Putting Pen To Paper: 10 Things To Write About For Your Next Book

Having your name on a book is exciting, but coming up with unique ideas can be challenging. In today’s day and age, where content sharing is extensive, and self-publishing has made it easier to put books on the market, the literary world seems to want new content. Originality seems like a farce, and every new book looks like the off-shoot of someone else’s work.

So does that mean we’ve exhausted the realm of writing? Have we possibly explored every creative idea there was?

Seems unlikely.

However, coming up with true writing inspiration in search of that one winning idea remains the most challenging aspect of trying to pen down a successful book.

And we’ve seen many writers crumble under the weight of that exact pressure and drive themselves to the brink thinking about a unique topic that could make their book successful.

This is exactly why we’ve come up with a list of 10 topics that we believe warrant every writer’s attention, as they could provide the exact spark you’re looking for.

We’ve also made sure to stick to non-fiction topics only because, let’s face it, it takes real strength to write something real and close to your heart which automatically makes the concluding message of the book even stronger.

So, now that we’ve given you the brief of what to expect, let’s get straight into the list to help you find that one idea that starts you off on your book-writing journey.

The 10 Best Non-Fiction Ideas That’ll Give you a Clue on What to Write About

1. Reinventing a Childhood Memory

We, as human beings, possess the amazing ability to learn from our experiences and apply what we learn to the latter parts of our lives. So what better way is there to start off on your writing journey than by revisiting a pivotal childhood memory that helped shape the person you are today?

Perhaps you could even start off by reinventing that childhood memory and thinking about how you could’ve been a different person today if that experience had gone a bit differently than you remember.

Ask yourself questions like, what if you had asked your crush out all the way back in high school? How different would your life be today? Or what if, instead of being bullied way back in school, you had been the bully and carried that over into your professional life?

We’re sure each individual has had questions like these that they have asked themselves at one point in their life.

Penning these thoughts down on a page in the form of a book could really provide lots of insight to your readers, who themselves might have had these burning questions pop up in their heads from time to time.

2. Compiling a Set of Letters into a Book

Living in the digital age is cool and all, but we believe there is just no replacing the raw feeling of happiness when you receive a heartfelt letter from your friend, lover, or even a stranger.

Perhaps, you, too, have experienced the sheer joy and excitement of exchanging a bunch of enlightening letters with another individual through the course of your life.

So, why not document that feeling and the exact content of those letters in the form of a book that can be shared with millions of other people (provided that the other individual also approves of you sharing their side of the story)?

In the end, the content of those letters may just be powerful enough to change someone else’s life or teach them the true meaning of communicating with another human being. There’s just no possible way of knowing that until you try it.

3. Imagine if your Pet Were a Person

We, as humans, have a natural tendency to humanize animals by imagining what they would talk about if they could speak like humans.

You’ve probably seen it in movies and Tv shows, but rarely ever has there been an entire book that dives into that topic and explores all the possibilities of what it could be like if animals could behave and act like human beings.

The stories they would have to tell, the kind of conversations they would drum up, and the little characteristic ticks they would have are all very exciting to imagine. The curiosity aspect of this topic alone makes it a worthwhile one for your book.

4. How your Life would’ve been different had You Chased after Some Other Dream

Random existential thoughts are a regular occurrence for every human being who’s lived past the age of 25. Some might think about what life would have been like for their parents if they had never been born. Some might ponder the exact purpose of why they were born.

However, the question that pops up most often is, what if I had chosen a different path in life? How different would my life be today? Would it change my fundamental personality?

All of these burning questions are ones that you could base an entire book around. Maybe you, too, had a moment in life where you had to make an important decision to pick between two life-changing alternatives.

So why don’t you document what it could’ve been like had you opted to go in some other direction in your book as a sort of lesson to your readers that teaches them to ponder over their life-changing decisions with some sort of clarity? 

5. Compile All your Travel Stories in a Book

If you’ve had the absolute privilege of traveling to different locations, experiencing different cultures, and tasting different food, then it almost becomes your duty to document that in the form of your book.

The reason is that it could entice others to go on a traveling journey of their own or provide those individuals who don’t have the means to travel with a mental picture of what it would be like to visit all those places.

