Step 4. What (The Topic)
What if you have no topic?
Remember your goal, your motivation, your «Why». It limits your topics and widens your view.
- If my mission is fun, every joke is a topic.
- If it's my job to inform, I research on anything interesting and share the information.
- If I like to share an emotion, I pick something that makes my reader cry, doubt, fear, hate, worry, care or love.
- If my pleasure comes from a mission against poverty, my topics range from (start: awful emotions) abuse and hunger, via (middle: the road from start to end) education and home-grown tomatoes to (end: satisfaction) images of a perfect world.
- If I want fame and money, my topics are sex and violence, as that draws the attention.
My plan is my guideline.
What if you don't know what to write about your topic?
When no ideas pop up, limit your topic by being specific. Don't: "Write a poem…", but: "Write a poem about the front door of your house, the Cyclops peep eye that stands guard, the hungry mouth that swallows the mail, the long-nose doorknob that every visitor pulls, the blue make-up that makes it stand out between the rest of the street…"
A good idea always causes a waterfall of follow-up ideas. When an idea remains stand-alone, it might need more dedication and effort, or perhaps it wasn't such a thrilling idea after all. Make a note of every idea and save it (NEVER throw away anything you wrote).
A businessman once told me: "I have over 10 ideas per day, but I realise less than 1 idea per month." You need those 10 ideas to get one good one, and you'll have to work out 10 good ones to finish one wonderful poem. Every idea is an excuse to enjoy writing, and every draft is an exercise that makes you a better writer.