Well, you’re all set. You have your computer locked and loaded or a notepad and sharpened pencils ready to make magic happen. You want to be a writer and you’re starting today. All of a sudden you realize that you have no idea what you want to write about. Maybe you want to write a novel: fiction or non-fiction? Perhaps you’re interested in a self-help book, children’s book, science fiction or a cookbook. Are you ready for a memoir? The categories are endless.

It’s not uncommon to have an overwhelming urge to write, but only to find yourself lost in wonder about what you are truly passionate about. The first thing you need to figure out is who you are. Do you really know yourself as well as you think? Do you like any one particular thing more than anything else? Are you a reader? If so, what kind of book do you look for first? What about writing about yourself for yourself just for starters? Sounds crazy right?

It’s really a great way to figure out who you really are. Try writing a letter to yourself as if you are writing to someone that has never met you. Describe a day, week, or month in the life of you. What do you enjoy doing? Where do you like to go? What kind of movies, books, and conversations are your favorites? Do you love reading to children? Do you like explaining real issues to children for their ability to understand them easier? Maybe you’re a sports enthusiast and you’re also in love with love stories? That might lead you to a fictional novel about a skier who falls in love with …………

Have you been struggling with an illness or disability? Have you conquered a really difficult speed bump in life? That sounds like a great self-help, inspirational nonfiction book or memoir. People need to know that they are not alone in their struggles.

Are you in the military or a first responder, doctor or nurse perhaps? Write about your happiness, fears, trials, and tribulations which you can make fictional or nonfiction. Others are interested to know what happens in the minds of those that experience life in that aspect every day.

Perhaps while writing a letter to yourself you realize you mention food a lot, that you love to cook, and the recipes you have collected over the years are enough to make your stomach growl. Write a cookbook. I’m always hungry! I’ll buy it!

Do you do things differently or easier than most? I would love to find out ways to make my life a little easier. Whether its small tidbits or you have a major plan to simplify daily life. You really get to find out who you are and what your main interests are when you describe yourself in depth to you.

You may find that your imagination for out-of-this-world creatures is spectacular. Well, you know where to go from there right? You are more interesting than you think, possibly deeper more animated that you thought. A friend of mine wrote a letter to herself and she was so surprised to find out things she never really acknowledged about herself until they surfaced in the letter. Ironically while writing her letter in a coffee shop, she was simultaneously doodling all over a piece of paper. She never wrote a book, yet discovered that she was a really good artist as well as being a photographer for years. She now draws her photography which is absolutely beautiful and I couldn’t be happier that she found her niche. Every time I go to the coffee shop, I look up and smile because I see my friends work on their wall.

You never know you until you introduce you to you. Give it a try, you are really looking forward to meeting yourself. I bet you will be surprised at how truly unique you are.