In college, in books, and anywhere else you ask for writing advice, you will be told to write about what interests you. Generally, that means you should go and do some soul searching, consider what subject you have a true and undying passion for, research the hell out of it, and start working toward some magnum opus.
Screw that. A life-long interest is all well and good, but it comes with drawbacks. Some days you just don't give a damn about it. Some days you just can't think of anything to write. It's not even that you can't think of anything good; you can't think of anything at all. So what, should you take the day off and try again tomorrow? I suppose you could, but then you've just wasted a day because you burned yourself out.
Instead of writing about what will interest you forever, write about what interests you right now. If I'm working on a horror story, there are going to be days where I'm just not in the mood for dark and dirty. Maybe I want to ponder science. Maybe I start thinking about matter and energy and how when you break matter down small enough, it actually is energy. I could do a whole stream of consciousness about the theory of relativity.
In doing that, I will get myself writing and enjoying it. I may give myself ideas that I otherwise wouldn't have thought of. These ideas may even manage to work their way into my horror story. But if they don't, they could still find their ways elsewhere. If nothing else, I went another day where I have written and enjoyed doing so. And if you aren't doing that, what are you doing?
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