Why do we write, what we write?

Why do we write, what we write?

We discussed why people write books, stories, and I suppose blogs. Whether it’s an addiction, or simply a hobby gone astray, the fact is that some people write. Now there are the folks who write non-fiction and they fit into a completely different bag. Whether it’s newspaper articles, or how-to manuals for electric toothbrushes, their choice of topics and style is normally directed by others. But fiction writers are something else entirely.

What makes a fiction writer choose a topic? Often they are victims of a vicious conundrum, if they are writing in the hopes that others will read their endeavors.  They have to choose what to write about, but should they write about what people are reading? If that were the only logical answer, then all books on the shelves today would be about romantic vampires and the magically enhanced people who inhabit the secret places in the world. If the authors choose to write what interests them and disregard what the majority of the reading public is looking for, then they run the risk of their work never seeing the light of day on a publisher’s desk. [Side Note #1: This of course is fantasy of the highest order, since all starving writers will tell you that sunlight never reaches a publisher’s desk. They all know that publishers are all trolls, who hide from the light of day in deep dark caves that are protected from the light by piles of manuscripts that have never been opened.]

I think the answer to the question lies somewhere in between the two poles. Judging by the actual number of books you can find in a book store today that deal with vampires, some of those who make the What’s-Popular-Now choice are slipping past the gates. [Side Note #2: This of course assumes that you can find an actual bookstore. The search for brick-and-mortar buildings that exclusively sell books is rapidly becoming a futile effort.] [Side Note #3: Thank goodness you can still go to Amazon-Kindle and download a copy of “Time Out” by you know who.] It may be that those books on vampires are all attempts to copy the works of Ann Rice or Stephanie Meyer. Those attempts are aided by publishers, who see the opportunity for profit by following the lemmings across the edge of redundancy. Of course, I exclude the works of James Howe, and his vampire bunny “Bunnicula,” which is both original and predates all of the vampire books, save those of Ms. Rice. [Side Note #4: If you have, or know of children, then you should really make the time to read the “Bunnicula” series of books.]

Back to the title topic, the choice of what to write. I suspect that the truth is manipulated by the same force that bring on so many copycat TV shows. I mean really, did anyone even know that there were laboratories in police stations before that original show in Vegas? I’m waiting for the cartoon version of a group of investigating dachshunds who work out of a secret lab built under the county animal shelter. They would investigate cases of abuse and death by toxic dog kibble.

The problem with dismissing writers who choose original topics is that eventually you’ll run into that first book in the next big trend. Not all writers who follow the trend avoid starvation, and not all writers who use originality will go to their death by being found under a cascading pile of unsold manuscripts. The truth, and the next great book you read, will be listed somewhere in between the two.