HOW TO DISCOVER YOUR WRITING NICHE

Writing has been emphasized as art for a long time but in the world we now live in, we can see that writing is as much science as it is art and it’s also business.

Let me explain what I mean.

Writing as a form of art is a type of creative expression. You share your idea with the world in a way that it connects to the human emotions and stirs them to make changes or to be persuaded enough to develop a mindset.

Writing can also be scientific because they are processes and fundamental principles that must be obeyed for your work to be excellent or worth anyone’s attention. There are rules of grammar, theories of storytelling and the act of drawing conclusions used in writing. Writing can also be scientific in the sense of the steps taken to reach the final destination. It isn’t spontaneous or sporadic. It can be predicted and regulated.

Writing is also a business and this isn’t only for authors. I know you must have heard of freelance writers, content writers, technical writers, copywriters, UX writers and so on. These are people who are contributing to business’ goal and success by offering their writing skills online. Brands and businesses work with them to achieve a common goal.

These three concepts are distinctive and are needed for any writer who wants to monetize their writing abilities. You know I read somewhere that writing is one of the many digital skills that could be monetize from anywhere.

Now, there are different kinds of writing. There are so many that I can’t even state all of them in this article. I personally think that different types would keep emerging as they are many human and brand needs to be met.

One of the many questions I get asked a lot when people reach out to me as a freelancer is ‘What’s your niche?” and it could mean different things per time.

There are different kinds of writing and there are also different niches of writing. Sounds complicated? Welcome to my world.

I know you know there are four essential types of writing:

Expository – the writer seeks to inform or educate a particular subject matter to the reader. In modern terms, think general articles and blog posts.

Descriptive – this is a very detailed form of writing that involves painting a picture for readers so they can have a full grasp of topic or something.

Narrative – the writer tells a story and this could be fiction or non-fiction. Hear the voice of Morgan Freeman here.

Persuasive – the writer seeks to influence the reader by opening up their opinion of a particular subject matter.

No matter what you write, it’ll fall under one of these four categories. Of course, a writer can engage two or three but these are the ones calling the shots.

A writing niche, on the other hand is specialization. It’s usually a sector, a field and an area of expertise. As a freelance writer, specializing in a niche would water down the competition, help you hone your interests and skills and above all, help you establish yourself as the big fish whenever the specific niche is mentioned.

You can see now that the contemplation isn’t whether you write articles, white papers, website contents, blog posts, emails, newsletters or copies; the bone of contention is what kind of articles do you write?

Do you write on technology or on finance?

This is the niche part I’m focusing on here and the caveat is that it might not come to you at the very beginning.

Just like a lot of other freelancers I know, I got different all sorts gigs at the beginning and trust me, I still do because I’m still on my way of solidifying my niche but working and evaluating my progress and journey would help me identify my niche and I’m here to share that information.

There are writers who write on Finance – personal finance, business finance, corporate finance, governmental finance, stocks, cryptocurrency, startup finance. These are their niches. These are the kind of gigs they look for and these are the kind of personal articles, blog posts, white papers, reviews, content they create. They have built their expertise over time and it’s what they are known for both by their audience and by clients.

Some other writers are Travel writers – their interest and expertise is on travel plans, goals, wanderlust, cultures of the world, stories of the world, restaurants, travel lifestyle and deals etc.

There are Digital Marketing writers too; education, health and wellness, ghostwriters, screenplay, food, entertainment, sports; style, beauty and fashion, technology, politics, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Niching would help you feel appropriately positioned and your talent maximized. It would reduce the feeling of being spread too thin.

So how do you find your niche?

The first thing to do to identify your niche is to be able to pinpoint what you love writing about. The same way you identified writing as a passion to pursue among your many interests. You have to identify the area of writing that makes you tick. For example, I love writing about writing (the art, the process, the tips, the setbacks, the journey) and though this hasn’t led to a freelance writing job, it has led to speaking engagements and few classes.

Another way to find your niche is to look at the market, see the opportunities and jump on them. It’s so easy to follow your passion blindly in a sound box while the rest of the world is moving on or facing disruptions. For example, last year I realized that UX/UI writing was a thing and it caught my interest because that aspect of design hasn’t even fully boomed yet and is quite lucrative.

So, if I am to branch out, I’ll go learn this kind of writing and change my story to

“I’m Adebola Zoe Williams – a UI/UX writer”

This is more definitive, sends a strong message to anyone who comes around to set their expectations right.

What do you know and what do you love learning about? This is the third thing to know when go on a niche discovery journey as a freelance writer. You have to highlight the things you know, whether at your job or you’ve gained experience on. Also identify the areas you love learning about as this could be pointers to interest and niche is a lot of interest couple with decisions.

I’m a freelance writer on her niche-discovery journey. All I know is that it’s time to move from a generalist and try a specialist approach for me and I thought there might be others on this journey as well.

I've been able to categorize my writing under WRITING, CONTENT MARKETING, CREATIVITY, YOUNG PEOPLE TIPS and sometimes, WEIRD STUFF.

You can keep in touch with me here or on Instagram. I have some Medium articles also and I'd love you to join the Creative Juice Newsletter.