How to Choose a Writing Niche: Ask Ali

Hi Ali,

I have a question concerning the choosing of a writing niche…

What if an area sounds interesting but I don’t know everything involved or am not sure if I have the required skills?

For instance, Content Writing sounds pretty straight forward but I don’t have much experience with SEO, HTML or any other technical jumbo that I can’t list because I don’t know it exists.

Technical Writing and Text Book Writing also sound interesting but can the average person land these gigs or are they more geared for degreed professionals?

What is Grant Writing? Is it required, routine forms or more like proposals?

I’ll be trying to answer some of these questions with a bit of web surfing but your input would be appreciated.

Regarding Ghostwriting- I am interested in ghosting books but am not interested in ghosting blogs or web-articles. Is there a way to work with that

Thank you,

Robyn

Hi Robyn!

OK, let me answer these questions one at a time, starting with this one:

What if an area sounds interesting but I don’t know everything involved or am not sure if I have the required skills?

Research, read and study. Search the writing niche on Google and read about it. Buy or borrow some books on the writing niche and read about it. Study other writers who are currently in the niche you are interested in. Finally, just try it out! If you’re interested in writing short stories, for example, write a few short stories and send them off to the appropriate publications. Sometimes the only way to find out if you will enjoy something is to try it.

For instance, Content Writing sounds pretty straight forward but I don’t have much experience with SEO, HTML or any other technical jumbo that I can’t list because I don’t know it exists.

You can write content without SEO experience. It is not a requirement. However, it is a plus and can help you make more money writing content. You don’t need any html or technical experience. That is left to the web designer. We are writers and that’s what we provide.

Technical Writing and Text Book Writing also sound interesting but can the average person land these gigs or are they more geared for degreed professionals?

Absolutely. You don’t necessarily (although it would be nice) need a degree to be a technical writer or a text book writer. Get a client to take a chance on you to get your foot in the door in one of these niches. You can also practice on your own and show your samples to potential clients.

What is Grant Writing? Is it required, routine forms or more like proposals?

Grant writing is filling out applications for grants and getting funding for non-profit organizations and schools. You will need to learn how to write proposals as well. Is there a grant writer in the house that can help me better explain this?

Regarding Ghostwriting- I am interested in ghosting books but am not interested in ghosting blogs or web-articles. Is there a way to work with that

Of course! You don’t have to ghostwrite anything other than books if that’s what you want to do. When you are your own boss you can do it however you want to. 🙂

Best,

Ali