Me? I just don't care. I write my ideas because, well, I like them no matter how unconventional they may or may not be. I'm the kind of person who would still be writing even if I had no plans to publish. Thing is, though, and this is what I always tell myself, if I like it, chances are, there's someone else who does too.
Not to flog a dead horse here but I actually had more direct cause to think about this specific topic as it relates to my work last night. I may well start a new thread to address that specific challenge but in brief my present challenge is that, well, I'm not super into the book I'm writing. I like the premise well enough and it's well written if I do say so myself. But it doesn't quite tickle my fancy. It doesn't have the X factor that I like in my books. It's a much straighter romance than I'm used to writing; the focus is on the girl and her boyfriend and their travails. There's some more interesting, more me stuff in there; both the leads have weird family relationships because both of their dad's are the head of a street gang. As a couple they are somewhat gender swapped (so she is the loud, lairy, aggressive one, he is the shy one who doesn't like confrontation). She's happy to get into a fight, happy to kick someone's head in if it's in a good cause and that's something interesting to play with and obviously that causes some friction with her new beau who hates violence. There's some bits there that I like. If I was writing this like my previous ones then the focus would be on their relationships with their dad's and with the criminal world that implies. It'd be about her trying to prove to the bikers that they should let her join, including getting into confrontations with the other gang and that making her boyfriend want to run a mile. And there will be some of this in there but it's not really what I'd want to be doing if I chose. If it was the book I want to write it's not really a romance; it's something else. Some family drama, coming of age, gang politics book with a prominent romantic sub-plot. I think that book is a good book. But it's probably not something that jumps out to the girls who are reading teen romance. There's so much going on in my books that's not romance, and all of that is good and it's interesting to me and I think this potential book would kick ass. But that's just me. And I want to actually sell my books, you know? It's normal to hope that the strength of your writing is such that people reading your work just fall in love with it, regardless of genre. That's what I hoped too. But we know that's not how the business works, especially not as a new author trying to break through. We need only remember that Stephanie Myer and Dan Brown exist and are popular to see how much the quality of prose matters to a book. We can all stop and think for a second if we would even consider buying a book in a genre that we aren't a fan of purely on the strength of the writing. And, well, maybe. But even as people who can (in theory) really appreciate good writing I don't think that most of us seek out writers for their glimmering prose. We seek out the kinds of stories that we like. I maintain that there is a teen audience who like the edgy, weird, tear stained stuff (the alternative ones who like manga and Anne Rice books) that I write. I remain convinced that, once I get my foot in the door I'll be able to put the books that I really love on the market. But for now I'm struggling valiantly to stick to writing a book that is just a romance, that puts that in the foreground and is something that romance readers will click with. The challenge here of course is that it doesn't quite speak to me the way my other stuff does and I kinda could use some thoughts about how to keep pushing through this plot that to me feels very pedestrian. The new book just doesn't quite hold my attention the way my other books have, but then in my other books there's so much going on at the same time. There's so many overlapping strands all playing off each other. Romance vs family vs keeping dark secrets vs defeating the antagonist; and yes that's because I'm trying to overwhelm my main character and put them under really extreme pressure with impossible choices where none of them are good because that's what I like. I want to see them hurt and cry and overcome, somehow. But there's a lot going on. And that works for me. And maybe it works for you (PM if you want to read one!). But clearly it's not quite jumping out at other people. I think the books I've written are good. But I think they are also books that are difficult to place. They are certainly very unique; so much so that it's hard to say who exactly will be buying it. My goal now is to keep writing good books and good characters and tailoring them to the audience that actually exists. I still want to keep some of the me, I'm keeping the violence, I'm keeping the parental strife, I'm keeping the unique elements that I love. But I'm turning my focus to writing a book that I'm sure someone other than me wants to read. I said back in my first post about 'a book for people who are crazy in the same way as me'. I don't think I've quit been doing that for the last four books. I think there is an audience for them. But to get out and prove that I have to get published first. And that does mean writing a less perfect book that I might like. But to have the chance to tell the stories I really want to tell I have to back off a bit and write something that there is definitely an audience for. And, frankly, it's not much fun. It's journeyman work. But seriously, if some thirty year old metal head with a beard and hair to his waist walked into your office and told you that teenage girls share his taste in anything would you believe him? I know this has been a bit meandering, and I do apologize for that. I suppose my point here is that I'm in the process of selling my soul for a crack at popularity. But with purpose. I'm certain there are people out there who will love my older books. But that's an audience that doesn't exist yet. And you only create that audience by getting out in front of them and giving them something that they want to see.
Oh, yes. Before I figured out I have a fetish, I kept noticing certain themes showing up in my stories and thinking, a) WTF is coming out of my brain?, and b) will anyone else ever actually want to read this stuff? And then I found other people writing similar stuff... There's a market for any niche, it seems.
Anything you write is creative and new. No one knows if what they're writing will sell, which is why so many published authors say "Only write if you have to tell your story, even if it doesn't sell." Writing a book, even a short one, is a massive undertaking, if you're wishy washy about writing it, don't do it. Writing down creative ideas like you've been doing is great. Its like doing mental push ups. Don't feel like you need to do more than that. If one of your scenes grabs hold of you, and wont let go - write - see where it takes you!
