We often start out with a specific intent when we begin a new project. We're out to prove an argument and make a point. But what happens when, in the course of writing, we discover new truths that derail our message?

When author and memoir consultant Marion Roach Smith worked at The New York Times, she was told: Never go out with intent. Even when you know someone has committed a crime.

The idea was that setting out to capture a story with a verdict already in mind would skew your writing. A good journalist is open to not proving what she thinks to be true.

Authors are no exception.