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Ideas are Everywhere When you get down to the guts of freelance writing, it's all about the ideas. And as Mary Chapin Carpenter so eloquently points out, they are everywhere. You can start with yourself. There has never been another human being with the exact combination of genetics, geographic location, life experience and interests as you, and there never will be again. Therefore, you see the world through a one-of-a-kind lens, and that special take is potentially marketable. What are you an expert in? If you own a Doberman, it gives you credibility for an article about that breed. If you grew up with a person who's now famous, that could open the door to rare insight. If you live with a debilitating illness, you own that experience in a way that no doctor can. Next, look beyond your front door into your community. Every town and city has its unique businesses, fascinating people, interesting history and off-the-beaten-track tourist sites. Just because something may be old to you doesn't mean it would not be fresh and intriguing to someone in another state or country. Ideas tend to percolate up through the various layers of mass media. Often, the story you read in the New York Times or Wall Street Journal or see on "60 Minutes" began with a local newspaper or TV piece. Every movie star, music icon, sports hero and powerful politician started out in a place that recognized his or her ability before the rest of the planet. Technology can feed you ideas aplenty, if you know how to use it. I subscribe to over 400 Google Alerts, which provide me with a constant stream of possibilities. I also read more than 20 newspapers on line. I sense a poverty of ideas in mass media today. How many magazine covers do you see today that offer a recipe, a celebrity profile, a sex tip and an article on either losing weight or saving money? Month after month, these tired, recycled subjects chase each other across the newstand racks. The ultimate goal of The Writers' Bridge is to step forward, through its members, with new ideas -- or new ways of interpreting the old ones. It's what we do. And here's how we do it: FOR FREELANCERS: If we come across an idea that seems to fit your particular geographical area or area of interest, we will send it to you specifically. Beyond that, you will receive a weekly Idea Bank with general ideas that you can claim and adapt to your own needs. FOR EDITORS: For $10 a month, we will send you a list of at least 25 ideas suitable for your magazine or Website. FOR BLOGGERS. Similarly, a $5 monthly fee will get you a list of at least 20 ideas that you can plug into your blog.
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