Finding Inspiration that Sells

Most writers have no problem finding something to write about. That's fine if you plan to write for a few close friends and yourself. But if you hope to hit it big and sell your story to a publisher you need a little more.

That old adage write what you know if often the best advice. So write about your area, your dreams, something that happened to your family or town. Take a bit of real history and weave it into a fictional account. Mention well known landmarks, or brushes with fame such as being at the scene of a well-known event. Writing what you know doesn't necessarily mean that which you've experienced first hand. If you have an interest or a hobby that give you knowledge over the average person, that's writing what you know. If you're really interested in airplanes and know all about different models, you don't have to have fly them to write what you know.

Writing what you know often gives you the best chance at creating a believable story. As anyone who follows this site has read before, publishers want believable stories. It doesn't matter if it really happened to you if it's so fantastic that no one will believe it. For example, I once went to an out of body clinic where they taught people how to 'wake up' in their dreams. The premise was that you could wake your mind while keeping your body asleep. Sure enough, the techniques worked and I was able to have several really cool waking dreams. The problem was when I pitched the idea to a publisher I was met with great skepticism. She refused to believe that I had really had those experiences and therefore, it couldn't possibly work for my character. It didn't matter how much I insisted it had happened. It didn't matter when I explained that anyone could do it and that it's a fairly easy technique used quite often in Eastern mysticism. She would have none of it. Needless to say it was really frustrating. Writers write about all sorts of crazy things all the time. As readers we understand that for the sake of a good book we sometimes have to suspend our belief systems to enjoy the story.

But then she pointed out that even Superman's powers have an explanation that make him believable. Readers understand that he can fly because he's from another planet. In the case of my book, the character just had to discover a device that gave him the ability to 'dreamwalk.'

Besides believable stories it's important to do a little research and find out what's selling and what publishers are looking for. Some of the best ways to do that are to attend writers workshops and conferences with publishers. I highly recommend the Society for Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators even if you aren't a children's writer. The national and regional chapters put on excellent workshops throughout the year that not only expose writers to editors and publishers, they also have offer several great workshops to explain the finer points of writing such as creating great dialogue and plots. The editors will tell you what kinds of things they're looking for and what's selling well. Many publishers also place topics or subject matter on their websites telling writers what they need or are looking for.

Another great way to find a topic that sells is to find subjects you're interested in and then research what's new or what the trends are in that area. One of the easiest ways to do this is to go on Google News and pick key words from the topic area. Then simply see what comes up and what might be big for the future. If Google News says the market for monkeys is expected to double by 2015, then writing about monkeys is a wise choice as the interest in them is on the rise.

A final way to find great inspiration that will sell is to look for niche markets. Try to find areas that have very little information available. You can do this by searching topics on well-known sites such as Amazon or any of the big bookstores sites. I am currently working on a book with a topic that isn't well-known in the US. It's an ancient concept in South America, so there is plenty of material on it in Spanish speaking countries, but not much stateside. I had the opportunity to go learn firsthand with an interpreter. I have also have a current client who experienced an injustice firsthand. When she tried to right the situation she discovered that very little info was available on the topic. She was in fact blazing new ground. So the book we are writing is on her experiences and what she has found to work.

The last thing to remember when looking for inspiration that will sell is to be your own harshest critic. Remember that just because you really like something, or because what you are writing about happened to you, may not making it interesting or book worthy to others. Objectively ask yourself, is this really interesting? If someone else told me this story or about this hobby or topic, would it hold my interest? Would I listen to be polite or would I hang on their every word? Be every honest with yourself. If you still find it interesting great. If not, maybe it needs some modifications or maybe you just need to find a new topic. If your topic passes the first test, then ask yourself, what do I hope my writing will accomplish? What will this story or information give others? How might it be important or interesting to them.

In the end, we are all selfish readers. We don't waste our time on things that don't yield results. A book or an article has to leave the reader with something of importance. It has to give something, or the reader will never finish reading your work and a publisher will never offer a contract.