Blurred Line

Yesterday, Flood asked me whether I look at a market and then write a story accordingly or if I write whatever I feel like and then look for markets. Now, on the one hand, I think this says a lot about a writer and, on the other, I don't think it says anything at all (yes, contradiction is the order of the day, thank you very much).

I've come across writers who are almost offended at the very idea of writing for market. What they say, invariably, is that "you should write for yourself". Well, duh. I have no problem with the idea that people should write for themselves, but this does not mean that, just because you picked out a certain market and wrote a story tailored to their needs, you're some kind of horrible sell-out (note: I'm not saying that anyone who reads this would make such an accusation - all of my readers are far too intelligent for that kind of thing, not to mention extremely attractive, well-mannered, and snappily dressed...but I digress). However, if those kind of people were reading this blog, here's what I'd say:

Writing for oneself does not equal a lack of commercial viability. Writing for market does not equal a lack of artistic merit, nor, for that matter, a lack of authorial fondness for the story produced.

That, then, is my rather long preamble to the question. I don't think it much matters which direction you take in finding markets. Some people do, but they're...you know, wrong.

Anyhow, as for my own personal choice, I've gone both ways. A lot of what I write happens to be similar to the types of material that shows up in markets like Strange Horizons and Futurismic. As a result, I tend to submit to those places first. Now, my stories aren't specifically tailored for them (or for many market), but my the stuff I like to write about is the same kind of stuff they like to read, so it works out for the best. However, I've also gone to some markets and thought, Hey, I could do something like this, and tried to write a story that would fit for them. Likewise, whenever I see a market with a themed issue that I might like to submit to, I'll sit down and try to come up with something that would fit for them. In fact, that's one of my favourite ways to try writing about stuff that I wouldn't otherwise bother with.

I think this question also lends itself to another, and that is this: How important is it to you to get your work published? For some people, they don't much care. Writing is its own reward. I'm not that type. For me, publication is very important because, frankly, writing isn't something I want to be a hobby of mine for the rest of life. Sure, I realize that the chances of becoming a full time writer are slim to nil, but that's my goal, so publication is something that matters a lot to me. As such, I probably spend more time writing for market (but remember, that doesn't mean I don't like what I'm writing) than your average aspiring writer.

So, what's your opinion?


Profile Editor. Writer. 9-5er. Lord of the Dance. Blurredline.com Apodis Publishing Fusion Fragment cterrill(at)blurredline.com Buy Goodbye, Darwin Amazon.com Amazon.ca Chapters.ca Barnes&Noble.com Read it free in PDF Format Buy Blurred Line Amazon.com Amazon.ca Chapters.ca Barnes&Noble.com Read it free in PDF Format The Short Stuff "Learning Magic From Mint" - published May 2007 in Atomjack "Between Eternities" - published October 2005 at Speculative.ca "Smoke and Mirrors" - published June 2005 in Byzarium Submissions Log Total Subs: 25 Acceptances: 3 Rejections: 17 Withdrawals: 3 Subs Out: 2 Quality Blogs Scalzi's Whatever Dave's Blogography Bookslut The Struggling Writer SF Signal the0phrastus Paperback Writer Scribe's Writing Desk Nathan Bransford Lyons Literary LLC The World in the Satin Bag Book In The Oven The Word Perhaps We Learned Something... Words, etc. Archives March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 Et Cetera Cavan @ Last.fm Cavan @ LibraryThing Feeds Atom Feed RSS Feed	Wednesday, June 14, 2006 - Writing for Market Yesterday, Flood asked me whether I look at a market and then write a story accordingly or if I write whatever I feel like and then look for markets. Now, on the one hand, I think this says a lot about a writer and, on the other, I don't think it says anything at all (yes, contradiction is the order of the day, thank you very much). I've come across writers who are almost offended at the very idea of writing for market. What they say, invariably, is that "you should write for yourself". Well, duh. I have no problem with the idea that people should write for themselves, but this does not mean that, just because you picked out a certain market and wrote a story tailored to their needs, you're some kind of horrible sell-out (note: I'm not saying that anyone who reads this would make such an accusation - all of my readers are far too intelligent for that kind of thing, not to mention extremely attractive, well-mannered, and snappily dressed...but I digress). However, if those kind of people were reading this blog, here's what I'd say: Writing for oneself does not equal a lack of commercial viability. Writing for market does not equal a lack of artistic merit, nor, for that matter, a lack of authorial fondness for the story produced. That, then, is my rather long preamble to the question. I don't think it much matters which direction you take in finding markets. Some people do, but they're...you know, wrong. Anyhow, as for my own personal choice, I've gone both ways. A lot of what I write happens to be similar to the types of material that shows up in markets like Strange Horizons and Futurismic. As a result, I tend to submit to those places first. Now, my stories aren't specifically tailored for them (or for many market), but my the stuff I like to write about is the same kind of stuff they like to read, so it works out for the best. However, I've also gone to some markets and thought, Hey, I could do something like this, and tried to write a story that would fit for them. Likewise, whenever I see a market with a themed issue that I might like to submit to, I'll sit down and try to come up with something that would fit for them. In fact, that's one of my favourite ways to try writing about stuff that I wouldn't otherwise bother with. I think this question also lends itself to another, and that is this: How important is it to you to get your work published? For some people, they don't much care. Writing is its own reward. I'm not that type. For me, publication is very important because, frankly, writing isn't something I want to be a hobby of mine for the rest of life. Sure, I realize that the chances of becoming a full time writer are slim to nil, but that's my goal, so publication is something that matters a lot to me. As such, I probably spend more time writing for market (but remember, that doesn't mean I don't like what I'm writing) than your average aspiring writer. So, what's your opinion? Cavan blogged at 6:45 PM \| 4 comments	Progress Zilch! 0/0 Listening A.J. Croce - "Maybe I'm Amazed" My Music Reading Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney My Library Watching Black Book: B Sweet and Lowdown: C Breakfast on Pluto: B Wishlist Bridge of Sighs - Richard Russo Rachael Yamagata - Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart