Passion Pays

"Write what you know" may be good advice for newbie writers. "Write what you love" may be even better.

If you feel passionate about something, make that a speciality. It may be a cause dear to your heart or an area that you are an expert on. Think about your passion - you'll find a hundred different angles (and markets!) to make it work for you.

I've been racking my brains about an area to 'specialise' in. And then I realised that for the last 12 years or so, I keep coming back to issues of Change, of the making-a-difference variety. These are the articles that make my fingers dance over the keyboard and (therefore?) sell easier.

Does the passion come through on the page? Apparently so.

I'm not sure if I've found my niche yet, but writing about things that matter ensures that I never have a dearth of ideas for future articles.

What are you passionate about?

30,000 words in 30 days

Newbie Writers "Write your Novel for 30 hours this month" (also known as "Write 30,000 words of your novel month") starts tomorrow (June 1).

If you want to join in, send a blank email to: newbienovels@aweber.com

See www.newbie-writers.com or visit the forum.

Be careful what you wish for...

Coming to England taught me the 'serious' side of writing. In the last two years, I've learnt all about 'markets', 'queries' and the art of pitching to editors. FBSR and similar abbreviations make sense now. I even own a copy of the Writers and Artist's Yearbook.

Two years ago, I was oblivious to the existence of any of the above.

In India, wannabe writers write first and then send off their writing in the hope of publication. That's the wrong way of going about it, but I know that now. Thanks to the Internet, I've broken into this dream world of publication. In the last year alone, I've had more commissioned features than in all the 15 years or so that I've been writing.

In the last week, I've had two editors write to me asking me to send more ideas and queries for future articles. For me, that's an amazing achievement.

It's still bloody hard work though! It still means conjuring ideas out of thin air and making sure that they are suitable for each individual market. It means staying on top of recent developments and paying attention to what your editor is saying. It means sticking to deadlines and standing by promises you've made. It means hours of research, note taking and editing.

The byline makes it all worth it.

Be careful what you wish for, they say. I agree. Wishes do come true.