One of the most challenging things about writing–whether you’re writing a book, magazine article, corporate brochure, press release or website–is deciding what the topic should be. I always feel like a chocoholic in a chocolate shop when I start thinking about topics. Where do I begin? My eyes get big and I start sweating.
It’s easier if you are writing for someone else, because they have already decided they need your help with writing and have a specific purpose in mind. Their need provides definition for the topic. If you are a business writer helping them with their written materials, you still have to figure out how to handle that topic, including what you might add to it to make it more dynamic. You have to make some choices. But the ultimate goal is your client’s goal. I love that about my work for clients. Helping them be successful is like trading my work for a big old chocolate orangeball.
If you are writing “for yourself”, choosing a topic can at the same time be more difficult and easier than when someone else defines it for you. It’s more difficult because you have so many options, and they can be overwhelming. You can lose focus if you don’t think about what’s meaningful to you in the long run. I thought about that today as I drove into the Canadian Rockies. I got out my binoculars and almost couldn’t put them down. Every little bit of land I saw through the lenses captured my imagination; what would it be like to be standing THERE? Repeat fifty million times. However, I had better things to do than stand there methodically looking at every little piece of land I could see from the spot where I was standing. If I didn’t focus on one or two things I decided were the most interesting to me, I would lose the opportunity to have a meaningful experience.
Think of writing in that way, as well. You have a billion things you could write about. From where you are standing, you probably have hundreds of things to which you would be especially suited to write. But you have better things to do than stand there looking at and wondering about them. You have only so much time and energy. You have to make a choice. The way you make your choice comes down to this: Just doing it. I know it sounds trite and a bit like ripping off a particular shoe company to make the point, but it’s true. One of my old bosses called it “pulling the trigger.” You can go hunting, but you can’t get your dinner unless you pull the trigger.
Often, pulling the trigger for writing means simply writing about the first thing that comes to mind. Especially these days, when just about everyone is writing something every day on the web. We all are getting used to latching onto a cohesive thought in an instant, then organizing our thoughts, and just posting them. It’s okay to choose whatever you choose, as long as you choose it. If you decide on fudge today, you can always come back to the chocolate shop tomorrow to get the raspberry truffle.
