If you’ve ever been part of a writer’s group or creative writing workshop, you know there’s always at least one person in the group who’s overly concerned with the commercial potential of their writing. You know the type I mean — follows publishing trends religiously. Reads every Writer’s Digest book available on how to write a bestseller. Right now, I’m sure there’s a bunch of young (and not so young writers) working on a vampire novel just because books like the Twilight series have made vampires fashionable again.
The problem with writing based on trends, just because you think it will make money, is that trends change. While the top writers who spawned the trend, having built-up a solid fan-base for their stories, may continue to be successful even when their subject matter is no longer so fashionable, the also-rans who jumped on the bandwagon late will usually fail. Not only because, by that time, most publishers will not be interested in what they are writing, but because, when your writing comes from an insincere place spawned for purely mercenary reasons, readers can tell.
That’s why you should never choose a genre or subject that don’t, first and foremost have a passion for. Remember that most writers are not commercially successful, so writing solely for money is one of the dumbest reasons there is to pursue creative writing. Choosing a genre is not like picking out patio furniture. It’s starts with what you enjoy reading. If you don’t like reading mystery novels, for example, you probably won’t enjoy writing them and you won’t know much about the conventions. Understand, the fans of mystery fiction will know more than you and an editor or literary agent who deals with mystery fiction will certainly know more than you. So, if you write a mystery novel just because Robert Parker or P.D. James consistently land on bestseller lists, you probably won’t write anything worth reading or publishing.
I’m not saying this to discourage you poor newbie writers — I’m saying all this to educate you. See, I’ve always believed that a good story, well-told can always find an audience. The caveat being that good stories, well-told come from an honest and pure motivation. A true and pure reader can smell the opposite in a work of fiction like a fart in a car. So, it starts with what you like to read. With what you write when you have all the time in the world and are free from the pressures of your day. What is it that gets you off as a writer? Well, what gets you off is ultimately what will get your readers off.
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