Choosing What to Write

For as long as it takes to write a book, and for as few books as a typical writer will produce in her lifetime, I'm sometimes surprised by how little thought some writers give to choosing the next project.

Some writers start working on the first thing that pops into their mind, without giving any thought to the market. Others look around and say, "Hey, looks like Jane Austen retellings are selling, so how about if I make a Darcy the secret son of the French king and re-imagine the story? Hmm, I'd probably better read Pride and Prejudice at some point, since I've only seen the movie."

In the first case, there's a high chance of failure if what seems interesting to you doesn't interest agents, editors, bookstore reps, or the reading public. Maybe dystopian novels were hot a couple of years ago, but now editors are sick of working on them, the reading public has moved on, and a few expensive flops have given the industry an excuse to say that the category is dead.

As a kinda, sorta fabricated example.

In the second case, you're almost certainly going to fail as well. There are people who love Jane Austen (raises hand), and authors who have read those books so many times that they can tell you what Lizzie Bennet was wearing the first time she met Darcy and the sum of her limited fortune*. Those authors are going to crush you, because they love their work and you don't and people can spot a phony from a mile away.

So if you shouldn't write to the market, and you shouldn't write whatever first tickles your fancy, how do you choose? This is my answer:

A writer's imagination can churn out an endless number of story ideas. They are everywhere and yet come from nowhere, and most writers could brainstorm the bare bones of an interesting plot in something between a few minutes and a few hours

I would suggest you gather and scribble down any old idea that occurs to you, then make a list of those that most speak to you. Next, compare them to what you think the market might want, what feels like a story with universal themes, or whatnot (keeping in mind that this is always a guess), and then look for the intersection. Make sure you're not bullshitting yourself about this or you'll regret it down the road.

*Lizzy is forced to get by on £50 per year, which is the interest on a modest £1,000 that came to her after her mother passed away. Also, of film adaptations, the 1980 version is the best. Sorry, it just is. I'm not anywhere near the biggest JA fan in the world, but I'll bet I'm pretty high on any list of male fans.