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Deciding What to Write

Updated on March 31, 2011

When it comes to writing fresh, unique, and original content for the Internet you are looking at a huge task. After all, most ideas that you come up with are going to be topics that have been done before. You could write about dying your hair, but there are lots of articles out there that are on this topic. That doesn't means you shouldn't write the article. In fact if you decide that you are only going to write on the topics you know aren't out there, then you won't have any ideas.

The trick to making that content fresh and unique is to make it completely yours. Don't go looking for your writing topics on the Internet. Instead generate them in other places and do your best to write articles that are in depth and written to the best of your abilities. Your articles might be similar to others out there, but the way the topics or ideas are presented and the way you write those articles might just be what others need to have a firm grasp on the piece. It might also be that your article covers more then other articles or is more in depth or breadth then other articles online. It could also be more complete then a single article found on the Internet or could have good examples. There are a lot of different things that can set your written articles apart from the crowd.

Deciding What to Write On

When deciding what you should write on you should remember that you are a unique person. Your topics or ideas might not be completely unique, but think about the huge number of articles, blogs, and random facts that are found on the Internet. You may come up with an original idea, but chances are it won't be that original. This shouldn't be discouraging. Instead it should incourage you to take the good ideas that you have and make great articles out of them. Aim for high quality and good pieces which will surpass many things found on the Internet.

Tips for Generating Topics and Ideas

I should clarify what I mean by Topics and Ideas. A topic is broad and could have lots of different articles that go underneath it. You might write about a designer and talk about all the different things he or she designs. The designer would be the topic and the article titles would be the ideas. You can write a lot of different titles on the same topic, especially if it is a broad topic that you know a lot about. Here are some good ways to generate both topics and ideas.

  • Keep a note book. Write down topics or ideas as they come to you. Don't wait till later (unless you are driving), chances are you will forget. You can write down a topic with a single word or short phrase. Ideas can work the same ways as well or you can write down a complete title or possible title.

  • Spend some time going through your topics and ideas and expanding them. Write ideas for your topics and possibly topics for your ideas so that you can come up with titles that are about the same topics.
  • Read things that aren't online. Read books, magazines, and newspapers. Gather topics and ideas from these sources as well (make sure you write them down).

  • View your world with new eyes. There are so many article possibilities out there that you could write forever and not run out, as long as you are on the look out for them!

Finding Topics and Ideas In Your Daily Life

You will want to work hard offline to generate a wide range of topics and ideas. This way you are not using the information found online to choose what you should write. This eliminates the copying of other work as well as the rewriting of other people's articles. There are lots of ways you can generate ideas and what you choose to do is completely up to you. However, with one or two good topics and a few extra ideas you could find yourself with a whole lot of great articles or pages.

Write What You Know-Whether you read it in a book, learned it in school, or learned it on the job if you write what you know you will be able to use the knowledge that you already have. You life is full of topics and each of those topics can make several great article ideas. Take topics from your life and split them up into several ideas. You can get topics from:
  • What you do for a living. (plumber, flourist, doctor, cashier)

  • The roles that you play in life (wife, mother, sister)
  • Things you enjoy doing (watching movies, beading, fixing cars)
  • The foods that you like (chicken, ramen noodles)

Take these and then break them down into article titles that can be used where ever you write on the internet.

Here are a few examples. I worked at Starbucks for a year. As a Starbucks' barista you learn a lot about coffee and tea. I took those topics and broke them down into the following ideas:
  • How to Order at Starbucks When You Don't Like Coffee
  • How a Good Latte is Made
  • Latte or Cappuccino-What's The Difference?

  • Decaffeinated and Caffeine Free Tea Options.

These are a few ideas that I could take from the knowledge that I acquired while working for Starbucks. It works the same for other areas of your life as well.

Writing Articles About the World Around You
Writing Articles About the World Around You
Every new online writer has one major thing that they struggle with. After all, there are tons of topics and millions upon millions of pages on the Internet. What do I write? There are a lot of complex answers to that question, however in the beginning you should look to write what you know, write about what's around you, and write a lot. After you have gotten the hang of writing then you should learn how to do keyword research and write on topics you know you will make money with. This gives you a chance to get comfortable with writing and researching first and foremost.
 

Tips for Writing Great Articles

  • Write your best. It may seem like a dumb thing to say, but many of us throw things together hoping to make more money with more content. However, it works best if each piece is your best then you will have something people will want to read, link to, share, and this will grow your income faster.

  • Write your articles with details. Go deep into your work and make it into something worth reading. Be passionate about it. If you are passionate about what you are writing about that will show through.

  • Link your ideas according to your topics. If you write twenty articles on a topic then make sure you are linking them so interested people can delve into the topic even deeper if they wish.

Standing Out

The Internet is certainly a crowded sort of place. A popular key word could bring up thousands or even millions of pages not including those deemed to similar to be worth showing. This can make it feel like there is nothing left for you to write on. However, if you take ideas from your daily life, write what you know, and write your best you will find yourself writing good articles that can stand out in the crowd. These articles can be unique from others because you wrote them and shared what you know and your passion for the topic.

One last example. This article was written for a request. The topic/idea was already written for. I read the article and it was a good article. However, I choose to write on the same idea because I thought I had something to add. Hopefully you will find that my article is also a good one!

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