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This is something I've been thinking about lately. There are some SFF writers I've enjoyed over the years, ones who seemed to have a popular following, even if they weren't writing NYT blockbusters. One I'm thinking of even got some of the top awards in SFF, but hasn't published a new novel since the 90s. These writers have/had a presence on the web and some of them still post on twitter. But they haven't written novels in years. They are still alive and young enough they could still be writing, but no new novels for years, even decades. I get that publishing is brutal, and sometimes even moderately successful authors lose their contracts or fail to obtain new ones, but with self publishing now an option, it seems odd that they haven't written anything new in years.
I have a couple of specific names in mind, writers who are among my all-time favorites, though I don't know if it's cool to name names here, because maybe it's not respectful of their privacy.
What might lead a reasonably successful writer with a number of well-regarded books to stop writing? Before I wrote myself, I would have only been asking as a disappointed fan who wished for more books. Now I have to ask, is writer's block something that can strike at any time in one's career? Or do certain writers get blacklisted by the industry, so they can no longer publish and feel their odds at self publishing success are poor?
Anyone else have favorite writers who has just inexplicably stopped writing?
Or maybe I'm just asking because my own wells of creativity, or of confidence in my own ability to muddle through to the end of an idea, have run pretty dry lately.
I have a couple of specific names in mind, writers who are among my all-time favorites, though I don't know if it's cool to name names here, because maybe it's not respectful of their privacy.
What might lead a reasonably successful writer with a number of well-regarded books to stop writing? Before I wrote myself, I would have only been asking as a disappointed fan who wished for more books. Now I have to ask, is writer's block something that can strike at any time in one's career? Or do certain writers get blacklisted by the industry, so they can no longer publish and feel their odds at self publishing success are poor?
Anyone else have favorite writers who has just inexplicably stopped writing?
Or maybe I'm just asking because my own wells of creativity, or of confidence in my own ability to muddle through to the end of an idea, have run pretty dry lately.
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