How do we choose our blog topics?

This morning I found myself wondering why we find some topics so worth writing about, while others would never make the cut? Why, when I’m sitting around thinking about nothing in particular, will I mark one idea in my mind as something to go back to when I’m writing, and all other thoughts aren’t worth mentioning?

How do we choose what to write about next?

The only answer I could come up with was personal taste. Sometimes I simply say to myself, “That’s an interesting thought.” or “I’ve never looked at things that way!”

Internal thoughts like these actually do determine whether readers come back, because they find my choice of topics or thought processes more interesting than others. But why? I can only surmise that my readers and I share certain values or views on life. Perhaps they find me curious, or in some way similar to them.

I decided a long time ago, when I first started writing a blog, that if a topic was interesting enough to me to cause me to research and write about it, than there certainly must be other readers who would find it interesting.

I started out writing about my own midlife changes. By writing on this topic I met others who had also discovered what a perfect time midlife was to take a long look at your life thus far, and then perhaps change before it was too late. Do-overs before it’s all over!

With research I learned exactly how healthy midlife change can be. Who knew? Not me when I first started suffering through a divorce, job/career loss, etc. I thought this was just my own personal hell. Not so!

Somewhere over the rainbow…

Midlife crisis is the gift that keeps on giving! I went from my sad and lonely, unemployed position to finding love, a new career I love, and moving to a fantastic solar home in the southern Colorado foothills.

How’s that for some serious do-overs?

 

A few interesting ideas about writing and the writer

Have you seen the new film “The Lady in the Van” yet? It offers some interesting insights into the life of the writer as the author, Alan Bennett, tries to decide what he thinks of this crazy old lady who insists on living in his driveway.

At the beginning of the story, Alan observes: “The writer is double – there is the self who does the writing, and the self who does the living, and they talk, they argue. Writing is talking to oneself. I’ve been doing it all my life…”

Then at the end, Alan concludes:

“You don’t PUT yourself into what you write, you FIND yourself there.”

A little food for thought for writers!

Learning to take risks

This only took FOREVER for me to LEARN!

Why I write!

A magnificent quote from Elizabeth A. Havey (Beth)

“On any given day, writing is my escape, my amazing friend, my intellectual stimulation as I seek and often find the right word, the exact phrase–or dream about finding it. Either way I go to writing to find myself, always hoping to give back something of value to my readers. I think of writing as a special gift and yet I have often referred to it as THE JOYFUL BURDEN, because I cannot walk away from it–even if rejections and disappointments are part of the entire process. Writing is something I want to give anyone who will read it. Writing is a gift from where I live.”

Your goal as a writer!

This defines my life as a writer:

After we moved I didn’t have the Internet for a few days and I got very anxious to write again! I missed my blogs and I especially missed communicating with my audience…

Want to get into freelancing?

Check out this list of websites to find freelancing gigs!

Should you be a writer?

If you’d like some encouragement for being yourself and doing what you do best, go check out this 60 Minutes interview with Dave Grohl of the rock band the Foo Fighters… I received lots of what I needed to continue doing what I do best from Dave!

The first step is actually believing you can be a writer similar to those you admire, but different because you are a different person.

Do you believe in yourself and what you have to offer the world?

The second question you need to ask yourself: do you have the courage to be yourself as you write?  To paraphrase a line from Dave:

I don’t want to write like someone else — I want to write like me! 

Appreciating my own unique gift is always a challenge for me, so I especially appreciate Dave’s encouragement as I set off writing my first memoir!

Speaking of memoir writing…

Here’s a new article in the New York Times about boomers and their memoirs.

Great List of Paying Writing Gigs!

Here’s a long list of publications that still pay for your writing!

Is it time to write a memoir?

This recent lunar eclipse feels like it’s pushing me to write a memoir. The next obvious question is a memoir of what?  How many years should I tackle at once?

I don’t mind admitting the whole idea baffles me. Half of me feels certain my story is worth the effort to not only put it all down on paper, but also create a new e-book product, and then begin promoting it forever. The rest of me thinks I must be mad!

When I think of all the effort I have put into creating my previous books for a relatively small payback, I do have to wonder why I do what I do.

The only thing that keeps me going is the need to create and share myself with the world, and this marvelous quote from Robert Louis Stevenson:

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant…”