"What shall I write about?" is the first question that
inexperienced writers ask their literary advisers.
"If you haven"t anything to write about, why write at all?"
might be an easy answer.

Most persons, as a matter of fact, have plenty to
write about but do not realize it. Not lack of
subjects, but inability to recognize the possibilities of what lies
at hand, is their real difficulty.

The best method of finding subjects is to look at every
person, every event, every experience - in short, at
everything - with a view to seeing whether or not it has possibilities
for a special feature article. Even in the apparently prosaic round
of everyday life will be found a variety of themes. A
circular letter from a business firm announcing a new policy, a
classified advertisement in a newspaper, the complaint of a
scrub-woman, a new variety of fruit in the grocer"s
window, an increase in the price of laundry work, a hurried
luncheon at a cafeteria - any of the hundred and one daily
experiences may suggest a "live" topic for an article.

Subjects and phases of subjects that attract readers
may, for convenience, be divided into the following classes,
which, however, are not mutually exclusive:

1. Timely topics,
2. Unique, novel, and extraordinary persons, things, and events,
3. Mysteries,
4. Romance,
5. Adventure,
6. Contests for supremacy,
7. Children,
8. Animals,
9. Hobbies and amusements,
10. Familiar persons, places, and objects,
11. Prominent persons, places, and objects,
12. Matters involving the life, property, and welfare of
others,
13. Matters that affect the reader"s own success and
well-being.

Of course, you"ll want to track your articles to
determine which subjects really push the "hot buttons" of your
readers.


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