What Could I Write About?

Question:

I absolutely love the Alice Series, and I wish I had started reading them  earlier. I know you probably have heard lots of letters like this, but, I really wanted to know, what inspired you to write the Alice Series? I was thinking about becoming a writer, and I wondered if you could give me any advice or topics to write about. I like writing, but I can’t seem to write anything worth publishing yet. Your reply will be greatly welcomed!   

Phyllis replied:

I didn’t know I was going to write a series when I began.  I just had the idea to write about a motherless girl looking for a role model.  The best topics to write about are the ones that begin with you, not with someone else.  What’s the story or book that only you can write?  If you think you have nothing to write about because you feel you are the most ordinary girl in the world, then write a funny story or article about the World’s Most Ordinary Girl.  One way to discover what’s inside you is to think about the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you, or the episode that made you the most angry, or most sad, or most frightened, and write just a few lines about it down on paper.  Then turn it over to your imagination and give it wings.  Let it happen to someone else.  Have it begin differently, end differently, etc.  You have started with something that was dear to your heart and turned it into a story that no one else would recognize as beginning with you.