Write Your Bliss

You can have all the craft in the world but your writing won't sing if you're not writing your bliss, your joy, the one thing you love more than anything else in the world.

It's no good to say, "vampire novels always sell so I will write a vampire novel" if you don't love vampires. Love them. Okay, some people manage it, and they sell, and they sell well, but that's not my point here.

My point here is that most of us don't write purely for the money. If all we wanted was money, we would get a job that paid a lot more per hour than writing. (Like maybe bagging groceries.) I also think that getting joy from writing is part of your payment. And I think readers can tell if you feel that interest and joy; if you feel it, they are more likely to feel it, too. Agents and editors can feel it, too.

What better way to write something different than to write what you are desperate to read, but that isn't already out there?

Your bliss is what makes you unique. And if you want people to read your work, it needs that spark. It needs joy.

There aren't a whole lot of erotic novels set during World War One, and I don't know of any with werewolves. But I love reading about World War One, and I love science fiction and fantasy. So I wrote about those things. And I had a blast. As a result, I think it was good work, better work than I'd done before.

Write your bliss.

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Wacky Story Elements and Laura Kinsale.