Finding a Story, or Using the Whole Pig

"Write about something that interests you, yes, or something that you would like to learn about...but above all else write about something to which you feel some emotional or psychological tie." --Alan Cheuse

I think that the only way for a writer to make the reader care about their subject is to be emotionally involved with it in some way. Readers do not like unattached, robotic voices in creative nonfiction pieces, or any genre, for that matter. Save the robot voice for manuals and lab reports. Telling a story that comes from a human place requires some kind of emotional attachment or psychological tie. If you write about something that doesn't appeal to that part of your brain, the reader will know it, and you'll know it, too, while you write and struggle to find your voice.