“Where do you get your ideas?”

This question is normally associated with fiction writers. I think it’s Harlan Ellison who tells people that he subscribes to an idea service. Coming up with ideas for nonfiction articles is just an important, and in some ways harder. The nonfiction article market is enormous — and growing every day with the proliferation of internet content. All we need to do is come up with compelling pitches. Here are some of the methods I’ve used to get ideas and turn them into money. I’ll bring more to your attention in a later post, since this is a rich topic I could write about all day.

Plumbing Knowledge and Experience

Everybody is an expert at something. I got my start writing self-defense and safety articles as an adjunct to running a karate studio. I sold insurance for a while, and recently did the math to discover I’ve made more money writing about insurance than I did selling it. Industry and special interest publications are the best market for these, especially if you can apply your special knowledge to a related interest. I’m a middle-sized fish in the martial arts pond, which means I had to fight to get my stuff in Black Belt. Parenting magazines, on the other hand, eat my family safety stuff up. This may be the best way to break in to the writing market, since you’re selling your existing expertise rather than asking somebody to take a chance on a thin portfolio.

Mind Mapping

This is the shotgun approach to idea generation. Start by writing a word at the center of a piece of paper. Draw branches off that word, each with a detail or related subject. Draw further branches off each of those branches, filling the page with words and concepts. Some of them will remain words, while others will blossom into full story ideas. This is the method I use for blog subjects. It works well for general brainstorming, and for expanding on basic areas of expertise or interest.

Pre-Orders

Some ideas come to you prepackaged. The freelance writing job sites (more on these in another post) rarely have ads for general writing. Rather, they have ads for somebody to write about a specific — sometimes very specific — topic. The current boom of content mills is based on writers accepting prepackaged writing assignments based on common search engine queries. Small business owners want blogs written to topics that interest potential clients. If you’re a quick researcher, this is an opportunity for nearly limitless work at a pretty good wage.

I’m eager to hear your ideas, as well. Please comment with some tricks you’ve tried.

Thanks for listening.

Virginia Woolf said that a woman needs “a room of her own.” This is true of writers, too, but you don’t need your own office. Our house is pretty big, but I share it with my wife, two children, two housemates, a dog and two cats. My “office” is literally a recycled cubicle set up in our living room. No door, but the walls form a kind of symbolic barrier. It also helps that, during the day, the house is empty except for myself and our baby son — who is kind enough to sleep for four to six hours of my work day.

With summer coming up, I’m going to need a new plan. As much as my family tries to respect my writing time, it’s hard for them to leave me out of what’s going on. It’s equally hard for me to want to be left out. Last summer, my wife — who is a public school teacher — would take the kids to the park during my work day to give me the time I need. We might do that again this summer, or I might move my computer into the bedroom and close the door for a few hours each day.

The point is that writers, like everybody else, perform better when we are allowed to focus. Tapping away at your laptop in the middle of a busy family evening isn’t conducive to focus. Neither is working at the local library. We all have our own flow style and work habits, but everybody needs some time for uninterrupted writing.

I’m curious: for those of you who write at home, what sorts of things do you do to ensure that “you time” to get your work done? I’ll answer with some of my other methods in a couple of days, but I don’t want to muddy the waters with my opinions until I hear from some of you.

Folks who read this, but aren’t writers, I’m interested to hear how you secure time for yourself when it’s at a premium — either at home or at work.

Thanks for listening.

Back in the saddle this week. Still a little rocky, physically, but my energy and concentration are back. Apologies for no Friday update — had a fascinating family thing I’ll probably report on this week.

• Total Earnings Goal: $2,250
• Total Earnings This Week: $2,400
• Earnings Compared to Benchmark: 106%
• Total Earnings So Far: $14,145
• Progress Toward Long-Term Goal: 71%

My Astoria guide is still on hold, likely until June. There were some problems with last-minute map stuff, or so I’m told. No worries, it will be great when it’s out there. Meanwhile, do you know what’s better than getting paid for your work?

Getting paid twice.

I’m not suggesting selling two identical articles to two different magazines — that’s a breach of the writing contract, and of the trust from your publisher. However, you can easily sell multiple articles from the same idea, and the same research. This maximizes your return on the investment of your effort. For example, I spent several weeks researching the Astoria guidebook. When it publishes, I get paid royalties…plus I have my first book deal, which is instrumental in getting more book deals. However, there’s a lot of information that didn’t get covered in detail during the book. Here are some articles that I’ve written or pitched for other publishers:

• A detailed piece on golf courses in the area for GolfLinks.com.
• A review of the new Indian restaurant that’s coming to town.
• A historical piece for the 200 year anniversary of Astoria.
• Another historical piece about the fires in Astoria.
• A review of the bicycle tours in Astoria I’m pitching to cycling and travel sites.
• An article for a writing magazine about getting multiple assignments out of the same research.
• A book excerpt for local travel and lifestyle magazines, or possibly for an in-flight magazine that serves the Pacific Northwest.

In a year or so, some of the rights to those articles will revert to me based on the contract I sign with various publishers. At that point, I can try to sell reprint rights — with full disclosure to the new buyer — and get paid a third time with a new batch of sales. Because it’s Astoria, and not New York or another international destination, it’s a thin resale market. But I should be able to find one or two.

Writing professionally means spending at least as much of your time finding work as you do writing. Using this kind of cascading series of assignments from the same idea and research helps you make the most of that time.

Thanks for listening.