I would echo what others have said here and especially Daves's comment that it's not easy to come up with something new. There are plenty of people who can write, but to make a success of it you need to have something to write about, and that's the hard part! So I would say this to all would-be writers - first learn research skills, then get experience in analysis of data and the sifting of facts from speculation, rumour and wishful thinking. Finally, develop the all-important 'jigsaw' skill of assembling a cohesive whole from a multitude of parts.
Don't be too ambitious with your first efforts - by all means aspire to writing the definitive and complete history of the Titanic disaster when you have more experience (and more time), but make a start with something more manageable. If your main interest is people, for instance, find out all you can about one family or one group (the teenage lift attendants, for instance, or passengers who had links with your own State or County). But make sure you are researching a group about whom little is known. Of course it's a lot easier to choose people about whom a lot has been written, but that would be missing the point of the exercise.
If your own researches deliver enough information and you're satisfied that it's both accurate and original, write a feature which can be 'published' at no cost on a website like this one. Learn from the responses and feedback that you get from your first efforts. Every great enterprise must start from small beginnings.
