Writers Ask Too Many Questions

Writers are asking too many questions. It's a bad trend, in my opinion.

I'm not talking about questions concerning grammar, punctuation, spelling, writing style. That's OK.

I'm talking about questions that start: "Should I write..."

The answer is: "Yes, you SHOULD write whatever you want to write."

You don't need permission from anyone as to what you should write about.

 

I mean, I think half of it is what they're really asking is "is it marketable to write X?" which I think is a valid question if you're someone concerned about money and, like... the efficiency of time, it's just that they're wording the question poorly.

 

The "it is marketable?" question has been replaced with "it is politically acceptable?" now that the publishing industry has been captured by those who judge writing based on political considerations. My advice is to self-publish and write what you want.

 

Okay, but I feel like that's two different conversations. Knowing how to market is still something you need to know even if you're self-publishing if you want to make money out of the endeavor, especially if you're a beginner writer with no published works behind your name, like most people who ask the question "Should I write so and so" often are. Like, if someone asks "should I write [insert burgeoning popular genre still with a lot of potential] or [an oversaturated trope that's flooded the market and has died in popularity because of it]" then I would say go with the one that's becoming popular.

 

I agree with both of you, @Thomas Larmore and @Lili.A.Pemberton, to some extent. At times there seem to be a rush of members on here asking should I write this or that or even worse, IMO, how do I write this scene when often the question is just to try writing it because sometimes these questions come before the person has even started to or tried writing anything if much at all. But we are on a writing forum and this is the place to ask questions. And, at times, interesting or unexpected discussions can come from these questions. Maybe the new writer needs some sort of permission or validation to start or continue even if it's from a community like this one and people who have never seen their writing or know anything about them. And that can be okay.

I get that it can be annoying sometimes and seem like these sort of questions flood the forum. I try to combat this by starting other kinds of threads where I'm not so much looking for help as I am looking for a discussion and to talk shop with like minded folks. Just look at how the rejection thread I started took off. I was feeling really low and discouraged when I started that thread. Now, it's a place where those of us looking for publishers or agents to celebrate and support our efforts. And I think the thread is close to 5k posts. I'm just saying that no matter what a thread is about it can turn into something else sometimes. And community involvement is what this whole forum is about.

I don't think there is anything wrong with seeking advice on market trends or publishing potential. And not everyone wants to self publish. I recently asked a question about writing in second person. I was unsure if I should change the POV before trying to publish it. I wanted to see if others had experience trying to sell work in second person or just their thoughts on reading and writing in second person in general. I didn't directly ask "should I write this?" or "how do I write this?" but I was seeking out what others thought about it. And it is nice to have a place to do that.

 

i dont necessarily think its a bad thing to ask the kinds of questions i believe the OP is referring to. at the same time, I dont think the responses should dictate whether or not you write the character.

For example, I had already written a character and developed his arc. he's an LGBTQ character though his sexuality is not a defining part of his character. infact, his sexuallity is only directly brought up in one conversation with the MC. (which was my intention).
Anyway... after letting a friend read it, it was pointed out that this character falls into the "kill your gays" trope and the "gay best friend" trope.
Both were not my intention at all and never occurred to me in the first place.
I didnt scrap the character. i didnt change the character.... but it did make me go back and rethink how i introduced the character and how i set him up. yes, he's supposed to be her best friend and confidant, but he's also supposed to be a character that you dont know whether his intentions are good or not (i.e. is he just playing the role of a friend to get information out of her? is he really the bad guy?)
in the end, i had 2 betas on Fiverr that liked the character for various reasons, one even mentioning that he kept them guessing. none mentioned his sexuality or the negative tropes that he started out having when i first wrote him.

Seeing others reactions to concepts and characters can be beneficial to the creative process. some people may point ou flaws you didnt see, or characteristics you didnt intend. pointing these things out can help you get to the concept/character you want out in the world

 

Yep. That's what the traditional publishers are asking as well--can we make money on this?

 

We do?

 

Most of the time it's cart before horse anyway. Certain kinds of posts—rate my calculus magic system, is this polyamorous avocado a misrepresentation, should I my book have blue people—don't seem to come from people who've spent very much time reading or writing at all. A lot of the time I end up thinking it's going to stay that way, too, just by how they write their posts and the nature of their focus. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

This.

To me it sounds a little like a recipe for failure if those arguments determine whether or not you should write. Sounds more like arguments for whether or not you can have a lunch break at Amazon.

And still be ready to take it up the back end.
Your book could literally be titled This is a manual for Satanism and you shouldn't buy this if you like God a lot and there's still going to be a devout mom somewhere going: "I've bought this and it offended me!"

It just keeps getting to me every time I read it. Self publishers, or authors, should worry about writing something good. The only thing "marketable" does is water things down to grey sludge the algorhythms feed on.

The absolute best question to ask if you need to beat the soul out of something.

Now, I'm not saying we don't need Marvel movies, but the question makes Reservoir Dogs a rare thing.

That's a question. Please sit down.

