Write What You Want
Social media can be a great tool for a writer. This blog helps me reach you to let you know what’s going on. Sometimes it’s about progress on my book (don’t worry, it’s coming soon!), progress on another work I’ve started, writing-related things like workshops I’ve attended, or just a peek into my writing process or life.
What kind of topics would you like to see more of? Let me know on Facebook!
How do I know what to write about? The short answer: I don’t always know. I try to keep things fresh and not repeat myself too much, and also bring some cheer by wishing you Happy New Year, Easter, or other special day.
I try to plan my content for the upcoming month in the last days of the prior month. This post, for example, is being written during the last week of January, to be published on the first week of February. The following posts will be about topics I want to write about, but also know you all have found interesting.
My rambling is trying to lead up to telling my budding writer followers to write what you want. The audience will come. That audience may start with supportive friends and family, and branch out from there to friends of friends and eventually a wider audience of captive readers interested in your subject matter.
But none of it will matter unless you care about what you’re writing. The writing market moves quickly. Werewolves and vampires and magic were hot topics in the fiction space for a while. But books take time – it can be years from the time an author outlines and writes a book to when it’s finally picked up by a publisher or the author decides to self-publish. Following a trend isn’t always easy, or advisable.
“Write what you know” – what do you know about? Put a character in that scenario and watch it play out. Did it work? If so, great! You have a story idea that can be fleshed out into a short story or even novel-length book. My upcoming debut though? I didn’t know much about it. The lack of knowledge didn’t stop me because I wanted to write it.
Another big piece of advice I’ve picked up along the way is to write what you want. That’s how you care about it. If it’s not what you want but what you think the market wants, you’ll be disappointed when it comes time to publish and everyone is sick of vampires. This is true for the little nuances that make up your story’s world as well. Do you need a way for a character to have their cell phone but it not be traceable to their location? Do you have a character who needs to feel an emotion not ‘typical’ for an age group or gender (boys don’t cry! But they do when their best friend is hurt or killed).
As long as you write confidently and in the way you want, your reader will follow along. Confidence comes from believing in what you’re doing. So, write what you want. The audience will follow.
Are you a budding writer? What do you want to write about? Let’s talk on Facebook!