Great term, great concept, and great diagrams! (Breaking it into a sequence made it so clear) ... I will be reflecting for a while on if there’s a shared emotion under my work.
Do you think that some emotions are more expansive than others? For example, if one labels themselves through the emotion of “intensity,” they can have permission to cover any topic around intensity, but it limits them from emotions of slowness, weirdness, etc. Any thoughts?
If you were to pick one emotion for your work, what would it be?
Aw Michael that's a good question! Honestly I've been having this creeping feeling like "Harrison you wrote about this and now you've gotta decide for yourself! What's YOUR emotional niche?!" But honestly I'm not sure yet.
I think it's something to do with ideas, the excitement of a new idea, the sense of anticipation you get from a promising idea, the territorial feelings that often accompany having a good idea, the sense of possibility, the sense that the world keeps on giving more and more of itself—kind of like an abundance.
Have you ever had that feeling where you're certain that a concept or a business or a product or an art form has been fully explored and unpacked and you're sure there's no more value to be had from it…and then someone comes up with a new idea within it and you realise the world is in fact inexhaustible in its possibility and its nuance?! That's close to what I'm going after if I'm thinking about my emotional niche. I'd like to be the "ideas guy" or something. But I've gotta dig underneath to find the specific emotions that I feel when being the ideas guy.
To your question about expansiveness - I'd say definitely! Some emotions are bound to give you more or less scope for movement and applicability. So it seems that some emotions offer more "potential" as niches. But having said that, it may be that the emotions with the most potential will become the most populated, and that a writer who's serious about establishing a unique nichecraft may be better served claiming a niche with less movement in it so they have less competition. But then again, we're paradoxically getting back into the realm of freedom versus constraints. The mind boggles!
In the end, there's probably another essay or two to come out of this, so watch this space, I'm'a keep thinking on it.
Thanks again for your help and for restacking. I appreciate it mate
What a fantastic piece, Harrison. Fascinating and illuminating, as I'm launching a new company with a former coworker, and this articulates so many things we'd been circling around, but hadn't been able to fully see. I'm also all about balance, and have been thinking recently how much advice pushes us to pursue one extreme to the exclusion of the other. Love this—great stuff.
I've been talking with my business partner about this. I think, in the context of AI, hopefulness and wonder. There's enough of the doom/panic around it—some of which I agree with and am concerned about, by the way—but I like the idea of that more hopeful/wonder-driven AI niche for an audience of SMB owners/execs.
Bookmarked! I wanted to create a video about this topic. Niching down or not is one of the most popular questions when writing online.
Glad you shared this with me. Will check out those writers you mentioned. Obsessed is my favourite emotion
I recently told one of my members to go with "curious" as umbrelalla and from there explore different topics.
I'm also multi passionate. I called my pub Obline Writing Club and in the club we can have a great time exploring everything about online writing and building a business.
What's missing?
Emotion!
Guess the strongest one is freedom and inspiration. Most people tell me I inspire them. Think this is the one!
Yeah I've thought a lot about how important "curiosity" is to me and my practice. To everything! That's a solid option for sure.
I think "inspiration" works too. I mean, what can you NOT explore and write about under that umbrella?! It's the gift that keeps on giving.
How's the school going? I wanna join but got one too many commitments right now. Do you need any support with it? I'd like to help if I can. I like the work you're doing. I think it's important
Hu Harrison, maybe I can pick your brain one day in the near future or add a short video of you to one of my videos. Have to think about it and then will come back to you
I’d be honoured. I focus on helping people with the craft of writing and especially the “thinking behind the thinking,” helping writers know why they’re writing and feeling excited doing it. I’m sure many of your readers would find it valuable. I’d love to collaborate
This is so great- something I have been thinking about re:personal monopoly. So far my only consistency is my dramatics, haha! Thanks for introducing me to Emily McDowell!!
These people are niching by theme. It’s something we have seen with our author ecosystem. We call them forests. About 40% of authors niche by theme instead of topic.
I’d actually say it’s slightly different to themes, since themes still aren’t quite as transferrable as emotions or states of mind. I haven’t thought any more than that tho. There are probably some subtle differences that would impact the writer’s (and the reader’s?) experience but at the end of the day, whatever helps us get unstuck and enjoy the practice more, that’s the most important thing right?
How did I miss this a month ago? I needed to wade through the muck of November to be ready for it. Thanks for writing Harrison. Bookmarking to return to this....
Amazing framework. I am approaching my writing overtly with no intent to niche (as I'm not doing this for commercial reasons) but I wonder if I am circling around some emotional niche.
Hey Collin, thanks very much, I enjoyed writing this one a lot :)
I see you're writing about "anything." How many pieces have you written? It's interesting to think that maybe once you've written X pieces, your emotional niche may reveal itself natrually, what do you think?
Honestly, I'm happy to be wrong about this, but my feeling is that the person writing for fun (or without wanting to instrumentalise their essays for anything) is more likely to discover their emotional niche—and more quickly—precisely because they are more aligned with their own genuine interests, problems and solutions. Does that make sense?
