Every time I meet someone new at college, he or she is always a writer. I'm a magnet for writers, but in any case...
I was speaking with a girl about the publishing industry, and she brought up that if you want to get published, it's often safe to stick with trends--while adding a new twist to that said trend. Basically, she said you can't really write what you want as a first time novelist. I suppose there is some truth to the trend thing, but when the vampire trend was rampant, all the vampire books I saw in the YA section were books from already established authors. I had yet to see a vampire book from a debut author--except maybe Kristen Cast, but she worked with PC Cast. I don't technically agree with not being able to write what you want as a first time novelist.
Plus, trends go by quickly. I'm not going to stop Witch Tourniquet so I can start a novel on angels that'll probably take me a month to finish. By then, the angel trend will be gone, and a new trend will be on the rise. I'm going to say up front that I wrote a novel that included an angel-like girl before angels became trendy, but Witch Tourniquet and its prequel are my top priorities right now. Said novel needs so much work, anyway.
Now I'm not shunning the power of the market. I'm just saying that I think writers can still write what they want while catering to the market in some way. A lot of debut young adult authors, I think, wrote what they wanted to write. I know Carrie Ryan did. She even said so.
What are your thoughts on this, bloggers?
Friday, December 11, 2009
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3 comments:
It is terribly tempting to jump on the latest trend (or what agents/publishers are accepting, rather than what are already out there) if you're not yet published. I admit I have been tempted to go with the angel trend, as I have always been fascinated with it, but I doubt I would be as excited about it as I am about my current WiP... I'll just write what I love, and maybe someday, it'll coincide with an upcoming trend. Who knows? :)
P.S. It's awesome you're meeting writers everywhere. At my uni, everybody I meet is pre-med (granted, that's because many of my classes are science courses...)
Chasing trends, for an unpublished author especially, seems a fool's errand to me, if for no other reason than the fact it's going to take a debut author a lot more time to get published than an established name. By that time, whatever's trendy may be passe.
I think the best course for us wannabe is to write what we want to write, what we like to write, and have faith that our ability will shine through. Eventually.
My reaction to: Basically, she said you can't really write what you want as a first time novelist.
Was: pssshhh.
From what I've taken in from publishing blogs and the like, chasing trends is a hopeless cause. Do what you want and make it GOOD. That's all that matters, I think. :)
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