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How to Catch the Writing Bug
By Stephen Bucaro
If you earn income as a writer, or use writing as a marketing tool, you know how
difficult it can be at times to write. I started writing for my website and
newsletter a few years ago. Sometimes it would be two or three weeks between
articles. Sometimes writing would be torture. Then one day I caught the writing bug.
Now I write two or three articles each day. I don't have to struggle for topic
ideas. I have thousands of good ideas to choose from. Instead, now I struggle
to limit the scope of areas that I will write about. What happened to cause
this change? I caught the writing bug.
The writing bug is contagious, and by reading this article, you too will catch the writing bug!
How to Choose a Topic
The most difficult part of the writing process is choosing a good topic. A good
topic is one that other people want to read about and one that is interesting
enough for you to write about. Here's how to create a notebook full of great topic ideas.
 Use a three-ring notebook as an idea file.
Your idea notebook should have two parts. The first part is sheets where you
jot down ideas whenever they pop into your head. The second part is tabbed
dividers where you keep reference material and partially written articles.
Where do ideas come from? Everywhere! Ideas can come from TV news or any TV
show. They can come from a book, newspaper, or magazine. They can come from the
web. Ideas can come from a conversation with a friend. All of these sources
are sending information and ideas to you.
After you learn how to catch ideas, your idea notebook will be bulging with
great ideas and research information for article and book topics. You don't
need to plagerize or copy other peoples' work. Your article should be nothing
like the material that you get an idea from because you have the "writer's
attitude". Below are some thoughts from a person with the writer's attitude.
 I can explain the topic better.
I know more about the topic.
I disagree with this source.
I can approach that topic from another angle.
I can elaborate more on that topic.
I can write a more concise article.
I can break the information up into more readable short articles.
I can write a more comprehensive article.
I can write a more up-to-date article.
I can rewrite that topic and include examples.
When an idea hits you, write it down in the first part of your idea notebook.
If the idea comes from an article, tear the article out, punch holes in it,
and save it behind a tab in the second part of your idea notebook.
Now when you need an idea, just flip through your idea notebook. Eventually your
idea notebook will contain thousands of great ideas to choose from.
One surprising source of topic ideas is material that you wrote previously.
You can apply the writer's attitude to your own articles.
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