A Dash of Words with Loleta Abi Romance Author

The Writer’s Wheel: 10/20/19: Hunting for a Topic

Loleta Abi

As you go about writing your blog topics, what things do you consider?

If the Topics of Interest to You or the Audience?

Of course. If you’re not interested it stands to reason that your reader won’t be interested. After all, something boring will show in your writing. That’s the last thing that pulls readers in. Find something that brings passion, a spark to your prose. Be it writing, science, artificial intelligence, whatever.

Do you have enough to say about the topic?

Very important. You can’t have a two-sentence topic. You want something that expands. If you learn something along the way, even better. I try to write about a topic that I want to know more about or that I’ve studied. Writing, of course, is easier as I’m always reading craft books and blogs, trying to improve my tools.

Yes, tools. Anything you pick up can be turned into one. Deep pov. An important tool when it comes to getting our character across to our readers. The closer they feel to a character, the more they’ll want to be along for the ride. Setting tips. Make the setting a character in the story. Could Twilight have taken place anywhere but Forks? That rainy, gloomy environment. No wonder Bella seemed depressed most of the time. Not to mention, no sun being the perfect thing for vampires.

Will it Bring the Audience Back for More?

Do readers frequent your blogs for articles? I envy those writers who seem to know such in-depth information about subjects. Take crime for instance. Sue Coletta is known for her lengthy posts about them. All with such fascinating knowledge. Knowledge it seems she picks her subjects mind’s for. She must spend hours grilling a person who knows for her novels and it shows. I do research my books but retaining the info often fails my memory. I do write the info down but sometimes in clipped sentences that don’t reference what else I learned. I save the info in files or in Pocket or Evernote or even email from my sources. But spewing some of that out unless I’m in the actual moment of writing that world is hard for me.

Sue Vincent also knows her subject. She writes about her homeland, it’s past, it’s future. She tells and even shows history as she visits different sites and explores what it means to her personally as well as what it means to those with her. Although often they tell their own stories. There have been various bloggers I’ve come to know and learn from over the years. I hope a piece of what they’ve taught me goes into my writing. With bipolar, gaps happen in my memory and it’s a daily struggle to retain things I learn. I often go over and over a lesson hoping it’ll sink in.