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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33381
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33381
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

### Don't worry - everything has been done before; just try to be yourself

Your goal shouldn't be to be the only one to ever blog about something. This is especially true for fiction as there are only a handful of basic plots in existence and the main goal of an author is to provide a new version, telling the story in his own words.

But this also applies to non-fiction. There are many people with similar interests and therefore whenever there is something new people will interact with it and report about it, for example on their blog. If you were the only one who was interested in the topic then probably nobody would ever want to read about your stuff. If there are lots of people who might want to _read_ about something then there are likely lots of people who might want to _write_ about that thing.

### If you find something similar analyze it - and make yours as unique as possible

If I found something that is very similar to something you have made a draft about then you can analyze what you have found. See what it talks about mainly, what it talks about only superficially. See how long it is.

And then try to figure out whether you want to talk about it the same way. Do you think some important things didn't get the attention they deserve? Write about them. Maybe even link to the other article if you don't want to talk about the same points extensively as the other author. Try to figure out which parts should be left out. See whether you want to write a more condensed article or a more in-depth article. And above all: use your own words. Some people like articles that read like everyday speech. Some people like articles that sounds scholarly. Some people like jokes, some people hate them. Some people prefer examples, some prefer theoretically analyzing things.

Find what you and your readers prefer and give everything your personal twist. Then it doesn't matter whether someone talks about something similar. Your articles might simply appeal to another audience. One that is more like you and less like the other author - whether that is about the choice of words, language, emphasis on certain parts, having more or less links to other sources, examples, just being more accessible because they know you and your blog from some other topic, ... depends on what you want and what the exact topic is.

Original score: 10