NEWSFLASH: Your Writing Isn’t About You!

Allow the Rest of Us to Benefit from You!

Beginning writers like me are often told to write on what they’re “passionate” about.

OK, so what if I’m the only one passionate about it (whatever “it” is)?

Obviously, me being the “only one” is full-throated hyperbole. Yes, there are others — perhaps thousands — interested in the topics and issues I’m passionate about.

But particularly if writing for income, is it wise to limit one’s writing to just their own personal passions — without considering other factors and options?

My Medium journey

I say I’m a beginning writer. Not really. I started writing on Medium 2 ½ years ago — in May 2021 to be exact. But for a year-and-a-half it was a “hobby” while I had a fulltime job.

Many Medium writers with fulltime jobs will fast-track their Medium “careers” once they say bye-bye to the 8-to-5. I did the opposite. As soon as it became clear to me — in September of last year — that my retirement would be imminent, I kicked my “Medium habit” to the curb. I spent a few weeks sorting out life post-retirement. I spent more time with my wife. Then I settled in — slowly — on learning copywriting. Indeed I’m still in that learning phase (though I don’t plan to be there for long).

Then about a month ago, I came across an expert copywriter talking about making money on Medium. At that moment, the lightbulb turned on. I realized, “Wow, I can write on Medium and make money!?!?!”

So, I jumped back in. Only this time, my intent was (and still is) to write on purpose and with purpose. Whereas before it was a hobby, now my writing is done with the intent to someday be a paid professional.

That’s why I say I’m a “beginning writer.”

So I started collecting articles on Medium: articles on successful content-writing…articles on the habits of successful content writers…articles on what it take on the platform…and more. I collected names of favorite Medium writers who have large followings. I took some free, easy-peasy email courses.

The Venn diagram

One of my favorite Medium writers (also a Medium teacher) is Zulie Rane. I get her emails. I took her 5-day Medium course. I’ve watched a few of her videos.

I came across her teaching on the “Venn Diagram” method of finding a niche. Now even though Zulie recommends writing out an actual Venn Diagram, I opted against that. (I know, I’m a rebel.) But I took her teaching to heart.

In a nutshell, here’s what she instructs her students to do:

1. Write out on a piece of paper the names of topics…specifically:

• topics of personal interest (even passion) to them;
• topics for which they (the writers) have knowledge and expertise;
• topics that add value to people’s lives.

2. Observe where those three sets of topics (or Venn Diagram circles) intersect.

In other words, don’t just write about the stuff you want to write about. Find out where your interests and passion combine with both authoritative knowledge and adding value to the lives of many others.

Click here for Zulie’s authoritative teaching on finding niches — including how the Venn diagram fits in.

What this has meant to me

This has transformed what I write about. Let me explain.

I am a person of deep conviction — spiritually, culturally, and politically. But you know the old saying(s) about religion and politics. While these topics remain of deep passion to me, if I focus only on them I’ll end up speaking only to my own echo-chamber.

Believe me, I can jump on soapboxes really quick — with the bullhorn added in. But how beneficial is that really? Many of you come to this platform as a respite from controversy. You may not want to be “preached to.”

So it’s come home to me that there are more things I could write about that:

• I enjoy;
• I have knowledge or experience in;
• can add value to others.

As examples of this, check out my recent posts on:

• how to break the making-and-breaking-resolutions syndrome (I call it the “success-and-failure” hamster wheel);
• escaping the “average Joe” mindset.

Maybe they’re not masterpieces . But hopefully you’ll find some benefit from them.

What I don’t mean in all of this

When I say “your writing isn’t about you,” let me tell you what I don’t mean:

I don’t mean ditch your personal life stories.

I love stories laced with personal experience. So does Medium. Just today, I found a post on how fatherhood changed one man’s views on masculinity. Then there’s this post that takes the author’s experience with sexual abuse and being “labelled” and uses it as a life lesson for others.

Intertwining our posts with personal experience — yeah even devoting a whole piece to them — is an important part of creating captivating content. But — pardon my saying this — no one cares about your personal experience if your audience doesn’t connect with it.

Please share your life experiences! But do so in a way that adds value to your reader.

I don’t mean ditch your passion.

I need passion. So do you. “All writing with no passion makes Johnny’s (or Joanie’s) writing very dull.”

Please write on that for which you are passionate. Even if it’s geeky stuff, your passion will shine through in your communication. (You can tell I’m not a tech kinda’ guy.) It will pull in your readers. It will go a long way toward adding to your following and engagement.

But don’t fall for the idea that your passion in and of itself will attract readers. “If you build it, they will come” may have worked for Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, but it won’t necessarily work in your content-writing endeavor. As with personal experience, your passion has to intersect with what is of value to your reader.

I don’t mean write only about the most popular or “trendy” stuff.

Don’t write only to please people.

Don’t try to be “trendy.”

Don’t pretend you’re someone else.

Let’s say a hot topic on Medium right now is Bitcoin. You don’t know a blasted thing about Bitcoin. But “everyone’s talking about it.”

So you decide you wanna follow the crowd. You do tons and tons of research. You exhaust yourself learning everything you can. And what will the end product be?

A half-baked pie, that’s what! For all your effort, your innate lack of knowledge and interest will speak louder than any info you’ve put together. Your writing will be…lame.

You’ll exhaust yourself to try to “keep up” — while adding no value either to yourself or to your audience.

You’ll exhaust yourself to try to “keep up” — while adding no value either to yourself or to your audience.

The adventure!

I am pursuing writing. More specifically, I am pursuing excellence in writing. And as I do, I’m finding it to be a great adventure. I’m stretching myself beyond the interests I normally occupy myself with. I’m uncovering treasures within me that I’d buried and may not have realized were there.

I’m confident these treasures will be of great benefit to my readers.

Writing about what you love can be a wonderful adventure. But it’s all the more rewarding if you do it for the benefit of others.

So plow on — full speed ahead. Unearth your hidden treasures. And then let the rest of us enjoy them.