A Writer's Dilemma: How to Write What Sells Without Offending Anyone

History is full of different kinds of writers. Some of the best loved writers of all time were writers who dared to be different. Now we live in a time where just about everyone thinks they can write, and social media like Associated Content (AC) and blog sites give everyone a potential chance to reach an international audience. If you thought there was competition before, the truth is that there is so much more competition now. This piece explores the dilemma for AC writers and writers for other web venues. What should you write about that will have broad appeal without offending anyone?

Chances are if you want to write interesting articles that are going to get viewed thousands of times and emailed hundreds of times, you've got to write about something important. Often an important item is a timely piece, related to the news or something else that is passingly on people's minds across the nation. Now, if you are an author who does not want to offend, but who wants to deliver an interesting message and attract some attention, you are left wtih only a few safe topics.

Here are the safest choices that come to mind: some family and parenting topics, cooking, art, product reviews, pets, shopping, and travel. Although these topics are all interesting and have definite markets, they are not generally topics that spar an interesting conversation at the water cooler that can involve multiple people in the office who wouldn't normally talk to each other. Let's step back from the problem for a minute. Pretend you are Lois Lane from the Superman story. You, Lois, are working on a great story and it has broad appeal. How can it not be based on news sources, current events, social controversies, politics, religion, or some other controversial topic? How can it be so far flung from something that would sell like a Superman exclusive? It is hard to imagine it. Isn't it? The alternative is that Lois' topic borders on the ridiculous, the insane, or the completely outrageous.

Let's shift the lens back to the common time frame. If you write about Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, or Paris Hilton, people are going to read it. If you write about certain famous personalities, you will attract an audience. How well do you really know famous celebs and what are your chances of interviewing them for inside information that people find their mouths watering to read? What makes people sit on the john longer until they finish the story?

Well, we've come back to the original question and we haven't solved it. What do you write about besides the newest way to make jalapeno jelly or how to feng shui your writer's den to maximize your productivity?

The conclusion is that there is no easy topic that will be so interesting that you will wow people. You have to keep looking for those original ideas that none of the millions of other writers, turned would-be freelancers making more than the average teacher salary, want to make so that they can work from home, travel, spend time with their families, and do all the other things that attract them to the writer lifestyle. What makes you different from them? Well, if you or I had the answer to that question, we either wouldn't be writing here at AC, or, we would but our names would be on the most viewed list. Oh, and (wouldn't it be nice), we would soon be getting one or more mysterious phone calls from publications like the New York Times or People Magazine that want to hire us as syndicated columnists or highly paid feature writers. As if!

If you ever got such a call, what would you say? Can you even imagine it? I've thought about that scene over and over in my head recently, and I think, well, If they googled me and then did a public records search, they could find me. Here is how I would feel. Check out this awesome new movie with George Clooney (um, sigh), Sydney Pollack, Tom Wilkinson, and Tilda Swinton called Michael Clayton. Once you've seen it, you'll understand how I feel. If I ever get that call, I will feel like Tilda's character in her final scene in the movie.

On that note, keep trying to be original. The worst case is that you give up writing. The best case is that you end up famous, and they make a blockbuster movie out of your original idea. And then you write a book like Stephen King did called On Writing. Or you win a Pulitzer. We can still dream. That is still free. The best part about AC is that it is completely free, you can do it any time you want, and you can get published immediately. Keep on living the dream.