‘Never talk about politics or religion’ as the saying goes – but what about if you are a triond writer? Writing is all about creativity and freedom of expression is it not?

There are many different approaches that writer’s take when contributing articles to triond and although there are no doubt some similarities, your writing styles and choices of genre will be made in a way that is unique to you.

Experienced writers who have been reflective and responsive to the comments and feedback they are given are able to be more focused in their choices and have begun to formulate their very own secret for success when it comes to deciding what to write about.

For new and budding writers, the path may be a little rocky at first. Excitement and enthusiasm are wonderful motivators, but there is potential to get lost amongst the choices and endless freedom of expression the opportunity of triond has given to you.

Three topics that you should never publish on triond

1. A Topic or article that you know nothing or very little about. This may sound obvious to some writers, but when the pressure strikes, it is possible to be tempted to venture out of your comfort zone and tackle a topic that you only have basic knowledge about. Forcing yourself to write about a random topic is a perfectly accepted tactic to jolt you out of a writers block and experimenting with different genres helps to develop your writing style, so in those circumstances you should go ahead and write to your hearts content. However, publishing a triond article on MP3 players or the key to effective search engine optimization, when you have no knowledge about these topics is a march to the scaffold, where published writers who are knowledgeable on the subject will soon notice that your content is nothing but superficial. Whilst triond is a nurturing and supportive community of writers, it is also a professional arena for our writing and as such, we must always strive to do the best we possibly can.
2. An topic or article that duplicates something that has very recently been published. Okay, so accidents happen. I mean those weird coincidences when you have just submitted an article on the benefits of eating cotton wool soaked in chilli, and lo and behold, no sooner than you have refreshed your screen, the same topic pops up on the recently published scroll. But it is not advisable to deliberately cover a topic that someone else has written for two main reasons; firstly, topics on the same subject in a small time frame may compete with each other for readership. For readers who are scanning, there could possibly be a 50/50 chance or less that they choose to read yours. Secondly, I believe, it is just bad triond etiquette to do so. If you have a good article that you want to publish but see that something similar has beaten you to it, just hold back for a week or so, and then submit it. People in the music industry do the same thing; if a popular band has a release scheduled for the same week as another, they will often come to an agreement that one of them holds back a week. Bands that release an album the same week, often report that the competition has a negative impact on their sales. It’s slightly different on triond as people are not paying to view your articles but their time however, may be limited and you could be competing with reading time. Of course there are exceptions to this, if something is highly topical in the news or it is a seasonal article, you can publish ad infinitum but do check the content has an obviously different focus within the topic.
3. An topic or article that you don’t enjoy reading! You have to believe in your self and trust your talent implicitly. If you like what you write and enjoy reading it back, then this will come across to a stranger, even if they are not really into the subject matter itself. If on the other hand, you read it back and don’t fall in love with it, you probably need to do a little more work. Each piece that you write will take on its own personality and you develop a relationship with it as the creator. Be sure to read through it and change what you need to, in order for it to flow the way you intend it to. In creative writing, this important process is much easier because it is personal expression which is unique to you. If you are writing a factual piece you should still enjoy reading it back – even if it’s a subject that you know inside out. In every writing genre, there always needs to be space for your personality or the mood you are feeling at the time to shine through the words themselves. In film, we like to identify with the characters and when we read, we subconsciously develop a relationship with the writer. This is why so many of us have our favourite authors; we like their style because they are showing us a part of themselves and this includes our favourite non-fiction authors. Not everybody will enjoy your article but if you enjoy it, you can be sure that there will be others who relate to it as well.

Everybody suffers a little writer’s block now and again, that is a natural side effect of our craft and we develop ways in which to deal with it when it strikes. But when it comes to sitting down and writing our next article, it is possible that sometimes, we just don’t know where to start. But when it comes to crafting a piece that is going to “go public” then it is important to consider these points before you press that button and submit!