In Blogging, Write What You Want To Know
If you’re thinking about starting a new blog, or looking for new content for your existing blog, step outside your own expertise and engage your curiosity.
You’ll often hear advice to the tune of “write what you know” when you’re first starting out in any sort of writing endeavor; blogging is no different. You’ll be urged to select a niche within your field of expertise; and to stay within that field at all times. This, they say, gives you an air of authority. It gives your writing a trustworthiness that it would other lack, they imply.
They are wrong.
Not entirely wrong, mind you. It is true that if your passion happens to align nicely with your past experience, that’s a match made in heaven for a respectable niche blog. But it’s not true that writing outside the realm of that experience is always a bad idea. In fact, I advocate just the opposite.
If you’re having trouble getting a blog going - if traffic is low, or the Digg count simply isn’t happening - try a new tactic: write what you want to know. Think of what fascinates you - what motivates you to stay on the web at all hours researching the answer to the underlying question. What’s that question? Whatever it is, answer it in your blog posts; it’s a good bet if it interests you, it will interest others. But also, when we step outside our comfort zones as writers, a funny thing often transpires - we get better. Our writing acquires an edge, a “zip” that it didn’t have before - and that can be vastly appealing to readers.
So take a moment today to think about the subjects you’d like to learn more about - the questions you have, the issues that provoke your inner detective - and consider whether there’s a blog or potential post material in the answers.
starting a new blog, finding blog content
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