How To Find Your Writing Niche

Have a question? Agree, disagree, with me?
Leave me your opinion.

Niche is a rank, comfortable place, or
position that explores your talent. It
feels right, and you excel at it. You
perform it, very well. Also, you enjoy
it.

"How do I find my writing niche?" You
asked.

Most writers like to read. I did, do.
Try to create, write, the fiction or
non-fiction that you prefer to read.

Ask some questions. How would you write
it? What should be written better?
More suspense? You didn't like the plot?
It needed an attention grabbing title? It
could of used a different setting? You
thought a female should of played the
secondary role? A rabbit in the cast of
characters?

Answering questions will help pin-point
your writing niche. In the process, you'll
come up with other questions.

Try dabbling with how-to articles, greeting
cards, and essays. In search of your writing
niche, sample everything.

Study the area of writing you chose. You
picked greeting cards to write, for example,
then discover how they are written. Go to
your local store, or browse online, for
knowledge. Which cards tickle your urge to
write? Humorous greeting cards?

Purchase the cards that grabbed your attention.
Use them as a guide for writing your own.
Don't copy.

Prepare some to give to friends and family.
What kinds of reactions did you get?

Having your work evaluated, criticized,
can be helpful. It exposes weak areas,
where more effort should be applied.

Put advice, analyzing, about your work
in perspective. It isn't wise to view it
as a personal attack. Besides, you're
looking for a writing niche, and opinions
are just that.

If I'd listened to some, I would not have
written a novel, articles, poems, or dared
to own a blog.

My point is, most times, the voice to listen
to is yours. It's not the well meaning
or doubters, that determines your writing niche,
but you.

It takes time to find the niche with the exact
fit. You fiddle, try, until you find it.

Take time to reach, develop, your writing
niche. Aim for the stars.

What Is Good Writing

Have a question? Agree, disagree, with me?
Leave me your opinion.

"Yeah, I'd like to know how to do that."
You tapped your fingers on the desk.

First, the head-line must grab, hold, the
reader's attention. Its job is to
fill-in the person on what to expect, from
articles, the story.

It's not uncommon to have an idea, write
about it, and then pick the head-line from
the finished project.

The head-line is three to five words. It
can be informative, ask a question, bring
an emotion, or make the reader laugh.

Good writing is clear, makes a point. The
writer's idea or what he/she is describing
must be sharp, defined.

"I'm not sure what the author meant." One
person said.

The above, seven, words mean the author didn't
do good writing. Writers will provoke anger,
fear, happiness, but it's in their career
description. Good writing invokes some
emotion.

Paragraphs flow smoothly, grammatically
correct. Good writing has a starting point,
works a path to the middle, and concludes
gracefully.

"I don't agree with what you wrote." A
person will say.

It's all right for people to disagree with
you, a particular article. You engaged
their attention, and that was the point.

As with life, everyone will not see your
point of view. It's part of living,
individuality.

Good writing sparks interest, opinions,
and disagreements. The head-line stirs
curiosity. The body spells-out points,
entertains, angers, brings happiness, or
disgust.

How To Write Everyday

Have a question? Agree, disagree, with
me? Leave me your opinion.

Write everyday, install more, on your
fiction or non-fiction projects.

"How?" You asked. "I have a life."

Peel away, at least, two hours everyday
to write. It doesn't matter what time
of the day or night. Give yourself
that time. Some days, you'll write for
longer periods of time.

"I have writer's block, what then?"
You pointed out.

Stress, environment noises, the thoughts
of how many other things you need to do,
kids, relatives, and, even, pets can
distract you. Any one of the above can
cause writer's block.

The only cure for writer's block is to
keep going. Write through the block.

Jot down whatever comes to mind. Or,
pick any word to write about. Scribble
down, for example, what a word means to
you. After a few sentences, writer's
block will ease away. It's all right
if it takes you longer, than a few
sentences, to halt writer's block.
Once it has dissipated to your
neighbor's space, put away your writer's
block, busting, word.

Start on the project you wanted to
before writer's block. Or, you might
prefer to continue with what you're
writing.

Write everyday to get better, create
new master-pieces, and to stop writer's
block.

Last Word Fiction

Have a question? Agree, disagree, with me?
Leave me your opinion.

"What is last word fiction?" You asked.

Take the last word of a paragraph,
newsletter, business article, argument,
or poem to write a story.

Let's look at the paragraphs from my
novel, Grave Street House.

I ran for the bus, only, to find it
crammed to its rear. Drone after drone
entered the vehicle, each headed for a
work-station, or school. I breathed a
sigh of relief when the air conditioner
breezed over me.

One graying at the temples, beer bellied,
short, rude, drone whispered to me, "Stand
close to me, baby. I'll block ya fall."

The man looked old enough to be my
grandfather.

The last word, of course, is grandfather.
My idea follows, and it's not related to
the novel.

Grandfather Beany, each morning, goes to
the field, few minutes later, returns.
He has a, new, burst of energy.

He dragged to the field, but, practically,
ran back.

One day, Jeff, fourteen-years-old, decided
to spy on his grandfather. Jeff wanted to
know why the old man visited the field.

As far as the eye could see, it had weeds,
and over-grown grass. Jeff sat his alarm
clock for three a.m., because he wasn't
sure what time his grandfather left. He
heard his mother, father, and other adults
talk about it.

The alarm rang out.

"I just fell asleep." Jeff yawned.

He dozed.

He heard the screen door snap shut.

Jeff jumped, quickly paced toward
the front door. He rubbed his eyes.

The summer air tapped him on the face.
The dampness, in the air, woke him up.

He ran back inside to get a flash-light.

He stumbled, fumbled, to where his
grandfather was.

"Oh no, grandfather!" Jeff shouted.

"No." The old man pushed the boy down.

Later that morning...

See how my idea unfolded? There were
many roads to travel down with it.

How would you write about grandfather?
Would your story be a mystery? Fantasy?


If the last word wasn't one that inspired
you then use another one. Take the last
word from a different sentence to write
about.

Last word fiction, writing, is a method
to start your creative juices flowing.

"What if I've written something, but
writer's block stopped me from completing
it?" You looked at the title. "Can last
word fiction help me?"

I've never used last word fiction to
combat writer's block, but let's apply
it.

Read the last paragraph of what you've
written. Take the last word, and write
what comes to mind. Or, use the same theme.

"Same theme?" You questioned.

I mean use the theme of the piece that gave
you writer's block.

Throwing out, around, the theme can,
possibly, curtail writer's block.

Stirring in a new twist to old writing will
keep you from getting bored.

Sometimes, the editing process takes us over
the same project more times than we like.
It can get tedious. There is no better way
to challenge our creative passion than to
mix in a new factor.

It doesn't matter where the last word comes
from. It can provide the needed encouragement
for writing ideas.

Last word fiction is a fun, creative, way
to get writing ideas, provide that extra
nudge to get a project completed, and fight-
off tasks that has dulled from being edited.