A friend and I were talking the other day about writing. He liked to write, but even so his biggest problem was finding things to write about. My friend was astounded at the volume of writing that I do - at least one article and something as many as six, per day. Where do I get all of the ideas from?
I, in turn, was astonished myself. Why on earth would anyone have any trouble finding things to write about? In fact, my main problem has been I have so much to write about that I often find myself locked in a silent battle over which subject should be put on paper first.
People find it even more amazing when I tell them I try very hard to only write about positive events and provide helpful articles. Only rarely will you find any of my writings containing criticism, complaints or, worst of all, whining. Occasionally I will write an article which recommends against purchasing a product, seeing a movie, reading a book or visiting a web site, but these are the exception.
The world is a huge, amazing, wondrous place. Things are going on around us all of the time. There is so much good to see and do all over the planet, so very many wonderful things going on all over the place, that it's easy to find something to communicate about if only you open your eyes and look.
One of my passions is the internet. I've written over 1,000 articles about all aspects of this massive communication medium. Much of this is taken from my 23 years of experience in the computer field, and the rest is from research, reading and, most of all, questions from other people.
Although much of my writing is about the internet, I also find time to communicate about many other subjects as well. These include relationships (marriage and romance), raising children, building a career, handling office politics, current events, hobbies and history. I have yet to find a subject which I don't have something useful to contribute to other people.
How do I find so much to write about? Let me tell you some of the ways: Many of my article ideas some from real life - For example, I have a long and happy marriage, so I like to write articles which help people with their relationships. I've also worked hard most of my life, as have most people, building a career, which is another area where I enjoy passing along tips to help others.
Question and answer sites - Sites like askme.com and askjeeves.com are perfect places to visit once in a while looking for ideas for articles. I visit and just scan the questions (and there are thousands of them), looking for anything which looks interesting. When I find something, I write an article.
Newsgroups - There are over 70,000 newsgroups. Most of these are worthless, but several thousand of them contain useful information and varied conversations. Lurk in any active newsgroup for a while and you should find something worthwhile to write about.
Yahoo and DMOZ - Visit any big directory site and you will find thousands of subjects to explore.
Egroups and Topica - There are thousands of email discussion lists available at these two sites. Sign up for a few and get articles ideas from them.
There are many other places to look for article ideas all over the internet. I tend to avoid looking at things like ezines, ebooks and web sites for article ideas. Why? Because when I look for article ideas I am not looking for answers.
What I tend to look for is questions. What kind of questions are people asking? Is there a question which begs some further analysis and a little more explanation than a simple sentence? It does not matter if someone else has already answered, as my primary purpose is not to provide raw information. My primary purpose is to help people understand. You can find out raw information from any number of books or encyclopedias, but finding out how to clean up the clutter in your bedroom, well, that takes something different. That requires the experience and knowledge passed from someone who has had to go through the experience of cleaning many times, so many times that it has become easy.
Interestingly, I've found that television is not as worthwhile as one would expect for article ideas. Excluding a few reviews, I've found television to be a vast wasteland, void of anything but the most trivial or violent concepts in our society. The exceptions are, of course, channels such as Nova, History channel and Discovery.
So the next time you are trying to figure out something to write about for your own ezine, web site or ebook, just check out a newsgroup, elist or directory on a subject which you find interesting. Sooner or later, you will get an idea and you can start writing.
Monday 19 May 2008
Massive Exposure for New Authors
Most writers nowadays are aware of the current buzz on the internet: writing articles is one of the best ways to build name recognition and web presence. Here are some words of encouragement for those just starting out with this approach to promotion.
By now most of you are probably aware of the current buzz across the internet: writing articles about your area of expertise is one of the best ways to build name recognition and web presence. If you can communicate your ideas and information well in a short piece, and include a by-line at the end that provides a link to your own website, then you can generate more traffic this way than by other typical approaches like submitting to search engines or link-sharing.
Much has been written about it, so I’ll assume that you’re already privy to the potential benefits of article publishing. I want to address THIS particular article to writers with published works; especially those who have self-published, and are now faced with the daunting (and much different) task of self-promotion.
If you mainly write fiction, maybe you balk at the idea of devoting your time to writing more informative pieces. Believe me, I understand this resistance. I am a fantasy author, and for a long time I believed that my muse lived at a far extreme from day-to-day concerns. But at the same time, I often used to (jokingly, I thought) remark to various people: “Get me on the topic of creativity and writing and I could just ramble on for days.”
Then one day the inspiration hit me: maybe I should write all that “rambling” down for a change and then post it somewhere where other people could benefit from it.
I found that it was not only relatively easy to do this, but actually enjoyable; and it allows for a little relief from the right-brain strain of constantly cranking out creative fiction ideas.
If you’re hesitant about diving into article writing because you don’t feel like you’re quite an expert on anything, let me address that issue too. To write articles, you don’t need exhaustive knowledge about any topic; you only need to know a little more than the many others out there who might benefit from what you’ve experienced.
If you’ve completed a novel, then you can write for all aspiring novelists who haven’t yet summoned the courage to commit anything to the page. If you’re published, then you can write for others who HAVE completed a book but are still wallowing in obscurity. Share what you learned along the bitter road that is littered with rejection letters, lonely hours at the writing desk, despair, and oftentimes the misunderstandings of even our closest loved ones.
The point is, wherever you are along the path of your writing ambition, there are others behind you who could benefit from your experience. They will be grateful for your articles and the information and encouragement you gave them. Some will respond by clicking through to your website and learning about your other writings. Some will hopefully purchase your book.