Above all though, it could mean immense success for your book as traveling to different parts of the world and experiencing different cultures is a dream that exists in almost every human being who has the mental capacity to think for themselves.

6. Take Inspiration from or Unravel the Meaning behind a Song

Do you love music? Well then, as a writer looking for your first topic, you have the opportunity to spread your own knowledge about the power of music to individuals who don’t understand its appeal.

Or better yet, you have the opportunity to share your love for music with individuals who share that same love.

Thus, when coming up with stuff to write about, unraveling the meaning behind or taking inspiration from a specific song that’s very close to your heart could be an excellent way to connect with your audience.

We’re sure you, too, have a favorite song that you fell in love with as soon as you heard it and explaining your feelings while listening to that song for the first time could be just the material you need for your book.

Now, we understand that penning down your raw thoughts about a song can be difficult. But as writers, this is the duty we’ve been given in life and one we must adhere to.

7. Talk about your Biggest Failure

We’re sure that when thinking of ideas to write about, the one thing that you would be really hesitant to pen down would be your biggest failure. This failure could pertain to your professional life, your love life, or even your academic endeavors.

However, what if we told you that you could actually improve someone else’s life by sharing even one of your negative experiences or mistakes that you’ve made?

Would it change your thought process, knowing that? With the power that written material holds, the existence of that event is more than possible. If your answer to that is yes, then you, our friend, have a moral obligation to pen down that story in your book.

Yes, we do understand that it will be immensely difficult allowing yourself to bare your darkest truths and be vulnerable in front of your audience.

But when you weigh that with the amount of good you could do, putting yourself out there becomes quite the easy decision.

8. Write and Publish your Own Cookbook

So, as you think of a good thing to write about, why don’t you just write and publish your own cookbook, which contains recipes from your own kitchen and maybe some that you’ve gained inspiration from?

Because we know that even in this day and age where takeout and food delivery services are raking in all the business, there still remain some cooking enthusiasts who really enjoy learning new recipes and cooking techniques that allow them to come up with some culinary masterpieces of their own.

Be sure to get your feedback on your food from a variety of people first, though, so that you can come to a true evaluation of your cooking skills and recipes before sharing them with the rest of the world.

9. Craft an Interview Book

Ok, this one, we can say, is one of our more unique ideas on this list and is sure to provide all the people who’ve had experience conducting interviews with some content that they can put in their book.

Yup, we’re talking about collecting and documenting your best interview stories and publishing them in the form of your book when thinking of something to write about.

Now, obviously, this idea only pertains to those individuals who have had the occasion to interview some of the more inspiring individuals in their community.

Have you ever come out of an interview process feeling enlightened and inspired by the answers? That’s excellent because you can include that in your book.

And the interviews don’t specifically need to be restrained to a professional setting. They could contain question-and-answer sessions you’ve had with random people in your community or even through the course of your life.

You also have the option of arranging these interviews according to a specific theme you want to follow in the book. Alternatively, because the format is not such a big thing for readers anymore, you could include huge essays on your best interview stories in no particular order.

10. Write your Own Story of Relocating to a New City

Last but not least, a topic that’ll relate to only a few of our readers, but one that we wanted to include anyway: penning down the story of starting life in a new city.

Most people around the world have had the unfortunate or fortunate experience of changing cities, states, or even countries in search of new job opportunities, love, or a fresh start.

Thus, when coming up with things to write about, writing your own story about moving to a different place could indeed resonate with those readers who’ve gone through a similar experience themselves.

Additionally, you could include minute details and differences you’ve noticed about the new place that the more well-established authors just gloss over, along with what you felt when the realization that you had to move somewhere else finally hit you.

All in all, thorough documentation of all the ups and downs you experienced when relocating to a new city could just be the topic you need to kickstart your writing journey.

Final Thoughts

What writers don’t realize before they take on the responsibility of creating their own book is the mental pressure that’s associated with figuring out stuff to write about.

We can say with absolute surety that 80% of writers don’t think about stuff like: what should I write about, before they have their laptop open in front of them.

This is why we thought it extremely important to come up with a few starter topics that fresh writers can take on once they start blanking out when thinking about a topic themselves.

The other important thing to remember when figuring out what to write about is to entertain the topics that are near to your heart.