WRITING WITHOUT A NET

Before I was published, I used to sit down at my computer and write whatever story most captured by interest and enjoyment. I knew nothing about genres, or commercial categories of stories, or the targeted audiences of major publishers. I just wrote to please me.

But then I sold, and quickly I found myself boxed in creatively by which stories my editors would let me write. Publishers are not entirely wrong to build these boxes, by the way. They do careful sales analysis and closely watch which types of stories are selling well and which types tank completely. They want their authors to write books that will actually sell well and make them money.

Now that I have dipped my toe into the world of self-publishing, I abruptly find myself freed from the traditional publishing box. Shockingly , I also find myself a bit agoraphobic after a decade of traditional publishing. I actually am uncomfortable without that box of publisher expectations containing, limiting, and directing my creative impulses.

I did NOT see that one coming.

I have to say, though, that, as glad as I am on the one hand to be able to write whatever stories I want and to believe in them utterly, on the other hand, I’m not willing to leave behind everything I have learned about commercial markets and reader preferences in my traditional publishing career.

I think there is value in paying attention to what sells. I’m not talking bout chasing fads. Those come and go way too fast to bother with. I’m talking about timeless elements of good storytelling. There are, in fact, tropes and techniques that sell consistently and never waiver in popularity. I’m not averse to knowing what those are and highlighting them as they happen to fit into the stories I want to tell.

There is value in staying up to date on what publishers are buying and in watching which types of books make the best seller lists. It’s a good thing to read the authors who are selling millions of books and asking yourself what about their writing resonates so strongly with the reading public.

It’s not that I’m going to be a sales whore and merely chase what seems popular this week. But I can put a few creative fences around myself that don’t cramp my stories. When I face a choice in where to go with a story, it won’t kill me to choose the path that leads toward commercially viable elements within a story.

This is a business after all (in addition to being an artistic expression of my personal internal insanity). While I’m delighted to be free to write wherever my imagination takes me, it’s not a bad thing to nudge my imagination in commercial directions when doing so won’t compromise my story.

Funny how often this business boils down to a balancing act between art and business. And even in the self-published world, that has not changed.