This has given me an answer for the "niche or not" issue I've been thinking about constantly during WoP. You've kinda blown my mind. Thank you for writing this.
Thanks Miche! Appreciate your kind words! Creating possibility sound promising. Could you be "the possibility gal"? I think the trick is to dig under that state and probe at the specific feelings you have when you're in your element. I'm none the wiser when it comes to my own practice. i'm also trying to think about what my emotional niche could be. it's certainly not easy, and I think it could be helped by doing what the Dean did by asking his readers what feelings they feel when reading his work. Maybe WOP could add an extra session to their curriculum where we all give feedback (anonymously if necessary) on the feelings and emotions being stirred up by each others' work. I would certainly love a session like that
Harrison! I'm a huge fan of this niche crafting idea, thank you for introducing us to that! Love how you made this piece so visual, I felt like reading a well designed magazine all along the way )
Thanks Lavinia I'm pretty happy with this piece, though couldn't have gotten it anywhere near this without you (and the others from WOP). Such a blessing to be part of the community!
Harrison! First, this is such a brilliant way to frame the concept of “niche” and this piece is so well-executed, bravo! I’ve never thought of it this way! Second, I’m SO HONORED to be one of the examples here. It’s helping me consider my own work differently. Thank you!!!
In a break out of one of the Watch Parties we read a couple of each other’s paragraphs and gave feedback on what we thought about the author’s voice. Mine was described as sunny and ironic in a positive way.
I can take a look at some of your essays and see what comes up for me
Great term, great concept, and great diagrams! (Breaking it into a sequence made it so clear) ... I will be reflecting for a while on if there’s a shared emotion under my work.
Do you think that some emotions are more expansive than others? For example, if one labels themselves through the emotion of “intensity,” they can have permission to cover any topic around intensity, but it limits them from emotions of slowness, weirdness, etc. Any thoughts?
If you were to pick one emotion for your work, what would it be?
Aw Michael that's a good question! Honestly I've been having this creeping feeling like "Harrison you wrote about this and now you've gotta decide for yourself! What's YOUR emotional niche?!" But honestly I'm not sure yet.
I think it's something to do with ideas, the excitement of a new idea, the sense of anticipation you get from a promising idea, the territorial feelings that often accompany having a good idea, the sense of possibility, the sense that the world keeps on giving more and more of itself—kind of like an abundance.
Have you ever had that feeling where you're certain that a concept or a business or a product or an art form has been fully explored and unpacked and you're sure there's no more value to be had from it…and then someone comes up with a new idea within it and you realise the world is in fact inexhaustible in its possibility and its nuance?! That's close to what I'm going after if I'm thinking about my emotional niche. I'd like to be the "ideas guy" or something. But I've gotta dig underneath to find the specific emotions that I feel when being the ideas guy.
To your question about expansiveness - I'd say definitely! Some emotions are bound to give you more or less scope for movement and applicability. So it seems that some emotions offer more "potential" as niches. But having said that, it may be that the emotions with the most potential will become the most populated, and that a writer who's serious about establishing a unique nichecraft may be better served claiming a niche with less movement in it so they have less competition. But then again, we're paradoxically getting back into the realm of freedom versus constraints. The mind boggles!
In the end, there's probably another essay or two to come out of this, so watch this space, I'm'a keep thinking on it.
Thanks again for your help and for restacking. I appreciate it mate
What a fantastic piece, Harrison. Fascinating and illuminating, as I'm launching a new company with a former coworker, and this articulates so many things we'd been circling around, but hadn't been able to fully see. I'm also all about balance, and have been thinking recently how much advice pushes us to pursue one extreme to the exclusion of the other. Love this—great stuff.
Thanks Rob. Any sense of what your emotional niche might be?
I've been talking with my business partner about this. I think, in the context of AI, hopefulness and wonder. There's enough of the doom/panic around it—some of which I agree with and am concerned about, by the way—but I like the idea of that more hopeful/wonder-driven AI niche for an audience of SMB owners/execs.
Cool, what’s the biz?
Bookmarked! I wanted to create a video about this topic. Niching down or not is one of the most popular questions when writing online.
Glad you shared this with me. Will check out those writers you mentioned. Obsessed is my favourite emotion
I recently told one of my members to go with "curious" as umbrelalla and from there explore different topics.
I'm also multi passionate. I called my pub Obline Writing Club and in the club we can have a great time exploring everything about online writing and building a business.
What's missing?
Emotion!
Guess the strongest one is freedom and inspiration. Most people tell me I inspire them. Think this is the one!
What do you think?
Hey Kristina! Aw thanks for your kind words!
Yeah I've thought a lot about how important "curiosity" is to me and my practice. To everything! That's a solid option for sure.
I think "inspiration" works too. I mean, what can you NOT explore and write about under that umbrella?! It's the gift that keeps on giving.
