Writing Like An Archaeologist

“What do you write about?”

Okay, here's the thing: I don’t have a clear, definitive answer to this. At least, not right now.

When I decided to start writing online, I wasn’t sure what topics I should cover. I don’t see myself as an expert on anything so I don’t have a niche. 

And yet, I write. 

Luckily, I realized I can experiment and figure things out along the way. Each article is a playground for me to explore without limitations. Instead of niching down right away, I can play with different interests and curiosities. I can take the “archaeologist” approach.

According to David Perell, “archaeologists know that something unknown is discovered in the ground, and while there may be ideas of what it might be, the approach is to slowly uncover it.”

He says an archaeologist starts with curiosity, then goes for depth later.

Their approach is more unplanned, intuitive, emergent, and focused on personal interest.

This approach works for me.

When I sit down to write, I lean into my intuition. I open myself up to what wants to flow out of me, and follow. It's fun. 

On the other end of the spectrum is the “architect.”

Perell says, "an architect plans a building up front before construction begins, then diligently follows that plan.”

They have blueprints. Their writing is planned, intentional, designed, and often focused on career goals.

These are the people who probably have their niche down.

Me? I’m so early in my writing journey that I’m still experimenting with what I write.

For some, this can feel frustrating. People want to claim their thing, and have a sense of certainty about their writing.

But giving myself permission to lead with curiosity and intuition is freeing. Embracing the archaeologist approach opens me up to writing about anything I want. I don’t feel constrained to writing about a limited range of topics. That's exciting.

Often, people who have their areas of expertise defined can feel nervous about branching off to write about topics outside their niche. People have expectations of their writing. Or they place expectations on themselves to stick to certain topics, or a specific way of writing about them.

That’s boring!

Sometimes, I want to write about random things that interest me or grab my attention. For example, movies, music, and books. Recently, I even wrote an article about “Cozy Horror.”

Even though I love writing that gets personal and vulnerable, I didn't expect to write anything of that nature. But I have, and I'm grateful for that. Now I know when I feel compelled to explore talking about personal struggles or my mental health, I can do that.

And since I’m continuously learning new things about myself and life, I want to be able to share these learnings through my writing from time to time.

But there's so many other things waiting to be written about by me. And I'm thrilled to keep experimenting with topics, style, and tone.

Change is inevitable. My interests and curiosities will shift. I’m looking forward to capturing what resonates with my heart and mind over time and expressing that through writing.

I can’t wait to look back a year from now and see all that emerged.

Until then, I'm happy seeing where my curiosity takes me.

A special thank you to Chris Wong and Leo Ariel for their valuable feedback on this essay.