Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Write What You Know


These are words to live by when freelancing. You shouldn’t only stick to what you know, though. You should also write what you’re passionate about. If you’re passionate about a subject you’ll do it justice in your articles.

I know this because I know domestic abuse. I lived it for over fifteen years. When I read Listen Magazine I knew I found a home for my passion…teaching teens how to recognize the signs of abuse. Educating teens was the best place to start. For five years I wrote various articles and quizzes on abuse for them.

I wrote on other subjects, like drugs. My ex, who was not only abusive, he was addicted to drugs. His drug of choice? Marijuana. I wrote articles on Huffing, Dusting, Bath Salts, Cocaine and Pain Pill addiction. It’s surprising to see the statistics on teen drug abuse.

I’m passionate about these subjects because I had teens at the time. I didn’t want them or others to fall victim to a life I’d lived or witnessed. I’m still writing on these subjects.

I now consider myself an expert on these subjects which helps when querying magazines. I have lots of clips.

Ten plus years ago I took a freelancing class. The instructor asked us to write down things we know.

As she stood in front of the class, the students looked at her dumbfounded.

Most grumbled, “I don’t know much.”

She laughed and asked a few questions to get us started.

Are you married?

Divorced?

Children?

Where have you worked?

Do you have hobbies?

Do you see where I’m going with this? When you start answering these questions you can find an array of article ideas.

Being a divorced mother of three at the time, I wrote articles on how to cope with divorce. I wrote articles about how to manage the holidays, which weren’t easy in the beginning for me. I wrote an article on certain items you should duplicate at your home and your ex’s.  I’m sure you get the idea.

In the end I had a lot of subjects I could write about. I haven’t stuck to writing only what I know, but if you’re starting out…this is a great way to do so.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment