, I:
-Rejected my first story structure of telling three overlapping stories at once, each with a different outcome
-Struggled with interpreters, biased interpreters and financial resources
-Needed to tame my own ambitions about getting a project of this size done in my spare time
Problem Set 2: An uncooperative killer, lawyers in jail, access to court records, hot-button topic: Islam in Germany
In the end:
-I landed an interview with the killer in jail, with my recorder
-The killer changed his mind on cooperating with me after giving the interview
-I dealt with lies, lies, lies and psychology
Problem Set 3: Accuracy, failures of memory, biased sources, German privacy laws
In the end:
-Other books put Islam on trial and heated up the clash of cultures
-I struggled with how to write a book that tells this story with all its intricacies without criminalizing a family/sub culture
-I brought in an excellent co-author, but we still did not make it