While I would feel like a complete fraud to call myself a Writer, I do have website where I do a lot of writing. So maybe I’m a writer with a small w. One of the challenges I come up against is finding things to write about. Not necessarily reviews - those are easy. I have a big stack of games, I play them a bunch of times, then I tell the world what I like about them. Don’t get me wrong, reviews come with their own inherent challenges (writing the same way as you talk is much harder than it ought to be), but when I want to write an article or an editorial piece, things get harder.
Human beings are opinionated creatures, and some of us like to share those opinions with anyone who’ll listen. I count myself among them - clearly - but not all opinions are equal. Not in terms of any one opinion is more valid than another, but in what the opinion is actually about.
For instance, I could have a really well-informed, insightful opinion about something I want to write 3,000 words about. The problem for me, trying to reach an audience, is that there might not be enough people who want to read my thoughts on the best names for tardigrades.
(note to self: write about tardigrades)
So then the decision is - what do I want to talk about that other people might want to read about?
Prompts
Often the best way to find something to talk about is some kind of prompt. It might be a passive prompt, like something in the news that people are already talking about, and is present in the collective consciousness at the moment. I prefer a considered prompt.
For example, I wrote a couple of pieces that I’m still proud of. Why not just play a video game, a piece about solo board games, and Is it okay to enjoy wargames?, a dive into the morality of wargames. Both of these were the result of me finding subjects I was interested in exploring, and then coming up with some kind of structure, a framework for writing articles about them.
I keep a list of ideas for articles as they come to me, so there’s usually something I can write about. At the moment, however, that list is dwindling. I’m down to just the one thing I really want to write about.
Or at least, I was down to one idea. As I write this, I have another four
An invitation to write
I attend the UK Games Expo each year as a member of the press. I get to go to the press preview event on the evening before the show opens, and in return, I agree to write an article covering the show. This year, Tony (the Director of the UKGE) put an invitation out for writers to contribute articles for the official programme for the show.
Fantastic! I might not be the most narcissistic person in the world, but who wouldn’t want to see their work in print, and being read by tens of thousands of people at an event? In his email with the details for the articles, he specified a couple of things he doesn’t want. He doesn’t want anything already published that’s been reworked, and nothing more about games and mental health, as it’s been done a lot.
Fair enough, but BLAM, BLAM. Two shots across my bow for things I was thinking about. In a way though, it did me a favour. I had to come up with something else to write about. I took the time to sit down, think about the hobby, think about the things which I want to talk about, and perhaps most importantly on this occasion, to look at the demographics (which he provided) for the potential readership.
As a result, I came up with four new prompts. Four new potential articles that I found I’d really like to talk about. And that’s where we get to the crux of this newsletter. About time, right?!
Make your own motivation
Sometimes you’ve got to go out and make your own motivation. Engineer an idea. The good news is that there are loads of ways to do this. Here are two examples.
Work with your demographics. If you use Google Analytics (or whatever analytics your blog host provides you with), get familiar with your readers’ demographics. It’s very easy to make assumptions that may not be true. For instance, I assumed that nearly all of my traffic comes from the UK and North America. In reality only 66% of my traffic comes from there. 80% of my readers are male, and two-thirds are 25-44 years-oldThat information tells me I can either try to write something that appeals to those people or try to do the polar opposite and go for something to increase my minorities, to grow a more diverse readership.
Find out what people want to read about. There are some great tools out there if you start searching, tools which help you discover what people want to know about. Answer The Public is a fantastic tool which mines Google’s search suggestions to find out what people want to know. You know those ‘interesting’ suggestions Google gives you as you start typing a search? Yeah, those.For example, if I want to know what people are looking for when they’re searching about board games, I get this really interesting report. Within seconds I’ve got some great prompts. ‘Board games without language barriers’, ‘Board games and beer’, and ‘What board games were popular in the 1970s’ all jump out at me as great things to dig into.
In closing
I’ve got no idea whether I’ll get shortlisted for the UKGE programme this year. I hope I do, but even if I don’t, I’ve got plenty to work with for a while.
If you want something to write about, don’t just sit there and wait for inspiration to hit you like getting a fly in your mouth. Do some digging and make your own motivation.