Writing vs. Publication. Round One. Fight!

[megwrites]

A classic question about writing and publishing asked by arcaedia had me thinking.

The question, of course, is the age old: if you knew for certain that you'd never get a publishing contract ever, would you continue to write?

For me, the answer is definitely yes. Writing is part of my inner self, one that I've had since I learned to write and one that I wouldn't be able to give up.

However, I would make significant changes to things I do. I think, in a way, knowing I'd never get published would free me.



I don't equate not getting published with never getting an audience. I equate it with never being put on the commercial marketplace. So for me, the question is: if your writing had no monetary, commercial value, what would you do?

I come from the fan-fiction community, and long before I turned my hand to writing professional, original fiction that I hope to sell, I was cranking out fanfic for the delight and amusement of myself and fellow fans. I made no money, and actually spent some of my own in various ways. Nothing big, but it was definitely not a capital venture.

And I have to confess, in my journey towards the holy grail of publication, I still haven't matched the unbridled thrill of having some random stranger send me an email telling me that my story made them laugh, or cry, or that the sex scenes I wrote were very hot, or that I totally changed their view of a character.

I've taken prescription drugs that didn't give me the kind of full-brain, full-body high as an inbox full of feedback has. I'm not joking about that. Maybe it's a sign of intense approval seeking in my character, but knowing that my work has hit somebody's happy spot? Is to me what Vicodin is to House.

Thus, with commercial publication out of the question, I'd feel no fear of posting finished works online absolutely free, for no other reward than the kind comments of people who read it.

I'd also worry less about whether something is commercial enough, or could fit into a genre neatly. I wouldn't care about word count ever again. The phrase "novel length" would cease to mean anything. Novels would be as long as I wanted them to be.

I'd also feel more free to create characters who don't fit neat definitions as far as race, sexuality and gender, age, and appearance go. I'd let loose with my plot bunnies about the fifty-year-old bisexual lady pirate who's caught between two lovers (of varying genders, and not just male and female) in a dangerous game of high seas treachery.

But in the current market, I don't think I'd try to fly that past an agent/editor unless I was well established in the field - especially since it seems like heroines these days need to be consummately good looking, excessively snarky in all the wrong places, 20-35, wearing tight leather, sexy, white, straight and vampire-shaggers in the first degree.

I mean, just look at the cover art in the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance genre. It's like there's a formula or something.

1 Generically Pretty Model of slender, tall, generic body type + 1 Skin Tight Pair of Leather Pants +1 Belly Baring Shirt + Impeccable Abdominal Muscles Wot Would Make Supermodels Jealous + Heavily shadowed back ground + Weapon or Magical Amulet + Off framed setting which cuts off head, legs, and half of models's body = COVER OF DOOM.

Can you tell I wouldn't miss thinking about cover art? And if I felt a burning desire to have some sort of pictorial/artistic representation of the story, I could probably tap one of the many fan artists I know who are just as talented as anyone I've seen in the professional marketplace.

I also wouldn't care about crossing genre boundaries. I'd turn from SF/F to romance to mystery to genre-benders to non-fiction to poetry without so much as a second thought. No need for pseudonyms and worries about marketability.

There would only be a few things that I'd really feel sorry for missing out on.

The first and foremost is that I'd be unable to get as large or diverse audience as I would if I were commercially published and put on the shelves of the Big Name Bookstores. My biggest priority as a writer is to get my material in the hands of as many readers as possible. Above all, I want people to read my stuff. And if I can make a few dollars doing that, yay for me.

Without publication, realistically, I think I'd be having a really spectacular day if a hundred people ever read anything I wrote. I suppose if I pimped, posted, and podcasted my bastard ass from coast-to-coast (*), a couple hundred.

But I also might completely give up on the idea of editing, because if you don't have to cater to the wants and desires of a market, an agent, or an editor, you really just need spell check, right? I fear that without the hope of publication, and the need to constantly better myself, I might let my skills slip.

(*) So many points if you get the reference. If not go here and put some ROFL in your waffles. Semi-NSFW, but funny as hell.

Comments

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

That amazingly echoes both my thoughts and my journey as a writer!

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

I came up writing fanfic, too, and I write because I must. It's like this weird compulsion. And if no one was going to pay me for it ever, I might shift focus a little, but I'd still write. But I wouldn't be worried about posting parts and pieces of it online, and if I was filled with unseemly glee about something I'd done, I could just stick it on my LJ and share it with my friends.

I'd still edit, though, because I do want to get better and I'm really picky about my own writing.