The Fatal Decision

9 June 2010 | Filed Under Age-Old Debates 

In a world of rejections, are you tempted to throw in the towel on your precious Work In Progress and write to the market? To write a trashy romance or the Next Vampire Series just to get something published – and then rake in the rewards?

Then again, is it really so terrible? You’d be a published author, with best-selling books on the shelves. Isn’t that what writing’s all about?

For some, yes.

But in case you haven’t heard – in case you’ve ignored all of the advice your Novelist Idols have spouted over the years – if you’re in this for the money, you’re in the wrong business.

I find that most writers, including myself, need to write. We need to build, to manipulate, to create. The choice to write is not truly a choice at all.

The choice is in what we write.

Tell me honestly. Would you be able to follow in a certain “saga’s” footsteps by writing a world-wide sensation that easily makes heaps of money and gets turned into movies – but is filled with rubbish writing – all to say that you’re a published author?

Or would you rather hold on to your integrity? Hold on to the hope that you’ll write the Next Great American Novel – which will only be read because it’s required high school material?

Neither sounds particularly appealing to me. I figure I don’t have to worry about the second option. Fantasy Young Adult will hardly be nominated for Next Great American Novelship. But in several years, if my toils on my Works In Progress come to nothing, will I follow the first path?

I hope not. I want people to like my books because they’re good and they speak to the reader on some level – not because they’re the latest craze.

What choice will you make?

Comments

Leave a Reply




  • Welcome

    new haircut

    Hi, I'm Jenn, new grad student and old YA fantasy writer. I've long dreamed of being a novelist, and I bet you have too. I hope you find my blog helpful, inspiring, and maybe just a little bit fun. (But not too much fun. Writing is serious business, you know.)

    You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook, or email me at:
    jennifer.a.johnson7 at gmail dot com

  • Official Progress


    4/21 segments

    A narrator hijacks a cliche fantasy story, much to the chagrin of its characters.

    Status: Second revision



    1,639/70,000 words
    A young noblewoman with strange powers must choose: her king or her soul.

    Status: First draft



    1,087/70,000 words
    When a girl's heart is stolen, she's plunged into a world of magic and shadows - but can she get her heart back before she loses it completely?

    Status: First draft





  • All writing, unless otherwise specified, is the property of
    Jennifer Johnson © 2010