How many can you hope to reach? Well, I just recently began this article writing endeavor myself. Now when I search by my name on Google or Yahoo I find my pieces turning up on over a dozen e-zines and blogs. Some of these sites have heavy traffic. As I write more, and submit more, the numbers increase exponentially. In mathematical terms, articles are the great multiplier.
By now most of you are probably aware of the current buzz across the internet: writing articles about your area of expertise is one of the best ways to build name recognition and web presence. If you can communicate your ideas and information well in a short piece, and include a by-line at the end that provides a link to your own website, then you can generate more traffic this way than by other typical approaches like submitting to search engines or link-sharing.
Much has been written about it, so I’ll assume that you’re already privy to the potential benefits of article publishing. I want to address THIS particular article to writers with published works; especially those who have self-published, and are now faced with the daunting (and much different) task of self-promotion.
If you mainly write fiction, maybe you balk at the idea of devoting your time to writing more informative pieces. Believe me, I understand this resistance. I am a fantasy author, and for a long time I believed that my muse lived at a far extreme from day-to-day concerns. But at the same time, I often used to (jokingly, I thought) remark to various people: “Get me on the topic of creativity and writing and I could just ramble on for days.”
Then one day the inspiration hit me: maybe I should write all that “rambling” down for a change and then post it somewhere where other people could benefit from it.
I found that it was not only relatively easy to do this, but actually enjoyable; and it allows for a little relief from the right-brain strain of constantly cranking out creative fiction ideas.
If you’re hesitant about diving into article writing because you don’t feel like you’re quite an expert on anything, let me address that issue too. To write articles, you don’t need exhaustive knowledge about any topic; you only need to know a little more than the many others out there who might benefit from what you’ve experienced.
If you’ve completed a novel, then you can write for all aspiring novelists who haven’t yet summoned the courage to commit anything to the page. If you’re published, then you can write for others who HAVE completed a book but are still wallowing in obscurity. Share what you learned along the bitter road that is littered with rejection letters, lonely hours at the writing desk, despair, and oftentimes the misunderstandings of even our closest loved ones.
The point is, wherever you are along the path of your writing ambition, there are others behind you who could benefit from your experience. They will be grateful for your articles and the information and encouragement you gave them. Some will respond by clicking through to your website and learning about your other writings. Some will hopefully purchase your book.
How many can you hope to reach? Well, I just recently began this article writing endeavor myself. Now when I search by my name on Google or Yahoo I find my pieces turning up on over a dozen e-zines and blogs. Some of these sites have heavy traffic. As I write more, and submit more, the numbers increase exponentially. In mathematical terms, articles are the great multiplier.
5 Dynamite Ways to Generate Ideas for Parenting Articles
The key to selling reprints to parenting publications is the creation of dynamite ideas followed through with professional writing. Here, I’m focusing only on finding those lucrative topics.
Most topics in regional parenting publications are straightforward: finance, parenting tips, health, sports, and education. The trick is to twist them in an unusual way.
If you’re a parent, what do you wish you knew about a topic? Write down questions that you have as you go through the day. When I was driving the other day, I complained to myself about bad teenage drivers. Then I wondered, “What can parents do to encourage good driving?” If you already know the answer to the question, it won’t make a good article unless you’re an expert on the subject.
Take a generic topic and make it seasonal. Choose a season about four months away, because the lead-time for parenting publications is 2 to 6 months. Four months from now is April. What happens in April (or would be published in April) that I can combine with a topic like health? In April, parenting publications start printing their summer guides to camps. What can parents do to make sure their children stay healthy at camp? What are the traits of a safe camp? Change to camping plus another topic like education or finance to create unique articles.
Who do you know who has an unusual or remarkable story – something that affected children? What did the parents learn? Write an article using the anecdote as an introduction to the information you want to give. A great anecdote can sell a story.
Visit online parenting forums and read the questions people ask. Use some of these as a basis for your article ideas.
When you research a piece and talk to experts, look for what you don’t know. “Joe says insurance is important for families,” won’t make an article interesting. Too many people know that insurance is important. But a quote like, “Joe says disability insurance is the most neglected area of insurance, but it protects young families from the biggest threat to their security,” will make parents keep reading.
If you give editors timely articles that readers will want to read, you’ll sell your work over and over again.
Most topics in regional parenting publications are straightforward: finance, parenting tips, health, sports, and education. The trick is to twist them in an unusual way.
If you’re a parent, what do you wish you knew about a topic? Write down questions that you have as you go through the day. When I was driving the other day, I complained to myself about bad teenage drivers. Then I wondered, “What can parents do to encourage good driving?” If you already know the answer to the question, it won’t make a good article unless you’re an expert on the subject.
Take a generic topic and make it seasonal. Choose a season about four months away, because the lead-time for parenting publications is 2 to 6 months. Four months from now is April. What happens in April (or would be published in April) that I can combine with a topic like health? In April, parenting publications start printing their summer guides to camps. What can parents do to make sure their children stay healthy at camp? What are the traits of a safe camp? Change to camping plus another topic like education or finance to create unique articles.
Who do you know who has an unusual or remarkable story – something that affected children? What did the parents learn? Write an article using the anecdote as an introduction to the information you want to give. A great anecdote can sell a story.
Visit online parenting forums and read the questions people ask. Use some of these as a basis for your article ideas.
When you research a piece and talk to experts, look for what you don’t know. “Joe says insurance is important for families,” won’t make an article interesting. Too many people know that insurance is important. But a quote like, “Joe says disability insurance is the most neglected area of insurance, but it protects young families from the biggest threat to their security,” will make parents keep reading.
If you give editors timely articles that readers will want to read, you’ll sell your work over and over again.
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