I was thinking about my writing last night and I believe I've figured out one reason why my fiction product may have dropped this past year. I've forgotten that I'm not a professional fiction writer. What I mean by that is, I don't have to sell my work in order to pay my bills, and yet I'm not taking advantage of the freedom that this fact offers me. I've started a couple of stories recently for anthologies that I know pay pretty decently, but I've been unable to muster up any true passion for the work. I think it's because I'm writing them for the money and exposure rather than from any internal drive to produce. Let me add: It's not that the work I've done on those stories is bad, only that I'm having a hard time driving myself to the computer to work on them. I can't wait to get to the computer when I'm really in love with an idea or a story.
The same considerations don't occur to me when I'm working on non-fiction. I am a professional when it comes to non-fiction. At least, a pretty good chunk of my income depends on my ability to produce articles in my field and related fields. I have them to do and I simply do them. But maybe when it comes to fiction I should let myself just write what I'm enthusiastic about rather than worrying about where to sell it or how much I'll earn.
On the other hand, maybe I need to just stop whining and write already.
Write. Just write.
ReplyDeleteI am currently writing something for an anthology, something I would never have written had it not been for the anthology. I don't care. A novel is waiting for me to finish it. I'll get to it. Write. That's all I care about. I don't think about money. I just write.