THE HUBRIS OF WRITER-KIND or, That Time When I Knew Better Than All The Experts

The Question comes up at every single writing conference, in some form or another. I've even been the one to ask it once or twice.

How can you predict the next trend in books?

In other words, how can I write a book about the 'next big thing,' so that I can get published?

And the answer is always the same, no matter which professionals you ask: You can't.

You can't predict the market. No one, not even the agents and publishers themselves, know for sure what will be the next really big seller. And even if you do watch the market to see what types of books/subjects are on the upswing in popularity, by the time you conceive and write and revise a manuscript, and find an agent for it, and sell it to a publisher, and go through the publishing process, and get your book on the shelves, that type of book will no longer be popular.

You can't do it.

So stop trying. That's what all the pros say, anyway. They always tell us the same thing. Just write what you have passion for, and if it's good, you will find someone who wants it.

Remember that time when I knew more about publishing than those editors, agents, and professional authors?

Yeah, neither do I. But at the time I thought I did know better. I thought to myself, you know what will definitely get me published? I'll chase the market!

Yup.

Thus the reason why I have spent the last six months (and more) writing a story that wasn't really how I wanted it to be, about characters I didn't really know, in a style and genre that I don't really write well.

Ask me how well that's been going for me.

I have plodded along, practically forcing myself to write, and getting nowhere. I took all the enjoyment out of writing for myself. I got skewered again and again in critique sessions. I began to dread my own writing sessions, and then feel guilty because of that dread, all to produce something that I didn't love and wasn't proud of.

And guess what? I haven't even been able to force myself to finish the first draft, and already the market is saturated and the trend has moved on.

Crap. I hate being wrong.

But the good news is, I have recognized my folly. I have seen the error of my ways, and am already infinitely happier for it!

For now, I have returned to a previous project. It's one that I truly love and have passion for, but when I first wrote it, I didn't have the knowledge to really do it justice and make it good. So I'm redoing it.

That's right, I'm rewriting and book that I've already written.

It may not ever get me anywhere. It may not ever be published. But I love it, and frankly, I need to get my writing mojo back. And it's making me happy. I've written more words in the last three days than I have in the last three weeks on the "chasing the market" project.

And while I rehash and beautify my previous work, I am also brainstorming and outlining something new. Well, it's actually another version the doomed project, but it's going to have the storyline, characters, and genre that I originally intended for it.

And finally, after months of writer plodding, I am finally writer flying again!