What to write?

For me, picking what to write is probably the hardest part of being a writer. I have a problem with having too many ideas and an attention span that has me hopping from topic to topic. The advice I've been given is to pick something that is interesting enough to hold my attention. Which is great advice, I just wish I could follow it. I find myself jotting things down in various notebooks or typing out short pieces and saving them in one of the thirty folders on my hard drive. As if self-publishing a book wasn't a daunting enough task, first you have to pick what to write a book about and then you have to actually write it!

I suppose it's possible that I'm the only writer with this problem. You may have known exactly the type of book you wanted to write and the subject you wanted to write about from the very first step. I unfortunately did not and I'm still struggling with this very problem. I'm currently writing several different types of books with various subject matter. I wouldn't recommend this approach, it's hard enough to finish one book within any given amount of time, forget about trying to write three at once. I have the feeling none of them will ever be finished.

I'm learning a lot on my journey to self-publishing. I might be taking the scenic route and my final destination might still be many miles away but I'm happy to at least be on my way. So whether you are writing non-fiction, fiction, poetry or a hieroglyph picture book just make sure you're writing about something your passionate about and something you're interested enough in to put all your time and energy into. Keep in mind that even if you get the book written you'll still be working on it long after its completion. There's editing, marketing and promoting, so you'll be stuck with whatever subject matter you pick for, well forever.

Now, if there was only a self-help book for learning how to follow our own advice!

What kind of book are you writing? What's your book about?