Creating a Compelling Piece from a Random Fact

Here’s when your passion for random facts can come in handy!

If like me you spend hours reading the most random things on the internet without any idea of how to make use of your newly-acquired knowledge, this article is for you.

Writing for an employer often saves you the trouble of thinking up new topics. But what if you’re writing for yourself? What if you’re running your own blog and have the freedom to write about whatever pleases you?

Sometimes you have no idea what that is. There are days when you have exhausted your creativity, and struggle to find something to write about. But if you like collecting random facts, you can often create compelling pieces of writing from them.

I started my Medium blog because I enjoyed writing. At that point, I had no idea what niche I wanted; no idea what I wanted to write about. When I started exploring different topics, and writing about whatever took my fancy, an idea began to form. Now I know the topics I truly enjoy writing. It all started from a random fact.

1. Remember What Truly Captured You

I consume a lot of useless information within a short space of time. The key to figuring out what you want to write about is making note of what you can’t stop thinking. Some things get lodged in my mind for days, until I have to read more about them.

Make a list of such things; use it when you need writing ideas.

2. Do More Research on It

Often, the story isn’t as interesting or mind-blowing as the headline. Therefore, knowing details is important. You don’t want to mislead your readers with vaguely worded essays. And details of what interests you will be interesting to others. Include the “why” and the “how,” and make sure to cite your sources. Because facts from reliable sources is key to writing believable articles, and citing those sources makes your story authoritative.

3. Create a Compelling Headline

An attention-grabbing headline is just as important as your research. As we’re offered millions of options every day, your headline will determine if the reader clicks on it, or simply scrolls past.

The Knowledge Stew publication on Medium is a collection of stories based on random facts. The story titles are fascinating and informative, not click-baity. For example, “How Scooby-Doo Got His Name” is something most of us would definitely click on, if we grew up following Scooby’s thrilling adventures.

Many people like knowing about the smallest things, about how the world and the society work. So whenever you find yourself looking for new ideas, try writing about one of the things in your list of random facts.