Writers are told that the best way to be out there, get out there and make money is to write, write, write. Even the most creative writer needs help once in a while to find something to write about. Non-fiction writers need ideas that are timely, interesting and relevant to a publication’s or blog’s audience; fiction writers need to find that one subject to weave into their story that will make the work of fiction important to the media so that their book gets noticed.
How can you find the most relevant topics to write about? Obviously watching the news reports, reading newspapers and chatting with your friends and neighbors may provide you with subjects that pique YOUR interest, but how do you know if those subjects are as important to the masses? Check for Trending Topics using social media sites like Twitter, BuzzFeed, Google-Trends, Google-plus, and Reddit. Look for community oriented group sites (ie: FaceBook) to see what are the hottest discussions. As of the writing of this post, according to Twitter, these are the top trending topics: #Empire, Anika. Cookie, #BlackishAbc, #The100, #SuitsFinale, Russell Westbrook INNNNSANE, #NYRvsDET, Andre, and 49 Pts. You can search out any of these topics for your next blog; the trending list is constantly changing so keep checking. Many publications also make their current editorial calendars available to help you choose relevant topics as well; one example is Forbes Magazine (http://www.forbesmedia.com/2014-forbes-editorial-calendar/) which will help you choose topics of interest to a publication’s editorial staff — as always verify the publication’s submission policy and IF they accept unsolicited and or freelance submissions.
Alright, you’ve already written a novel and didn’t research tending topics, what are you going to do now? Review your story and jot down specific issues alluded to… is your hero a lawyer defending an alleged murderer? Maybe your heroine is a trail blazer in her career. Search those topics with an online search engine, you may find a hot button topic that affects your local community, or has national relevance. Use those the connection to those topics in a press release when you are contacting media to announce a new book release, an author event, an award, etc. Use the hot issues and trending topics to create interest in your book. In a blog use those issues as part of your back-story as in WHY you wrote the tale or why it is such a relevant topic in today’s world. For instance my novel Hyphema is an EMS-based thriller with a Pakistani/Muslim immigrant as the romantic heroine; the book weaves in a story of prejudice and suspicion living in a post 9/11; this is a topic that is in the headlines a lot these days.
There is nothing wrong with Fluff-stories, usually a tale of two people interacting, and the relaxing interlude readers can enjoy; however stories with substantial significance to real life issues stand better chances of free publicity and promotion. Like book titles, headlines and blurbs, the more attention grabbing they are, the more readers will notice your work and you will build a name for yourself.
Writing Exercise: Write a 300-350 word blog post about any hot button topic. Be sure to draw parallels to your book or a historical event. (It’s your choice whether you polish the article enough to post it to your blog or not).
Writing Prompt: Did you keep a diary or journal growing up? Review some of those entries and make a list of topics that would be hot-issues in today’s world. (If you don’t have a diary/journal then use a favorite story book you read as a child.)
Challenge Assignment: Write a fictional news article or short story about any two current trending topics you find. A news article, written as if for your daily newspaper, should be around 500-700 words; a short story should be approximately 1200-1500 words.
