Having lots of different interests and ideas is an issue that many writers have to deal with. In fact one of the first stages of the Writer’s Journey is all about reaching a point of clarity regarding what you really want to write about.
Even if you have just one main area of interest, often there are many different facets of that topic which you could write about.
The truth is that publishers usually do prefer writers to specialise in one subject area. One of the main reasons for this is to do with establishing yourself as an expert in that area.
It may be that you are able to combine one or more related topics such as personal development ideas being applied in a business context. But becoming known and visible in the world as an expert in an identifiable niche is what really counts.
Why is it so important?
The answer is that marketing and promotional efforts are often built around establishing your credibility as an expert in your field.
When you are known as someone who specialises in a certain subject, the media may ask you for contributions for magazine features, panel discussions or radio programmes that relate to your area of expertise.
This doesn’t just apply to non-fiction as successful fiction writers also become known for the particular genre in which they write. Although the term ‘expert’ may not be used so freely with regard to fiction writing, the principle of becoming known for a particular genre still applies.
If you are drawn to many different interests, the first question to ask yourself is, ‘what do I feel most passionate about?’
Try the following 7 step process to help you find out:
Give yourself at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted time for stage 1 of this exercise and another 30 minutes to complete it with a break in the middle:
Step # 1: relax your body totally and take a few deep breaths letting go of any distracting thoughts
Step # 2: take a large sheet of paper and brainstorm as many ideas as you can dream up of subject areas that you are interested in – or you can work with different facets of the same topic
Step # 3: walk away from the exercise for a minimum of 4 hours – this allows time for your unconscious mind to work further on your ideas
Step # 4: return to your sheet of subjects and add any new ideas, thoughts or feelings about what you have already written which your unconscious may have brought into consciousness for you during your break
Step # 5: review all of your ideas and highlight in colour repeating patterns which are different words or phrases that are essentially relating to the same things
Step # 6: draw up a short list of no more than 3 subject areas to which you feel most drawn from your brainstorming exercise
Step # 7: take each subject area in turn and write 1000 words on it.
Allow the ease with which your writing flows and the enthusiasm you feel for each topic whilst you are writing to lead you to a point of clarity regarding which subject you feel most passionate about.
Also pay attention to what feels most authentic to you and use that to help you make your decision.
Then all you have to do is dive in and write!
This process has worked well for many writers and of course there are many other approaches to the same issue.
So do share your comments and experiences below on this and any other techniques which you use for reaching clarity when choosing your writing topics.
Tags: authentic, clarity, creative process, credibility, expert, Writing
