It’s First Wednesday again – time for the IWSG pep talk for all us insecure writers!
August 3 question – When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original or do you try to give readers what they want?
When I set out to write a story, I write whatever movie is playing within my mind. I don’t actually consider what is popular at the moment or what is trending, because no matter how quickly you write, by the time your “trending” subject is published, the trend will be over (unless it’s zombies or vampires, which seem to be, pardon the expression, eternal).
I guess you’d say I write mostly for myself, to tell a good story, so I do consider what aspects of the story should appeal to science fiction readers, like conflict, characters, setting, & suspense. However, I don’t sit down and have a checklist of topics like
- Aliens from outer space
- Conspiracy theories
- Suspicious government official
- Spaceships
- Smugglers
- Hyperdrive engine (or the local equivalent)
- Etc.
I do try to give readers what they want to a certain extent—assuming what they want is a good, action-packed story. I don’t enjoy dystopian stories myself, so even those are extremely popular today for some reason, I just can’t get into writing them. I see enough dystopia all around me every day—don’t need more in my fiction! I also don’t write supernatural sci-fi, which I tend to think of as more along the fantasy spectrum than sci-fi. Magic, vampires, werewolves, & zombies—unless very logically explained via some sort of sci-fi trope—just don’t seem to belong in the same world as spaceships & cyborgs.
I like to think my stories are original, though really, is there anything completely new under the sun? At least, I’ve never seen any other stories with the same premise as mine, so if I ever get the first novel edited to my satisfaction…. You other insecure writers will understand the dilemma! It’s hard to be confident sometimes.
