You can draw on your own experiences or those of friends and family members for articles and stories to write. Look around your church for interesting people and unique ministries. Check out your local newspaper, your community, and current world events for even more ideas. This is Part 1 of a three-part series.
Yourself
The best place to find ideas for articles, stories, and devotionals to write is to look at yourself. What have you experienced that will interest others?
You can draw upon past and present events or lessons you have learned. You can state your opinions in something like an op-ed piece or a letter to the editor in your local newspaper or a national magazine.
Have you learned a lesson in coping with a problem or difficult circumstances? Perhaps others can benefit from the road you have walked. A word of caution though: make sure you are healed before you begin writing, or your anger and unresolved feelings will come out. If you bleed all over the page, no one will benefit. Consider your hopes and dreams. Share them to encourage others in your personal experience articles.
Do you have any interesting hobbies that others can learn about. Often people’s busy schedules or their budgets won’t allow them to attend classes. You can be their classroom teacher and show them how to do or make something through a how-to article.
If you keep a journal, some of your entries may provide interesting slices of daily life. If you can write about the mundane in an exciting, humorous way, you will entertain your audience well. Be aware, however, that many of the things in your journal are meant for your eyes only, and others will not benefit in any way from reading about them. Learn to discern what will interest others and what will not.
Sometimes our childhood memories provide interesting anecdotes. Again, be careful that what you experienced is relevant to today’s audience.
Often events that happen in the workplace or while you are doing volunteer work provide excellent fodder for stories. One student of mine wrote about her work at a local rescue mission. Another worked at a preschool, and another volunteered her time at a home for unwed mothers. All of these experiences provided excellent material for stories.
Also, be sure to keep a journal when you travel. You never know what interesting situation you might encounter. Readers love to go on adventures to cities and countries where they will never travel. They can live vicariously through your exciting adventures, benefiting from the lessons you learned along the way if you make your story realistic.
Some of the incidents in your life will make excellent personal experience stories. Others might give you ideas for fictional stories. Fiction comes to life when it is based on a true story.