Why You Can’t Afford to Be a Topic Snob (and How to Change)

Fellow freelancers! Be honest: How many great-paying jobs have you skipped this month because the topic wasn’t ‘exciting’ enough?

If you’re only pitching for gigs that align perfectly with your passion, you’re not building a business—you’re nurturing a hobby. We all feel the urge to click “skip” when a well-paying job for “Advanced Industrial Cleaning Technology” pops up. If I could earn a living writing only about independent films and martial arts, I’d make that change today!

But the secret to a robust, sustainable writing career isn’t finding one niche; it’s learning to write brilliantly about almost everything. To limit your choices is to limit your earnings potential. It’s time to overcome that mental block.

Here are five ways to stop being a topic snob and start treating your writing like a thriving business.

1. Shift Your Mindset: You’re a Professional, Not a Fan

Your primary goal is not personal entertainment; it is to provide measurable value to your client and their audience. When you deliver a professional, high-quality product—regardless of the subject matter—you get a happy client who will happily pay you and, critically, recommend you.

The reward here is a thriving business. If you’re looking for passion, consider this: passion doesn’t have to be about the topic, but the craft itself. Focus your passion on the research, the clarity, and the delivery. That’s how you grow.

2. Know There Is No Such Thing as a Boring Subject

One of my first gigs was writing about the initially dry topics of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding. It didn’t excite me at first, but I quickly learned this rising concept was being applied in all industries, including one of my favorites: movie-making. Soon I was writing about crowdfunding food snacks, news events, weed, and even condoms.

These fun sub-topics kept me coming back for more, and I eventually became something of an expert in the Web 2.0 space, which was both fascinating and lucrative enough to pay for Christmas.

Embrace the challenge: as a skilled writer, you can take any topic and make it engaging and accessible to the intended audience. Try not to think about whether the topic interests you but what qualities you can bring to it.

3. Focus on the Reader, Not Your Preferences

To paraphrase the late John F. Kennedy: Ask not if the topic interests you, but whether this topic interests your client’s reader.

Writing is fundamentally about offering a solution to a problem. To do this, you have to know your client’s audience. Who are they? What are their interests? What pain points do they need addressed? This focus is a core copywriting technique and a vital reminder that we are not writing for ourselves. Not all clients need a thrilling narrative; most just need clear, helpful information delivered effectively.

4. Find Motivation Beyond the Subject Matter

If you are spending time scouring job boards and pitching clients, you are writing to earn a living. You have to stretch outside your comfort zone if you want your writing business to thrive. Limiting yourself to one “nice” topic is limiting your earning potential.

The payoff is compound: Along the way, you expand your knowledge base, which in turn makes you a more versatile, confident, and marketable writer. That, more than any niche, is true job security.

5. Employ Practical Research Strategies

Writing about an unfamiliar topic is not as hard as it seems. It employs the same strategies and techniques you use when writing about your favorite subjects. Even if you’re an expert in your niche, you still have to do your research, listen to podcasts, and vet sources.

The same is true for an unfamiliar topic. Embrace the research phase, let yourself write a “shitty first draft,” use timed writing to beat writer’s block, and then apply the final polish. The process remains the same.

We all have that one topic we dread. While the subject of ‘5 Best Uses for Railway Sleepers‘ might seem boring or unfamiliar, the approach remains the same. By drawing on your professional skillset and a willingness to embrace new topics, you stop treating your craft like a hobby and unlock your true earning potential.

What’s the most unexpected or ‘boring’ writing gig you’ve ever taken, and what surprising skill did you learn from it? Share your story in the comments below!