3 Simple Steps To Write About An Unknown Topic

For most people who want to start writing online, one of the biggest fears you would have is to be asked to write about a topic that you know nothing about. But, just like most things we fear, once we face it, we realize that it is actually is not that hard. Below are the steps that you needs to follow (and you'd be surprised at how simple they are).

Research

Yup. Bet you just love this part. We all have to accept that in writing, research is unavoidable. It may be a taxing chore for most, but that's life for ya'. Thankfully, the internet is our friend. It is so much easier now to look something up than it was when our only resource were books (just thinking about those heavy volumes of encyclopedia makes me want to throw up). But now, by just clicking and typing, you can already find almost everything you need to know.

Draft

What most writers tend to do is to try and get everything right the first time. Some gifted folks can do this, yes. But for us normal beings, we have to create a draft first and edit later. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you. And this is especially true when you are literally at a loss for words. 

Something I read somewhere: spit it all out and just clean your mess up later.

Polish

So here, you edit. If you are not time-constrained, it would be best to do the proofreading a couple of days after you've written the piece. This will allows you to have a fresh perspective. Errors would be easier to catch if you haven't just committed them. If you have a deadline to meet though, editing 2 hours after writing would be okay. You just have to be more vigilant. 

TIP: Read your piece out loud. Hearing, instead of just reading with your eyes, will make your mistakes more obvious.

IMPORTANT: The polishing part is NOT to be skipped. If you think you were perfect the first time, you are probably wrong. You may have typos somewhere, or you may have missed typing a word. These are very small mistakes, but it would be embarrassing to have your client think that you did not even bother to proofread.

See, simple right? Again, when in doubt, just "spit it all out and just clean your mess up later".