The Writing Geek

“I want to write, but I don’t know what to write about.”

 Sound familiar? This is probably the most common complaint I hear from other writers. And you know what? It’s BULL. Ideas are everywhere. Here are just a few tips that will help you find them.

1. TURN ON THE “WRITER’S RADAR”

The best way to find writing ideas is to keep your eyes, ears and mind open. While our daily lives may not be very exciting, there are many ideas that present themselves throughout the day, if we are just prepared to receive them. This takes practice. In the beginning, you will need to focus on finding the ideas. When something happens, ask yourself, can I write about this? With time & practice, you will soon find the ideas popping out at you, before you even have the chance to ask that.

2. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE = GOLDMINE

We have all heard the saying, “write what you know”. This is probably the best piece of advice a writer can take. This tip works for non-fiction and fiction writers alike. For example, are you a carpenter? Incorporate this into one of your fictional characters. On the other hand, you could also write a non-fiction article covering an issue of importance to other carpenters. Stephen King has used this both ways, with the main character in “Misery” as well as in his book, “Stephen King on Writing”.

3. WRITE WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW

This one can really get your creative juices going. Of course, this method usually requires that you conduct some research to get enough information. During the research, you will find there are many different sub-topics and various angles for any subject. I have found that doing this even leaves me feeling a little more creatively satisfied when I am done writing. It helps exercise those writing muscles a little more, because it will take a little more effort on your part.

4. DIG UP YOUR PAST

Have you written good stuff in the past? Dig it out of storage, read it over a few times and see where it can be improved upon. Or, look for the other angles that can be covered that you didn’t write about in the first article. I used this method once to sell two different articles on the very same subject. The first article was based on an industry-wide profile. The second article took a more personal approach, profiling the people I had interviewed for the first article.

5. STEAL IT AND MAKE IT YOUR OWN

It is true that everything has been done at least once. Does that mean that you can’t do it again? Absolutely not! Of course, I am not suggesting plagiarism here…far from it. Instead, own the subject. Look for the angles the first author didn’t cover. Do you have a different opinion than the original author? People read opinionated material. Can you add a unique solution that hasn’t been offered? Get to it!

6. GET CONNECTED

Each person you know has something to offer you as a writer: a whole new world of ideas. Taking an interest in your co-workers, friends, relatives and even perfect strangers will present you with idea after idea. The article I sold two different versions of? The original article was the result of my own networking in my professional life. The bottom line? People generally love to talk about themselves. Take advantage of that.

7. GET ONLINE

A simple search of Google.com can also present many ideas for writers. Use it both in your research for other ideas, as well as to search out other writing prompts. Love it or hate it, Google really does know all, and is a resource every writer should have in his or her toolbox. Try searching for “writing prompts”. You’ll see.

8. KEEP THE MOMENTUM

Recently, after several weeks of writing like mad (20+ articles, each ranging from 400 - 1200 words), life intervened. As a result, I didn’t write for nearly a week. The interesting part is that, while I was writing on a very regular basis, I had no problem developing new ideas. Coming back to the keyboard, however, proved a little difficult. Nonetheless, here I am. Life happens for all of us. The longer you let it keep you from writing, the more difficult it will be to come back. Keep the momentum in your writing going and you’ll see the ideas are easier to come by.

These are just a few tips for finding ideas to write about. I could probably drone on and on, but I am going to stop here and let you take over. Do you have any methods of finding writing ideas that you would like to share? Take the time to blog about it or let me know about it, so I can share it here in a later post. Until then…

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