It’s normal for writers who are just starting out to experiment with various genres. If you’re not sure what you want to write, you may try fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or some combination of the three. If you’re new to freelance writing, you may take any writing job offered to you, regardless of your area of expertise, to gain experience. This experimentation is part of the process of becoming a writer. 

However, as you grow in your craft, you’ll need to define your writing niche to serve your readers best. Settling into a niche helps you define your area of knowledge and skill in the publishing industry and become known for your expertise.

If you’re ready to choose your writing niche but feel drawn in multiple directions, consider the following questions to narrow your focus.    

What comes naturally?

Where do you excel as a writer? What feels most natural to you when you arrive at the page to work every day? Many writers...

If you’re a writer, you’re most likely also a reader and collector of great quotes. Have you ever come across the perfect quote from another author that you would like to include in a piece of your writing? Maybe you’d like to share a quote on social media or include it in a newsletter for your readers. 

Before posting or hitting send, it's important to understand the legal implications when quoting other people’s words. It’s not as simple and clear-cut as it may seem. 

To avoid unintentional plagiarism, small business attorney Andrea Sager offers the following advice to writers.

Attribution

“If it’s a short quote, give credit . . . . As long as you cite the source, then you’re okay,” says Andrea.

We’ve all seen short quotes from books or articles make their way across the internet. If there’s a quote you’d like to share without asking for permission, the rule of thumb is that it must be short,...