Anyway, I like how latoya summed up her “won’t-writes”: anything she considers immoral. That would sum up mine, too.

I also agree with the refusal to write what I can’t “get up to speed” on quickly enough. But I tend to find nice bosses who help me out when it’s an alien topic.

I used to think I wouldn’t write about cooking; I feel so unqualified beside to my mother. (She’s an excellent from-scratch cook.) But circumstances lately have made me realize how much I do know about cooking.

Finance, politics, government, technology–those are pretty much the areas I don’t feel comfortable with.

I’ve turned down topics on sarging before. I can’t stomach writing thousands of words about testosterone-driven males who’re drowning in machismo.

Another thing I won’t write about is technology. I’ve written a couple before and they’ve been called “rubbish” by experts. LOL. I guess it’s easy to separate the experts from the dabblers in a certain topic. Of course if I’ve been given enough time I could have produced better end products. Not trying to justify myself, just stating a fact…*mumbles*

PS: Hi latoya, nice seeing you here too

I write on financial topics and I won’t give people bad financial advice. I’ve had one prospect ask me to write copy for their payday loan business. That wasn’t so bad, but I don’t agree with that business model, so I turned it down.

Leigh…I just wrote an article on forex a couple of weeks ago, I could have used you!

I also won’t write for anyone who promises a certain amount of money in an ad and then changes it once they’ve hired you. That’s not necessarily a topic, but it’s something I’ve run across frequently as of late.

I have been called on to write articles for the local paper on issues I don’t know, but it’s easy enough to interview the principles of the story and let them do the talking – so it’s the one exception and/or area I can get up to speed quickly on.

However, like other writers have mentioned, I won’t write about anything dishonest. I’ve pushed the envelope once by writing about something I don’t really agree with — marketing copy for nutritional supplements — but since it wasn’t dishonest I went ahead and did it.

I also have to agree with something another writer said: since I’m agnostic, I wouldn’t feel comfortable writing anything pro-Christianity. However, I’m fine with writing objective essays or research papers about religion (both of which I’ve done).

Speaking of research papers, the other thing I won’t write is other students’ homework… But I guess on this forum that probably goes without saying.

I love writing about medical topics. Like a previous poster, I have a lot of medical knowledge and have found that doctors and other medical professionals are not always the best resources. Sort of like the radiologist who pointed out my appendix to a radiology student – 5 years after my appendix had been removed.

My degree is in business, so I also do well with business, finance, and tech topics. I dabble with stock trading and I used to work for a foreign exchange trading firm (a hotbed of misery if I ever saw one) so I like to write about investing and personal finance the most out of the three business areas.

Every time I need work, I find something that fits within this purpose, whether it’s for a client or for a journalism assignment. By not taking other work, I always love what I do, feel passionate about it, and leave room in my life for my preferred topics to come in.

I’m also uncomfortable writing stories about allegations of crimes against an individual. I’ll happily write about the corporation and the executives as part of the entity- if they don’t like what I say, they can always threaten to sue me, and they have PR people who spin things anyway. But if there is no corporation to back up the indivual, I don’t touch the story because I feel the media has unfair advantage and there is too much risk to do a person damage. Even if the story is exaggerated, as the media is wont to do, what can the individual do? Suing takes time and money and even when the person wins, it costs them too much personally.

I don’t write adult material. I’m a parenting and children’s writer and it would not be fair to ask this audience to swallow that I also write adult material.

Thanks for looking out for us Deb.

I have no trouble writing erotica — I publish under a half a dozen names, and those are kept quite separate from my business writing links. Or I don’t advertise those pseudonyms at all. However, the money has to be high — it’s extremely technical writing that has to hit certain points at certain rhythms, and I insist on being well-paid for it.

I don’t mind writing about topics I don’t know about — although I do expect to be paid for research time and I let them know upfront that I’m not an expert, but interested in the topic.

I don’t take jobs writing material for real estate developers because of my experiences dealing with the evil developers who tried to force 100+ families out of my mother’s building.

I don’t take jobs in the organized religious markets because my beliefs are different than the hardcore beliefs and why would I work for someone who’s convinced I’m going to hell or the equivalent?

Karen L. Alaniz