Four Writing Tips to Make a Boring Topic Interesting

Sometimes, you are given a writing assignment or have a writing idea about a topic that is, well, rather dull. Maybe Associated Content is asking you to write about tax preparation. Or maybe your editor at the magazine you work at wants an essay about the history of math. Whatever your writing field, you will - sooner than later - come across a topic that you need to write about that is boring to the reader. That is, it will be boring if you don't spice it up. Thankfully, I have four "spices" just for you: Four writing tips on how to make a boring topic or boring subject interesting for your readers!

When you are writing about a subject that would be otherwise boring for your Associated Content readers; or readers of your magazine; or whatever audience you are writing for; take these tips and apply them. These writing tips will help you cover a boring subject in a way that will grab the interest of your readers and keep them paying attention from the beginning of your article to the conclusion.

1. Use a current-events "hook" to grab your readers' interest. In other words, tie your article in with something that is happening in the world of your readers. Let's say that you are writing for a financial magazine like Kiplinger's and they want you to write an article on why you should diversify your retirement account. You can ramble off all the ways to diversify a Roth IRA, but then you'll just be boring. However, if you tie your article with the Enron scandal and how many people lost a lot of money because they did not diversify their retirement accounts and instead invested just in Enron, then you've got yourself a story! Other ideas is tying your article's content with a celebrity; for example, on an article on balding, you can maybe mention Britney Spears' shaving her head bald ("Britney Spears may have chosen to shave her hair off, but some people are going bald involuntarily through hereditary causes" or something like that). See what I mean? Tying your article with a current event or other interesting news item will make your information seem more applicable, as well as piquing your audience's curiousity.