How to Increase Your Writing Output and Your Chances of Selling Your Work
You’ve probably heard the advice to write what you know or write what you’re passionate about. I don’t like either of these statements because of the amount of pressure that comes with them.
Passion means having strong, almost obsessive, feelings about something. If you have a topic that you’re passionate about, then great, go with it.
But what if you’re someone who just doesn’t get that excited? Where does that leave you? And what if you’re someone who doesn’t have years of experience in a niche that you can now exploit with your expert advice?
Fear not, dear writers. Because you don’t have to be passionate or an expert to write and sell. You just have to be interested.
If you’re a living, breathing human being then you’re interested in stuff. You like certain things. The trick is to tap those interests and turn them into work that others will buy.
Here’s an example: I wake up in the morning and put on a pot of coffee. I like coffee, so there’s something that I’m interested in. Now, I sit down and make a list of 5 coffee related topics. I choose: How to brew a good cup of coffee; The benefits of grinding your own beans; The difference in how coffee beans are roasted; The history of coffee; and Adding flavors to your coffee for holiday occasions.
The next step is to actually write the articles. Once you’ve done that, you can now look for opportunities to sell your work. You can find a web site that specializes in your topic and offer them a package deal, or hit up the Writer’s Market and pitch to print magazines. What makes this a good deal is that the articles are already written. Publishers are more apt to buy work that’s complete as opposed to farming out an assignment - especially if you’re new to the writing world.
If you do this on a weekly basis (1 article every day) you’ll keep your writing chops sharp, and develop a wealth of content that can eventually be sold.
All it takes is for you to sit back, examine your daily routines and apply a little creative thinking to come up with a virtually unlimited amount of topics that can be turned into paying work.
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Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 7:14 pm under
Amen, amen, amen! I have said a gazillion times that writing what you know is lousy advice. How limiting! Write about things that interest you first, then train yourself to get curious about new topics. I’m not necessarily a fan of workers’ compensation law, but I’ve made a keen living writing about it. I try to find something that applies to someone I know or something that makes me say, “Wow. Didn’t know that.” Or I write because that check is ultra-appealing…
June 10th, 2008 at 6:27 amI think one thing that has made me successful as a writer is that I can muster up interest in just about anything. Perhaps I’m just easily entertained.
However, if you do have a “passion” (not crazy about that word, it’s become a cliche) or something you know a lot about, it really can bump up your hourly rate. I write articles for a client that I can practically write in my sleep because I know the subject so well. And even though I work on flat fee and not hourly rates, these assignments effectively double what I normally make per hour.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:46 am@Lori - Right on!
@Eileen - True, if there’s a topic that you could be considered an expert on then it’s definitely better to go with that providing there’s enough of a market for it. However, my concern is that there are so many writing teachers who tell people to find their passions and turn that into a niche to write on. Many of us aren’t overly excited about anything, and might get turned off the writing life. That’s why I’m a big advocate of looking around at the things you tend to do everyday and see what interests you gravitate towards, and focus on those.
June 13th, 2008 at 6:48 am