Fall For The Book- Amy Waters Yarsinske

I attended the Fall for the Book event with historical writer Amy Waters Yarsinske. I was not previousely familiar with her work, much of which seems to be focused on the history of airplanes and aviation, but chose to attend this event in order to gain insight into the process of historical writing before I embark on my senior thesis next semester. Mrs. Yarsinske has written 53 or 56 (she seemed unsure herself) books and had a great deal of good, sometimes unexpected, advice about the writing process. She asserts that the process of writing historical narrative is less challenging than the process of planning a book and claims that she has the begining, middle, end and cover art of each book in mind before she begins writing. She also warned against sharing ideas with other writers, citing two instances in which her ideas were stolen by forces within publishing companies. Another claim of Mrs. Yarsinske is that a 3 paragraph long book proposal is more difficult to write than a book (this is surely hyperbole, but I will accept Mrs. Yarsinske's point regarding the importance of a good proposal.)

Points on which I would like further clarification on include Mrs. Yarsinske's advice to never work for the same publication for more than five years. She also warned against writing about subjects concerning information sensitive to the government as they may redact your work and the complex legal issues surrounding this issue remain opaque to me.

Mrs. Yarsinske advices nonfiction writers to write about subjects that are "unclear" in order to spark a debate and take a position. What are some historical issues that would be too clear to write about for a writer following Mrs. Yarsinske's advice?