Beginning freelance writers will read these words over and over: Write about what you know. Writing about what you know makes sense. If you want to produce articles easily and quickly, writing about what you know means that you’ll spend less time researching. You won’t have to look up material or verify your statements. You won’t have to learn anything or double-check the accuracy of the material you present.
When you write about what you know, your text flows easily, and you’ll be able to make statements with confidence. An article that gives an impression of confidence is important. Readers trust that you know what you’re writing about, and they’ll be encouraged to act on your advice or believe your opinion. If you’re trying to teach readers something, confident statements reflecting your expertise have more impact than novice material.
Also, writing articles about subjects you’re familiar with means that you’ll achieve an impression of a higher level of expertise on the topic. Your range of audience increases. You’ll have people new to the topic reading to learn more, as well as readers familiar with the subject looking for in-depth information.
On the other hand, writing about what you don’t know is a good thing, too. Your rate of production in creating articles may slow down while you research and learn about the topic, but you’ll be increasing your knowledge. The long-term result is that you’ll have a wider range of expertise and thus, more to write about.
I know a gal who now makes top dollar for a specific industry because she became the “go to person” for that subject matter. It took years of dedication as she started out writing “what she did not know”–which required a lot of research, interviewing, and the like. But over a course of a three years, she grew so knowledgable in that field that she can write an article off the top of her head, seek out interviews within a matter of minutes, and produce a quality article in no time flat.
If you ask me to write about writing or home based business or parenting, I can pop out an article in no time flat. Why? Because I’ve spent the last few years writing about those topics–which means I have a lot of head knowledge.
Ask me to include a few expert quotes and it will take a bit more time, but it can and will get done.
The key to writing what you know is to “keep your hand in the cookie jar”–read books in that industry, subscribe to magazines in that industry, read blogs by writers of that industry, watch news reports and pod casts dealing with industry specifics. The key to writing what you know isn’t just osmosis–it’s being involved in that area, keeping it fresh and alive.