Hi all!
This week I'm going to talk about, in my opinion, the best writing advice out there.
Write what you want to write.
When I was a teenager and looking into publishing I came across so much bogus advice from authors and publishers alike. Most said that you need to write to market, rather than whatever you feel like writing.
This is 100% not true.
The market changes so quickly that there's no point in writing to trends. Unless you're able to pump out a publishable book in under six months and get it out there the market will move on.
Yes, publishers and agents do keep an eye on what sells well and they will try to get similar books, but don't write something that will become insignificant in a year's time just for the sake of it. Writing what everyone else is writing doesn't make you stand out whatsoever.
So that's why I write what I want to write. If I enjoy it, I'm sure someone else will too. Writing what you want to write has so many benefits, such as:
- Enjoying the writing aspect of your work, not just reading it.
- Finding an audience that enjoys the subjects you write about for years to come.
- Less time stressing about how quickly you write, edit and publish a book.
- Not having to worry about passing trends.
Agents and publishers do keep an eye on the market to stay fresh, but that doesn't mean they want hundreds of the same story being thrust at them. They want originality and variety as well. They also know that to keep up with the trends you have to publish quickly, while many like to take their time with editing and author marketing.
Plus, what's the point in writing something that you don't enjoy?
If you don't enjoy what you're writing, it will reflect in your work. When you love something it adds a passion to your work that you struggle to recreate if you're bored.
If I had listened to this advice, then I would have scrapped Blood and Water to write something I'm really not interested in. I may not be still writing today if I hadn't continued doing what I wanted to do.
Don't get sucked into trends, concentrate on what you love. If you love it, others will love it too. It doesn't matter if a book about vampires is big at the moment, if your romance story is the complete opposite keep at it.
After all, it just takes one book to change the market.
How do you know that your book won't be the one to start a trend? Your book could be the one that everyone wishes they had written first. You never know unless you finish writing it.
Thank you for reading! I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who cheered me on during NaNoWriMo as I managed to hit 83,156 words! Congratulations to everyone else who participated too, it doesn't matter if you hit 50K or not, we've all got something to work with!
Next week I'm going to debunk writing myths, so if you've got any that you want me to research then please leave them in the comments.
See you next week!