How to choose your next great idea!
If you’ve ever sat in front of a blank page, burning with a desire to write something, if only you could decide what, you are in good company. I’d guess most writers have felt this way at some point. I know I have.
Great writing starts with great ideas, and you may have a ton of them. Or you may not feel like you have any great ideas, just a vague feeling that you want to write, that there are words drifting loose inside you, waiting to be written. How do you articulate those words into an idea great enough for an entire article, or even an entire book?
I want to help you choose your next great idea.
LIST YOUR IDEAS
I always have more ideas than time. I've learned that I can't work on all of them at once, even though I often wish I could. I think all of my ideas are brilliant and worth preserving, even if I don't act on them right away. If you feel similarly about your ideas, you can start by determining a spot where they will live.
Grab a notebook or open an app where you can make notes. I prefer paper for this, but it's important to keep it in a place that you will remember, and not lose it. Do a brain dump of all the ideas you have floating around in your head. If you need inspiration, consider these
questions:
What do you know?
What do you want to know?
What problems can you solve?
What stories do you want to tell?
How can your story inspire transformation for someone else?
You may write down some ideas and think, "I'm never going to do anything with this!" Hey, you never know. If you write them all down, they'll be ready for you whenever you need them. The best ones will become what you choose to write.
CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCE
Imagine you're giving a talk at a large convention, or reading your novel at a book signing. Now picture all the people who showed up to hear what you have to say. Those people are your audience. They want to hear your story, not because you thought it was great,
but because they did. It's something they want to hear. It's important to consider these people when you write, or it's possible that no one will ever read your words.
Here are some questions to consider:
Who are you talking to?
What are they interested in?
What stories do they like? What style of storytelling do they prefer?
How can you solve their problem or ease their pain?
When you write for an audience, you write with purpose and direction. You are writing for someone else, and not just for yourself.
FOLLOW YOUR PASSION
You've thought about your audience, and now it's time to think about you. Ask yourself some questions.
If you could only write about ONE THING or tell ONE STORY for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Why are you so passionate about that story or subject?
Why is it important to you?
Why do you believe you should share it?
Why do you believe YOU should share it?
It takes a lot of commitment, time, and work to write a book or a blog. If you're going to sell anyone else on this idea, you need to sell yourself on it first. Why does it matter to you?
Follow Your Passion
ASK FOR FEEDBACK
Now that you've narrowed down your idea, test it out with your audience. Start with something like “I’m thinking of writing a book about...” or “I have this idea for a story...” followed by, “What do you think?” And then LISTEN. Make notes. You might think you know
what your audience wants, but the best way to know for sure is to ask.
You’ll have a better chance of getting people to read what you’ve written if you already know what they’re looking for, or what they’re interested in. What do your readers want? Write that.
PICK SOMETHING AND WRITE IT
The next step is to test out your idea by writing it. Block out some time, flesh out your idea, make a plan or outline, and then commit to starting. Give yourself enough time to really work on it for a week or two, or maybe a month, and see how it works. If it doesn’t, no sweat. No writing is ever wasted. Sometimes it’s simply practice for your next great idea.