Deciding What to Write About

photo credit: Elrenia_Greenleaf

You want to write, but how do you decide what to write? Perhaps you have sat down and tried to convince yourself that you were going to write non-stop for the next ten minutes. Ten minutes went buy, and you didn’t write much, or maybe you didn’t write anything at all. Has this ever happened to you? It has to me, and I know you feel horrible.

So where do we start? Should we examine why we can’t write? Boy, there is a lot out there about writer’s block, and different ways to over come it. As a matter of fact, you will find a long article about writer’s block on this site (50 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block). However, no, that is not what we are going to discuss today. As a matter of fact, let’s look at it from the other perspective. Let’s take the high road. Why DO we write? What makes it so we CAN write? Let’s think positive here.

You Have a Passion for Writing

You like to write. Okay, perhaps you LOVE to write. That is probably why not writing is frustrating you. Writing is hard. I’m sure you have figured that out by now. Anyone can just vomit words on a page, but to write something worth writing, now that, that is something special. When you have a passion for writing you can feel it coursing through your veins. When you don’t write, it bothers you.

Here is the kicker though, and perhaps what is clogging you up. You not only need to have a passion for writing – you need to have a passion for what you are writing about.

Now, we all love to write good prose. You know, the type of writing that flows properly, and conveys what you are feeling so clearly, that you know the reader can’t help but feel it. But what if you are writing about grass growing? Have you ever heard someone say, “Who wants to read that?” Of course you have. But, have you ever thought of that a little differently? Try this one, “Who wants to WRITE that?”

Yes, ladies and gentleman, that is my point. You may have a passion for writing, but that isn’t enough. You have to have a passion for writing, AND what you are writing about. Otherwise, you just wont make it. So, this brings us to an interesting question. Are you trying to write about something that you have no passion for; that you don’t care about? If so, stop writing. It wont happen; at least, not with that approach. Find the part of the story that you ARE passionate about. Write that part. It might be the ending you want to write. It might be the middle you want to write. It might even just be a particular scene. Fine! Write it. Start with what you are passionate about, and branch out from there. If you get clogged up, you may have gotten away from your passion. Afterall, if you aren’t driven to write, then why would you? Oh yeah, you figured that out by now, didn’t you?

You Have a Story to Tell

Every now and then you come up with an idea for a story, and it just sings to you. This may happen to you all the time, or, what is more likely, this is a rarity. Either way, you have a story to tell, and you just want to get it out. What is that story? Figure it out in detail. Have you gotten away from that core story that you feel passionate about? If so, go back to it. You have a story to tell damn it, so tell it. If you are getting hung up on plot devices, setting, or description – ot it go. Just tell your story, at least, in the first draft.
photo credit: Elrenia_Greenleaf

You Have Something to Say

Maybe you are opinionated. There is nothing wrong with that. We now have a world full of bloggers writing opinions. Find what you have to say. Perhaps that is where you started. One day you decided you were going to write, because what you believed just wasn’t getting represented, or at least, not properly. That’s great! So say what you have to say. Say it however you want to say it. If you chose to write it, then get writing. Did you get away from the core theme you wanted to address? If so, go back to it. Find what you really wanted to say, and write it.

In short, sometimes I think we get too caught up in thinking something is wrong with us, and we need to fix our writer’s block. In reality, we just need to get back to what got us excited. Whether it was just a passion you had, a story you had to tell, or just something you had to say to the world – do it. Go back to it. Its likely you strayed off the path that got you started. Return to your writing roots, and write.