Letting Go of Market Expectations

There are plenty of bad habits to get into when writing.

One of my worst when I first started was trying to make sure I wrote something I thought people would want to read.

Spoiler alert: You will never know what people want to read.

Not readers, librarians, kids, teens, teachers, agents or publishers. There is no prediction method or glass ball to give authors that knowledge. So how do you know if what you’re writing stands a chance at ever becoming published?

Spoiler alert: You don’t.

Therefore, there is only one way I’ve found that I can write with confidence and ease.

I write what I want.

I write what is in my heart.

I write the story I want to tell.

I write even if it’s a quiet story or contains unlikable female characters.

I do not weigh how I think people will react. I write to write, and even if it’s bad writing to start out with, it’s still a first draft. And I can fix a first draft. I can’t fix a blank page.

Just get it out. The idea, the words, the sentences that have been bouncing around in your head for weeks or months. Let it flow and pound away from your fingers and see what you’ve got.
More than once, it hasn’t been what I’d hoped. It’s like trying to draw a Renoir and ending up with something you may have sketched in Kindergarten. But other times, oh, the other times, something really beautiful gets written. And other people like it. But most importantly, you like it.

Just keep writing. Don’t give up.

Happy reading!