Friday, April 2, 2010

Blog Chain: Chasing the Trends

Hey!  We're back on the blog chain and we've got some new members, so show them some love.

This chain is brought to us by the trendsetting Michelle who wants to know:

Do you write for the market or for yourself? Why? Are there times you do both? Or times when you've written something specifically because it was "hot" at the moment? If so, how did it turn out?

I think the answer to that is that I write for myself.  Deathday was definitely for myself.  That I know of, horny boys with one day to live, isn't nor has it ever been a trend (though I'm certainly hoping it becomes one!)

After Deathday sold, I spent a lot of time trying to come up with the next idea.  I definitely looked into writing something with a paranormal bent.  I thought about writing something that maybe followed a trend, but every time I did, it felt wrong.  I'm just not the paranormal kind of guy.  I think if I ever wrote a vampire book it'd be silly.  I also came up with some ideas that my agent felt weren't marketable, but there's a huge difference between trendy and marketable.  Deathday wasn't trendy, but it had a hook.

The problem with trends is that if you try to follow one, by the time you write the book, revise it, sell it, revise it more, two to three years could have gone by and that hot trend could be cold.

I think the best advice I got was to write something you love, write something great, and don't worry about the trends.  Who knows, maybe you'll be the one to start the next big thing.

So tomorrow head on over to the ever-awesome Christine's blog to see how she handles trends.

15 comments:

  1. I suddenly feel inspired to write a story about a horny vampire with one day to...uh, be undead?



    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this post - and yeah, huge difference between trendy and marketable. Great job...and man, tough to follow...Hmmm....must stew now and look over post...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome post. I couldn't agree more :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. So true about trends lasting a short while! Though there are a few trends I wish would go away already....

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOL, sorry but I love Kat's idea. This is a great post, Shaun and I wholeheartedly agree with you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is the problem with trends. Unless a person is a super-writer who can craft an ms in a week's time, they'll just miss out on the current trend. Great post.

    Horny vampires with one day to be undead? Sounds like an ex-boyfriend I once had...

    ReplyDelete
  7. very true, great post :D And LMBO at Kat's idea LOL

    ReplyDelete
  8. Spot on! Great post! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great post Shaun! I agree that writing for the market can backfire, especially with the time it takes to write, crit, and revise a project. And that's before your agent takes a stab at it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kat: OMG. I spit milk out of my nose.

    Robin: WIth any luck, disco will stay dead :)

    Sandra: I hear you about trends I'm ready to be over.

    Michelle: Horny undead ex-boyfriends? now THAT sounds like a book.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I like how you talk about the difference between following trends to being aware of what is marketable. I think this is an important distinction.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I agree, Shaun. Good on ya for pointing out the difference between trendy and marketable. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great point about trendy vs. marketable. There are plenty of fresh ideas out there that are very marketable. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I was 7 years old when I used to have play dates with my net door neighbor. She came over one day with her Tea set and her overfed cat. So when my neighbor and I were dowstairs having a very pleasent tea party, her fat cat sneaked into the laundry room and destroyed my precious shirt with a pink pony on it. It seems pretty funny now but back then it was horrible and heart breakeing. so from that day, even now, I don't allow pets into the house and forbidden my brother from getting one.

    everlove14@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete

Keep it clean, keep it classy, and jokes are always appreciated.