I am guilty of this. The dumb questions, as well as not reading much.
I'm not very good at writing like a writer should. Planning, outlining, and all that, you know. I can't speak for every avocado-loving newbie out there, but I mostly need to ask questions like that because the rest of my story hinges on it. I don't want to find out, after ten chapters of steamy avocado loving, that avocados are inherently incapable of polyamorousness. If I don't get that question answered, I simply can't continue with the book.

 

I tend to agree with the points raised on marketability and the PC aspect of the question, as they maybe the true reason behind what is being asked, no matter the word choice in asking.
I tend to think in some cases the person asking is looking for some validation that their concept is worth the time and effort it would take to make it a story. If some one asks that question about a concept that leaves me thinking, WTF are you thinking trying to make that an interesting story, I might suggest that it would be a good exercise in writing but not something to try to market.

Just my .00002 cents, as adjusted for inflation.

 

Publishers--or, at least the major publishers--are in the business to make money first and foremost. If they take on your work, they want to know how it is going to perform in the marketplace. I don't think they care much about political correctness, per se, they just want to make money. Smaller/independent publishers may have other priorities.

 

I disagree. Yes the larger publishers want to make money. But with all the cancel culture out there, the concern is if the lack of Political Correctness, or as I refer to it Newspeak, can have a major impact on sales, because one person might be offended by something in the book, and start a cancel campaign on social media, Killing the sales.

 

You're not disagreeing, then. I said they don't care about it per se. If it is going to impact sales, then they care. That's the bottom line for them and what drives their decision-making. "Cancel culture" is mostly bullshit, though.

 

Okay so call it raising a counter point. Cancel culture reminds me of the internet in the late 90s, when you had people spouting off to get attention, and thinking because they were anonymous they could get away with it. Social media has put a rocket behind that thinking, or lack there of. I tend to avoid Social media as I don't feel like putting on waders to wander through it's stinking piles. Which raises a concern I have about marketing my work in the long term. How do you do that and avoid the septic tank that is social media?

 

I'm not sure it is entirely avoidable in this day and age. If you're using it for marketing, I suppose you could engage someone to do it for you or else use it to make promotional posts but not engage in the replies, etc. (though it seems like that lack of engagement would make it harder to connect with an audience). To me, 'cancel culture' (or whatever phrase a person wants to use) makes sense when people are using threats or intimidation, or in some cases the power of government, to shut down viewpoints and intimidate those who hold them. Most of the time, when you see people complain about 'cancel culture' what they really mean is people have spoken out against their viewpoint, or are exercising their own speech and association by refusing to platform or be associated with a product or speaker. That's not 'canceling,' that's other people besides the complainer having their own freedom of speech and association.

However, when it comes to books getting into controversial territory, I feel the author should stick with their vision of the work. Like anything, if it's attractive only to a niche audience and not broader society, sales are going to be limited. But that's the price of artistic integrity, I suppose. If you're talking to a niche audience, maybe you can curate your social media around that audience? I don't know how easy that is to do.

 

A lot of good points to consider, thanks for the input.

 

To be fair, I don't even blame them. Money is a lot of fun.
I may be all idealistic about it, but also hypocritical enough to say "yes, please!" when somebody tells me they want to publish me to make money. But I do remain firm in the belief that any artform is doomed if the primary intent is to make money.

 

I suspect Hollywood and many music labels would disagree with you.

 

I quite suspect that the main villains of the story would, yes.
Movies and music are mostly tailored to surf the algorithm, and the algorithm gets in the way of interesting things that still have soul (I keep using that word because I can't think of something less floaty). Bohemian Rhapsody would probably not have happened if Freddie Mercury lived today.

I do have to say that the algorithm doesn't just produce shite. But it proves my point: I know I've enjoyed movies the Netflix algorithm offered me, but I can't remember them. Same with music. I've probably heard some good stuff, but it only gets great when the musicians are playing what they want, instead of what they need.

 

Some people pursue writing for the art of it, some people pursue writing as a business. I'm not gonna tell someone who needs extra income--or even if their writing is their main form of income--who caters solely to the people who buy their work that their writing is "doomed". Art is too subjective for that. Not everyone has the financial or temporal luxury to be able to make whatever they want without any consideration of what they'll gain out of it. Even without the financial aspect to it, people still naturally want other people to want to read their work and would rather go with the idea that best appeals to that.

Also, I think I got a little carried away when I first responded with the marketability thing; there's also other reasons why people ask 'should I write this...?'-type questions. People have anxiety. People are new to writing. Of course people are gonna ask questions as to 'should I write this'. They're probably an anxious new writer that are too anxious to ask other people's opinions in real life and/or don't know any writers and they want a more experienced writer's opinions. I remember being 13 or 14 and wondering if my ideas were good but having no idea who to ask. I feel like jumping on a forum would be the obvious step there.

 

And the reader usually doesn't know if the piece was written just to pay rent or in service of some virginal artistic integrity. I think we'd be surprised if we looked back at the classics...