I have noticed that a couple of times you have mentioned some certain writing topics in your blog. Although I don't do that anymore, I actually used to write stories and poems, but when I did that, (talking just about poems now) I mainly referred just my own experience - only the topics that I had lived through and that gave me a bunch of emotions. Hence the question - how are you really able to just take a topic and write about it in such amazing way?

I find that by putting together your own knowledge of a topic, the knowledge others such as family and friends can give you on it, overheard conversations about the topic, and research on the topic, you can write about a certain subject fairly easily.

I do have to do some research before writing about some of my subjects, and it’s always good to do that anyway just to make sure you have a pretty solid grasp on what you’re writing about.

Also, you mentioned writing about just your own experiences. Well, there’s a great quote that disputes the idea that writers should only write about their own personal experiences.

"Writers don’t write from experience. Writers write from empathy."

-Nikki Giovanni

:)