A dream we writers share is to become big-time authors: adoring fans, titles on the best seller lists, and best of all, the ability to kick the day job to the curb and live the good life, or even just the OK life, without a 9-5 grind.Admittedly, it's something I'm still working on.
One thing I do know is that I'm better off sticking with stories I enjoy, as opposed to worrying about what the market demands. I'm not the only one. This guy has sold a book or two:
Writing is about getting happy.--Stephen King
Then there's wisdom from this guy:
The market is unknowable. It is a cipher. Those who tell you what the market wants are not telling you what the market wants — they are interpreting the market the way an oracle interprets monkey guts. You’re better off writing what you love and writing it as well as you can, and hoping that the market will bear whatever it is. And hey, if you’re wrong, you’re wrong. But at least you wrote what you wanted. At least you mashed your heart onto the page and didn’t fail trying to second-guess what some cryptic industry wants from you.--Chuck WendigYou get the idea. My reasoning is that I'm spending a lot of time with a story/novel/whatever. I'm researching/pre-writing, then drafting, then editing, then promoting it. It had better be something I enjoy because we're spending a lot of time together.
What do you think?
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I agree, it's better to do what you enjoy rather than suffer through things that you hate just to try to make a buck. And you never know what 'the market' will suddenly latch on to.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Think about it this way: no one wanted The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones until those books/shows came out.
ReplyDelete