So What To Write About?

Good question. In fact, that’s such a good question that the vast majority of writers spend many years pondering it, paralyzed by doubt, fear, and occasionally by the good folk at the local Wheel Clamping service after spending too long in Starbucks downing caffeine shots in order to fuel their next bout of pondering.

And in all those years, they are Not Writing. No published book for them.

I understand the worry. After all, the world is a big place. There are an infinite array of things you could potentially write about, and an equally infinite number of ways you could write about them. What if you pick the wrong subject? What if you pick the right subject, spend years crafting your masterpiece, then the week before you are due to proudly send your finished novel to the publisher, some a**hole releases a terrible comedy version of your *brilliant idea* at the box office and makes a hundred million dollars from it.

All valid concerns. With one solution. To wipe away all this paralyzing worry, you just have to ask yourself one question:

WHAT MAKES ME UNIQUE?

No, I’m not talking about the fact that you have a club foot, the fact that you still wear a crash helmet when you drive your car on the freeway or that your mother thinks your handmade pottery ashtrays are darling. What I mean is, what can you give your readers that NOBODY ELSE CAN?

In order to answer this question, we need to put the spotlight on YOU for a few minutes. Grab a notebook and a pen, and answer the following questions for me as briefly as you can:

1) What is my personal background?
2) Why do I want to write a book?
3) What do I think I can achieve by writing a book?
4) How will my life be different if I get a book published?

I will talk about each of these things in greater depth in later articles, but for now, congratulations, you’ve passed the first test. Pat yourself on the back, and get ready for the next stage….