Why Should I Write About That, When Others Have Done It Already?
Last week, I received an email from a former graduate of my six-week blogging course.
“I think what really stuck with me was when you said that ‘we all have a different story to tell’ and ‘no one will tell my views or story in the same way I will’.
This has really encouraged me to share my voice and express my opinion, rather than thinking ‘oh I won’t write about that, as so many other people have written a lot about it already!’”
Her last point, about “so many other people” writing about the same subject, is one that lots of people tend to make. They worry that others have already written everything they were going to write, and they wrote it better.
(It’s strange, really… no-one thinks about not cooking dinner because Nigella Lawson already cooks dinners and hers taste nicer, or about not going for a run because Mo Farah already runs and he’s much faster.)
Somewhere, someone has written about writing about things others have written about before.
Though they may not have said it exactly like that.
And that’s the point.
You might be telling a story, or scribbling your thoughts on a subject that many others have already covered (you definitely will, in fact, because as the Bible itself says, “there is nothing new under the sun”).
But because nobody else sees the world in quite the same way you do, no-one else will write about that subject in quite the way you’re going to.
The way that has potential to resonate with readers. Readers who may have read other takes on the same subject, but didn’t quite connect with it…
…until now.
So, why not use your writing to express your individual voice, and tell the stories of your soul?
You don’t have to be the best writer who ever lived… you’ll save yourself years of heartbreak if you don’t set out with being the best as your ultimate goal.
Just do it your way. Concentrate simply on being as honest and real as you can with your words, because that will help make the right impact on the readers who matter.
Of course, not everyone will enjoy what you write, and they’re the readers who don’t matter. I doubt E.L. James is that bothered about the readers who didn’t like Fifty Shades of Grey, as she sits on the mountain of cash that came from writing the fastest-selling UK paperback of all time, and the Hollywood movie adaptation deals that followed.
If you’d like to give expressive writing a go, but you’d like some guidance and support from a small and dedicated group, my new Blogging Basics course begins on 29th September, for six weeks.
So far, its graduates have become wonderful children’s story writers, keen life-and-travel bloggers, and business bloggers extraordinaire.
What will you write about?
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