Choosing What to Write

Why not do both? You can go back and forth between them, and probably, at some point, one will take on a life of its own.

Or if you don't want to do that, then write what you love, which I gather is YA fantasy. Even if your previous attempts weren't successful, that could change.

Both? Writing what you're good at is how you get sales. Writing what you admire is how you get good enough to get sales. Pick the one you're more passionate about now, and save the other one for later.

As one of my roommates always says when I ask him to solve a dilemma: Por que no los dos? Eventually you'll finish one (or both) of the two.

If'n you don't want to write two things at once, then I would second the above advice to write what you love - after all, if you don't love what you do, it's time to quit and do what you love instead.

StephLondon said:

tl,dr; do you write what you know you're good at, or do you write what you admire?

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I would say it really depends. The book I want to write after this one has essentially no market. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do.

Generally, though, if you have passion for a project - whatever the reason - I think it's going to show in the output. Write what feeds you. It may or may not find readers, but it'll grow you as a writer.

Another vote for both. Nothing you write is a waste.

I like writing weird, overcomplicated fantasy. I also am writing a contemp MS on the side, which I don't enjoy but I think it's more accessible and may help me get the fantasy a bit more readership someday, even if as a self pub.

Write the thing you are most excited to write. Writing is hard enough. You don't want to make it even more challenging by writing something you're ehh about.

FWIW, I write YA but I mostly read adult. I don't think it's a problem if you read YA but want to write MG.

Who do you cry about in your novels? That's when the conflict hits home. Go toward those emotions and pick that novel with those characters in it

I am sure it varies a lot from person to person, but in my experience, I don't choose my stories, they choose me. Now let me back off what sounds like utterly pretentious douchebaggery and explain a bit, because even I want to dick-punch myself for that first line:

I read horror mostly. Love it.

But my head doesn't have the same gears King or Bradbury or Piccirilli have, and the speculative elements don't come out very often. The shit that wants to come out of me tends to be closer to thrillers or suspense, which I am not opposed to, but isn't what I wanted or expected to write. My brain may love taking in stories about monsters killing kids in small towns, or men who turn to werewolves, but it much prefers putting out stories of shitty people (and sometimes not so shitty people) doing shitty things to each other.

Write what you can write, and want to write PERSONALLY, not what you think is hot right now, not what you think your gram-gram would most like to tell her friends you write, not what you think would look the most badass as a picture-sized bookcover on your wall. Because (again, for me) writing is pretty organic--you might be able to tweak it, but you can't fake it. What comes out is what comes out.


Now, you mentioned you can't write fantasy not because you dislike it (I don't know if you do or do not like writing it) but because you haven't gotten an agent with it yet. Unless you HAVE gotten like 5 agents writing YA already, I'm not sure the fact you haven't gotten one yet means you can just slam-dunk elsewhere, or that you actually write fantasy any worse than anything else.....but I only throw that out as a caveat to consider: are you saying you can't write fantasy because you are frustrated at lack of success, or because you just don't have the same comfort, flow, and rhythm when writing it?

Again, write what you write best and enjoy writing the most. Just make sure you're actually considering that, instead of what you always thought you most wanted to write.

StephLondon said:

I'd reply separately, but you all had the same advice, so-- thank you very much. I can only write one thing at a time, but maybe I'll just take a deep breath and continue my gothic fantasy. I have an issue thinking I only have a little time to get an agent/published because everyone who writes YA seems so young when they debut. But I guess everyone has a different path.

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Well, I don't know how old you are, but I was over 30 when I got my first YA novel published. And some successful YA authors are far older than me. Being a "young author" might be a selling point for some publishers, but it's not a requirement by any means.

If you can only work on one project at a time, I'd say keep doing what you're doing and if you hit writer's block, take a break and work on your other idea.

Write the story that is (in your mind) demanding to be told. If you don't have passion for your work it will show.

Well, here I was gearing up to say my piece but you already decided, and for the third unnamed option to boot! There goes my insightful second post.

My recent experience is that you don't choose what to write. It chooses you. Your heavenly muse can have a wicked sense of humor.

I'm experienced with non-fiction, but every time I've dabbled with fiction and tried to write the kind of stuff I love to read, I did not know how to come up with a story behind whatever idea I had. Although one time I found I had reached an ending, and thus had a short story about the cycle of life rather than a longer murder mystery that I had intended. Now I'm making steady progress in a genre and subject that is nothing like I read, because that's what my muse whispered in my ear as I lie sleeping.