How's the school going? I wanna join but got one too many commitments right now. Do you need any support with it? I'd like to help if I can. I like the work you're doing. I think it's important
Hu Harrison, maybe I can pick your brain one day in the near future or add a short video of you to one of my videos. Have to think about it and then will come back to you
I’d be honoured. I focus on helping people with the craft of writing and especially the “thinking behind the thinking,” helping writers know why they’re writing and feeling excited doing it. I’m sure many of your readers would find it valuable. I’d love to collaborate
Hey Kristina, hope you're well, just following up on this. Would you like to chat about niche-crafting (or other writerly things)?
Claiming the emotional niche of "authenticity"! Stay tuned!
Oh that’s nice!! Keep me posted Samantha
This is so great- something I have been thinking about re:personal monopoly. So far my only consistency is my dramatics, haha! Thanks for introducing me to Emily McDowell!!
Thanks Emma! Emily’s SO poignant and funny
These people are niching by theme. It’s something we have seen with our author ecosystem. We call them forests. About 40% of authors niche by theme instead of topic.
I’d actually say it’s slightly different to themes, since themes still aren’t quite as transferrable as emotions or states of mind. I haven’t thought any more than that tho. There are probably some subtle differences that would impact the writer’s (and the reader’s?) experience but at the end of the day, whatever helps us get unstuck and enjoy the practice more, that’s the most important thing right?
How did I miss this a month ago? I needed to wade through the muck of November to be ready for it. Thanks for writing Harrison. Bookmarking to return to this....
No worries Alec, glad you’re seeing it now!
Amazing framework. I am approaching my writing overtly with no intent to niche (as I'm not doing this for commercial reasons) but I wonder if I am circling around some emotional niche.
Hey Collin, thanks very much, I enjoyed writing this one a lot :)
I see you're writing about "anything." How many pieces have you written? It's interesting to think that maybe once you've written X pieces, your emotional niche may reveal itself natrually, what do you think?
And whether people who write for fun will tend to draw from the same well or not
Honestly, I'm happy to be wrong about this, but my feeling is that the person writing for fun (or without wanting to instrumentalise their essays for anything) is more likely to discover their emotional niche—and more quickly—precisely because they are more aligned with their own genuine interests, problems and solutions. Does that make sense?
This has given me an answer for the "niche or not" issue I've been thinking about constantly during WoP. You've kinda blown my mind. Thank you for writing this.
Aw thanks Alex, that means a lot! Yeah I enjoyed researching and writing it. Do you have any ideas about what emotions you feel your work aligns with?
Emotional niche crafting, brilliant! I’ve been playing around with “creating possibility” which isn’t emotional but also isn’t a narrow skills niche.
Thanks for writing about this and introducing us to three inspiring writers
Thanks Miche! Appreciate your kind words! Creating possibility sound promising. Could you be "the possibility gal"? I think the trick is to dig under that state and probe at the specific feelings you have when you're in your element. I'm none the wiser when it comes to my own practice. i'm also trying to think about what my emotional niche could be. it's certainly not easy, and I think it could be helped by doing what the Dean did by asking his readers what feelings they feel when reading his work. Maybe WOP could add an extra session to their curriculum where we all give feedback (anonymously if necessary) on the feelings and emotions being stirred up by each others' work. I would certainly love a session like that
Introspective is a word that comes up for me when I read your essays, also rebellious and insightful. You use questions as catalysts for change.
You can also brand yourself as curious.
Thanks! That’s very insightful!
Having read some of yours, feelings/terms that came up are Mindful, Reflecting, Flying, Encouraging, Loving, Discovering, Caring
Thank you <3. Such a lovely exercise.
👍
Harrison! I'm a huge fan of this niche crafting idea, thank you for introducing us to that! Love how you made this piece so visual, I felt like reading a well designed magazine all along the way )
Thanks Anna, that means a lot, I'm just so buzzing about what I've learned from the WOP community! Are you going to more of the extracurricular gyms??
Yep, I intend to ). Will see if I could keep this regular given work schedule, but I'm so down for more WOP
amazing, it's the best
Yessssssssss!
"It never ends. We flow between these two poles our whole life, like an infinity symbol ∞"
I will be sharing this widely! Incredible job with this, Harrison!
Thanks Lavinia I'm pretty happy with this piece, though couldn't have gotten it anywhere near this without you (and the others from WOP). Such a blessing to be part of the community!
Such a great piece, very inspiring, thank you!
Thanks Hugo :)
Any ideas what your emotional niche would be?
Harrison! First, this is such a brilliant way to frame the concept of “niche” and this piece is so well-executed, bravo! I’ve never thought of it this way! Second, I’m SO HONORED to be one of the examples here. It’s helping me consider my own work differently. Thank you!!!
Aw that’s such a nice message to read just as I woke up too!
A session like that would be great.
In a break out of one of the Watch Parties we read a couple of each other’s paragraphs and gave feedback on what we thought about the author’s voice. Mine was described as sunny and ironic in a positive way.
I can take a look at some of your essays and see what comes up for me
You’re a legend Miche, thank you. I’m’a look at some of yours…