I think it helps if you have a connection or a professional background with a topic. As a writer, I know I feel very comfortable writing about health and wellness because of my professional experience working for public health non-profits. I also enjoy writing about food and wine as well. These are some of my favorite niches.

However, I am breaking out of my comfort zone and am tackling more technical writing projects. They can be a bit tedious but I’m learning to stretch myself and challenge myself as a writer as well.

I think there are experts who should stick to writing about very technical fields (i.e. engineers, scientists and doctors). A “lay person” can’t really give it justice as they aren’t absorbed in that field on a daily basis. I interviewed a doctor/therapist and was a bit paranoid when I was writing the article because I wanted to make sure I was doing him and his professional expertise/advice justice in the article.

If you’re a good researcher and love to research and know how to interview and ask the right questions, yes, I’m sure you could probably write about topics that aren’t familiar to you. It’s all a matter of getting your fact straight and not misquoting your sources.

I would love to tackle some subjects that are out of my niche but there are some subjects that are totally out of my expertise that I don’t think I would want tackle.

If I hadn’t been willing to write about something I know little about, I would still be struggling to carve a writing career that supports me adequately.

But I also think the writer’s willingness to reserach the new subject properly is crucial.

I use wikipedia, but it’s mostly for background info so I don’t sound completely ignorant when I interview experts, who are my primary sources.

I also like to take a crash course in the subject I want to start writing about.

I may take a webinar or two, or if the subject is a medium-term career move, I attend a seminar or industry conference.
This year I decided to add the satellite manufacturing business to my subjects, so this week I attended a two-day annual conference held in my city.

I listened to hours of presentations and debates, interviewed people who interested me, took every scrap of free documentation I could find.

I know I’m fortunate to live in a city, and it was stressful for my family that I practically had a full-day job for the duration of the conference.

But the time investment helped me.write six articles on satellites including a 1800-word cover story (most people I know really don’t want to know how satellites operate, so editors in the industry were happy to find someone who doesn’t fall asleep during presentations).

Can I now tell satellite manufacturers how to run their business more profitably?Nope!

And until I know more/gain confidence, I will continue to send my articles to people I’ve asked to serve as my technical advisors, so they can spot inaccuracies and breaks in logic before I submit them for publication.

I guess all this waffling boils down to:sure you can write about something you know little about, but it’s a lot of work. And it helps if you plan to write about this new subject in the future.

One of my clients is in the financial business and finance is definitely not one of my more knowledgeable topics. It’s worked well for both of us.

I once wrote a white paper on buffalos. Fascinating and a cool blip on the writing portfolio.

There are topics I won’t touch. Really detailed technology articles – I know I couldn’t do them justice. Others, I’m happy to learn all I can.

@Andrew Langerman – Hi and welcome. I do tend to go off on tangents so I apologize if my post is confusing. My point is that you can write what you don’t know within reason. I wouldn’t want to read an automotive manual written by someone who has never driven a car or looked under the hood, would you? I do agree there are general topics people can write about but when doing research one must be sure to use reputable sources – especially when writing about what one doesn’t know.

I hope I make sense.

Don’t be a stranger, guys.

I think the easiest way to write about something unfamiliar is to do the research and then interview the experts. Allow their opinions and knowledge to add the “meat” (or soy substitute if you prefer) to your article sandwich. I agree with your ideas, but think the post title doesn’t reflect the content presented…

…of course I could be wrong.

Firstly, I have mentioned in the post headline that you need know at least a little about the subject.

Secondly, I’m not telling anyone to write without researching and that you will have to do enough research.

Thirdly, the resources I mentioned have everything you need to learn about a subject. Only thing is that it has equal percentage of crap. But it is the duty and also the skill of a freelance writer to find which one is right and learn about that.

Fourthly, you are not going to rewrite anything you read it online and you are just going to use it as a learning platform. Just learn from the resources and write articles from what you have understood.

I would also like to tell this:
This conversation will have different views.

There are many ways to earn money online, but you have to choose the one that best suits you. Likewise, there are many resources from which you can learn about a subject. It is the duty of the freelance writer to choose the one that suits him/her best and learn the subject.

After all every writer has his/her own style.

My point is the web has too many places in which to find bad information. Don’t rely on it completely for your research.