My Challenge: 7 Hubs in 7 Days on 7 Different Topics

I just completed the challenge of writing 7 Hubs in 7 days on 7 different topics. When I issued this challenge my goal was to get myself to write quicker and to write outside my comfort zone.

Anyone can write on what they know but not everyone can write well on what they know. Even less can write well on what they don't know. Some Hubbers thought writing on 7 different subjects was a bad idea because my subdomain would be spread out and I would lose my ranking with the search engines. Others said it didn't matter. (Still don't know who is right.)

I am fine with my decision to write outside my niche and I feel as though I have found a couple new "niches' I would like to explore and write more about in the future.

Below are the 7 Hubs I wrote in 7 days on 7 different subjects. If you are having a hard time picking a topic search through the Hub Categories to see if something peeks your interest. TeachableMoments, another Hubber who took the challenge with me, did a review on a product by Clinique. This inspired me to do a product review of the protein drink I started using a few months ago. I never would have considered doing a product review had TeachableMoments and I not been doing the challenge together.

1. Juiciest BBQ Chicken EVER
2. Grilled Potatoes with Onions & Bacon
3. Thanksgiving Tree Centerpiece
4. Overcoming a Parents Attempt at Suicide
5. Energy First Pro Energy Protein Shake Review
6. Woolly Aphids: What's that Fluffy White Stuff on my Tree?
7. What to do BEFORE you write your first hub

• Ability to write outside my niche
• Re-energized me to write more on my "niche"
• Made me write quicker
• Every day was a blank slate with endless possibilities
• Discovered new interests that will lead to new niches
• Enabled me to meet and communicate with interesting Hubbers I may not otherwise have met.

• Writing outside of my niche
• Every day was a blank slate which could seem overwhelming

I learned:

1. To write outside my comfort zone.
2. It's harder to write outside your niche than to keep writing about what you already know.
3. It's boring if you only write in your niche.
4. I am more focused and write more efficiently at night.
5. How to use other features of HubPages I wouldn't normally use like the recipe capsule.
6. To consider the time of year/season. I wrote a great garden hub but who wants to read a garden hub at the end of the summer? So I thought "it's the fall, Thanksgiving is coming up" this led to the Hub on the Thanksgiving Tree Centerpiece. Now before I write a hub I will consider if the topic is relevant to this time of year or would it have a greater audience if published at a different time of year, different season or holiday.
7. To research a hub, write it and move on. For me, the fact that I moved on to a new topic helped me see each hub as completed. Which made me feel as though I accomplished something. It wasn't another hub in a string of same subject hubs.
8. You don't have to be sitting at your laptop to write. Sitting in a waiting room or standing in line at the bank can also be productive. I visited family over the holiday weekend and typed up a Hub on my Blackberry during the three hour ride there. I created an email to myself with the subject "Hub" and typed the Hub in the body of the email. When I was done I emailed it to myself so that I could open it on my laptop when we arrived.
9. You never know when or where inspiration will come from so be prepared. Keep a notebook handy, or learn how to use the "notepad" or "memo recorder" in your phone.
10. If you have children they are an endless source of Hub topics. Their natural curiosity and never ending questions can turn into a wonderful Hub for other parents. I often find myself answering my 8 year old's insightful questions with "I don't know, let's Google it!"

My first challenge was to write outside my comfort zone.

Recipes, suicide, a product review, a Thanksgiving craft and garden pests are quite the array of topics, way outside my comfort zone. Writing is personal and it can be extremely difficult to put yourself out there and be judged.

My second challenge was to write quicker.

It no longer takes a few days to write a hub. I don't feel the need to analyze it to death or keep second guessing myself before publishing it.

For me the positives definitely outweighed the negatives and I was able to meet my two main goals which made it worth it.

The next time writing within my niche becomes tedious I will challenge myself to another 7 in 7 on 7 or maybe shoot for a 10 in 10 on 10 to break out of the rut and inspire myself because I know great things will come from it.