I’m usually not one for the inspirational, follow-your-heart, hug-it-out scene. It’s a little too fluffy to me. In fact, anyone who knows me personally knows it’s easier to hug a cactus than it is to hug me.
That said, today I’d like to tell you to follow your heart. Or rather, I’d like to discuss the importance of writing what you want to write, rather than what others want you to write.
It sounds like simple, duh! advice, but you’d be surprised how often that little bit of wisdom gets ignored in a world full of everyone else’s opinions. The importance of feedback is stressed constantly in the writing world. Now, I’m not saying the opinions of others shouldn’t be regarded. Absolutely not! You’re never going to get anywhere if you don’t have your writing edited and critiqued, but you’re also never going to get anywhere if you do nothing but listen to others.
When I was sending my first novel, These Hellish Happenings, to beta readers, I received a surprisingly positive response considering I was an aspiring author who was only nineteen at the time. However, the betas did have a few common complaints.
Why wasn’t my vampire protagonist super-sensitive? Why wasn’t he strong? Why wasn’t he, well… sexy? He’s too dorky, too cowardly! He should be more attractive, they told me. He’s not hot enough, they said.
I heard this constantly! And if I had listened to them, I’d have some Edward Cullen-knock-off on my hands. But I didn’t. I knew who my protagonist was supposed to be—a dorky, vampiric everyman—and that’s how I kept him. While I certainly used many suggestions my betas made, this was one detail of my personal vision for the book that I wasn’t going to part with.
Flash-forward to 2010 when I finally got around to publishing These Hellish Happenings. Once reviews started coming in, I noticed that reviewer after reviewer commented on how they identified with my protagonist. And while I’m not selling as many books as any number of authors, indie or otherwise, who write about your average vamp, I can say that I have fans of These Hellish Happenings who are dedicated to the book for exactly what it is.
In his book, How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months!, John Locke talks about how having 100 strong, dedicated fans is better than having 1,000 passive ones, and rightly so. Fellow writers, you must write what you want to write, whether that’s something that falls under the category of mainstream fiction or something that falls under the category of Avant Garde. Your readers will find you, and whether they number in the hundreds or the thousands or the millions, they will thank you for it.
It’s a valuable skill to be able to decipher critique on a piece. Just because someone tells you something is wrong with your writing certainly doesn’t mean that it is, and you should never compromise your vision for someone else.
My rule of thumb is this: if it’s a technical problem that a beta or editor or reviewer points out, fix it and fix it now! Fix it yesterday, if you have a time machine at your disposal. However, if it’s something that is a matter of taste, give it some serious thought before revising. If you have a book of good quality that is well-written and well-edited, you’ll find your audience eventually. Don’t sacrifice your vision for what others think it should be.
So, follow your heart, I say and grimace at just how cheesy it sounds. Mine has taken me down some twisty and offbeat paths before, but I’m certainly a happier writer because of it.
Jennifer Rainey is the author of These Hellish Happenings, available from Amazon. She was raised by wolves who later sold her to gypsies. She then joined the circus at the age of ten. There, she was the flower girl in the famed Bearded Bride of Beverly Hills show until the act was discontinued (it was discovered that the bearded lady was actually a man). From there, she wandered around the country selling novelty trucker hats with vaguely amusing sayings printed on front. Somehow, she made enough money to go to The Ohio State University for a major in English.
Learn more about Jennifer from her website and hug it out with her on Twitter.
