Finding Your Niche....

This bear seems to be thinking "Which way do I go?" Do you find yourself thinking the same things when deciding which genre to write in? Or are you having difficulty finding your niche?

I for one, am still trying to find mine. Some days it is nursing articles because that pays the bills, but it leaves me wishing I had time to write more for children. Other days, I write the stories in my heart for children, send them off, and the rejections weeks later have me wondering if children's writing is really the genre I will succeed at.

How do you decide what is best for you? Here are the tips that keep me remembering what it is that I love to do.

1. Join a writing club or critique group in the genre that you love to write in. Here you will learn and improve the skills it takes to be good in one genre. I belong to The Children's Writing Coaching Club and it has taught me so many things about how to write for children. I believe it will be the reason that my stories will see the market place someday and besides that I have made lifelong friends in the process.

2. Explore other avenues that let you try out your writing talents. Some of those other avenues may lead to paid writing gigs and some won't, but you will still continue to hone your writing skills and in turn learn what you really like to write.

3. Continue to take writing classes in person or online. There are some very inexpensive ones that will add to your knowledge base. Be careful when checking out the promises of some of the classes though and keep in mind that you still must do the work... meaning you must write to be better and to offer a product to publish.

4. Make a plan. You must have goals and the daily and weekly steps you will do to meet those goals. Writing in not a get rich scheme. It is hard work and it can take several months to years to build up your skills to obtain success.

5. Do not give up. Even if you must continue to work a full time job, find 15 minutes a day to write and work toward your goals. Success can often be in just writing for yourself. Self-expression is one of the cheapest ways to entertain and improve your health that you can find.

Keep writing the kinds of things you love, and explore a niche you may not be familiar with, but keep at it. In the end you will feel yourself pulled towards the niche or genre that feels right. From there, you can branch out to any area that you research. Read all kinds of material too, because that also helps you to gravitate toward the writing arena you are most comfortable in. Become an expert in one field and from there the sky is the limit.

Remember to have fun with the process too. It can be a long road to publishing and sometimes a lonely one, so the fun is in the writing. Enjoy.

Now...I hope you'll visit the next site on the blog chain sponsored by the National Writing for Children Center. That site is http://www.griercooper.com/category/blog. For a list of all the links on the chain, go to www.writingforchildrencenter.com