I've been were you are now. What I have found is that you have to stop worrying. I, on the first day, make myself talk to at least one person who sits next to me.
I start a conversation and then see if that person will start a conversation with me later on. The way you act now is not going to change unless you make yourself change.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.