What Subjects Do You Know That Others Would be Interested In?

What Subjects Do You Know That Others Would be Interested In?

Many of the authors we speak to dream of writing a book but often they only consider writing a novel, only to become despondent when they can’t come up with a potentially best-selling idea, disregarding one of the most enjoyable forms of writing – that of writing a non-fiction book. There are many forms of non-fiction book: self-help, how-to, academic or books giving information that might be of interest or use either to the general public or a niche market.

My own experience of writing Forget Fibromyalgia: Putting the Pieces Together was particularly rewarding as I realised that the information it contained could help others to recover. I have since gone on to write several other self-help books focused on well-being, stress, self-esteem and writing, and I am completely hooked.

When we suggest writing non-fiction the first reaction of many authors is that they don’t know enough about anything that would be of interest to others. They could not be more wrong. If it is of interest to you, the chances are that out of the billions of people sharing this planet there will be others who are interested in your topic, too. It can be anything from archaeology to zoology and everything in between.

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading a non-fiction book called Rasputin and the Jews by one of our guest authors, Delin Colon. Being very busy I intended for it to be something I would read over the coming months whenever I had fifteen minutes or so to spare, but I actually ended up reading it in one sitting.

It is well-written and informative and gives a completely different view of Rasputin. I had briefly studied him at school and had retained the impression that he was an unclean, greedy, cruel, drunken sexual predator who played a large part in the demise of the Romanov Empire. And of course I remember the Boney M song (I’m showing my age now), in which he was portrayed in a very poor light.

Delin’s book paints a very different picture of a kind, religious man with no interest in money who did a great deal to help persecuted Jews living in Russia at the time. It is such an unusual topic but was as interesting as any novel. It’s clear from the references that she has carried out considerable research which not only support her book, but I am sure would be of help to her should she ever write a novel on the subject.

So if your novel is just not happening, turn your attention to non-fiction. Start by writing a list of all the topics you know about or that interest you and you never know – something might just get your creative juices flowing …

Need help writing your novel or non-fiction/self-help book? At The Writers’ House UK we have one-to-one book coaching programmes available to help you write the best book possible.