A New Twist on Predictable Ideas

Several months ago I entered a themed short story contest that included a list of tips to improve your chances of winning. One tip was to not write about the first thing to pop into your head because if it popped into your head, chances were it popped into the heads of dozens of other writers. So I discarded my first two idea nuggets and finally settled on the third. It was about something I never write about -- sports rivalries. Actually had to consult my sports expert(husband) for two football teams that were rivals. But the story must have worked because I did get mentioned as a runner up.

I've spent much of my time as a freelance writer, trying to craft my ideas into queries that perfectly match what the editor is asking for in their guidelines or call outs. After that contest I wondered if the advice would carry over to the nonfiction world. After all, if I thought my idea was so perfect for this market or editor what were the chances that some other writer had settled on the exact same idea? So I would do the opposite. I would uncover that idea that had never been submitted. I was going to be off-the-wall.

As a new grandma, I have read countless pieces about grandparenting. They are everywhere! So when Business Insider put out a call for essays from new grandparents I had some ideas about what they meant. I had been reading these essays and articles for months. Pushy grandparents, ignored grandparents, reluctant grandparents, blended family grandparents, grandparents as childcare, long distance grandparents, grandparents during childbirth.

I settled on the last one. Grandparents during childbirth seems to run into two themes: being present at my grandchild's birth changed my life and the battle over who should be present during childbirth. I'm sure the editor would be getting many versions of those two themes. Mine was a bit of a twist - I didn't expect to be at the childbirth, I was invited and I was terrified. I sent out the query and heard back the next day! Less than twenty four hours. Of course, then I had to check with my daughter and son-in-law about the wisdom of my sharing the experience with the world. 

I've secured two more assignments that were an unexpected twist on what the editor was requesting. I frequently submit to Chicken Soup for the Soul but normally skip it when the theme is cats. Not that I don't have cat experiences. Over the years I've shared my home with four cats - reluctantly. But I imagine the submissions are from people who LOVE cats. I don't LOVE cats. I don't even love cats. Occasionally, I find myself briefly liking cats. That's what I pitched. I share my home with three cats and we don't like each other. Bingo!

It's enlivening to challenge yourself to come up with the twist on a request that the editors have never come across. Sometimes I'll submit two ideas. One that matches the call out more closely and one that is off-the-wall.  Some days I wonder if editors really like the off-the-wall query or if they are just curious to see what the heck I'm going to do with my proposed idea.

Don't forget that editors are people too. People who might get bored reading endless variations on the
same theme day after day. Give them something new to read. They just might like it!

Jodi M. Webb writes from her home in the Pennsylvania mountains about everything from DIY projects to tea to butterflies. Next month her writing will be included in What I Learned for My Cat (Chicken Soup for the Soul). She's also a blog tour manager for WOW-Women on Writing and a writing tutor at her local university. Get to know her @jodiwebbwrites,  Facebook and blogging at Words by Webb. 

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