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Here is the video/audio to go with the post:

This is another discussion on writing for passion. I assume some people are just finding me, and since this is a topic I enjoy discussing, I thought I’d address it today.

When you’re writing to market, you are looking at what is selling. You’re looking at character types and plots that are popular. Your goal is to gather all of the stuff that has a high demand in the market place and then you build a story around them. For writers who successfully write to market, they can write a story without having to be interested in the story they are writing. I mean, I’m sure they are interested to a point, but the goal is to write FOR the reader first. So they are more concerned with what others want, rather than in what they want.

I used to do some writing to market, but I was unable to fully go “all market�. I had to blend some of the market with some passion. (I’m sure other writers do this, too, as a way to leverage both passion and market). Unfortunately, over time, even this approach led to me facing burnout. (Apparently, not all writers can do this long term. I’m one of them.)

These days, I will do everything I can to avoid burnout because burnout was so terrible. It’s essentially a place where you have no ideas left in your creativity well. I was so exhausted that trying to write anything was like puling teeth. Sure, it’s common to have days where you’re just not in the mood to write, but you manage to push through those and be fine. But in burnout, you actually hate to write. (And that is a scary place for someone who grew up daydreaming stories most of her life.) I have since learned to go slower when I’m writing and to pick stuff that fills my creative well by choosing stuff that I’m passionate about writing.

With that transition�

When you write for passion, you are free to write whatever you want.

No one else is calling the shots on this story. You don’t have to think about the market at all. The sky is the limit. You can go anywhere and do anything. Whatever characters and plots you want, you can use them.

Naturally, you will not please everybody. (But you won’t please everyone when you write to market, either, because taste is subjective.) The difference in writing for passion is that you are asking yourself, “What is the journey I want to go on? What do I want to read?� When you write to market, you are asking, “What is the journey THEY want to go on? What do THEY want to read?� The mindset is a lot different when you approach the story from a passion point of view.

My advice is not to stress the feedback you get. You will get more positive than negative feedback. (Or most of us will. I’m sure there are exceptions to any rule.) But mostly, I would say that you will hear about the stuff people like about your books. When you get negative feedback, it’s okay. Not everyone likes the same thing. I know this is easier said than felt. Back in 2010-2011 when I was getting hit hard with a lot of 1 and 2-star reviews and emails from people who didn’t like my stuff, I almost quit writing. It is not easy to hear the bad. I will say that as you go along this writing journey, you will develop thicker skin, and the negative gets a lot easier to brush off. My advice is to print out the positive stuff you receive so you can refer to that when you doubt yourself.

When you write, you might have to make a conscious decision to push out the critical voice inside your mind telling you what sucks about the stuff you’re writing. (I don’t know if everyone has this voice bugging them in the back of their minds. But I know I’m not the only one.) Sometimes I have to stop writing and remind myself that I am writing this story for myself first. This is a passion story. It’s okay if I put what I want in this story. This is not easy to do. You pretty much have to train yourself in this area, or at least I did. Over time, though, it gets easier. Looking back, I have always been happier with the stories where I pushed out the critical voice.

One big perk to writing the story your way is that you will find people who will love your stuff, and they will love it enough to stick with you over the years. It is rewarding to have a small group of people who have the same vision and enjoyment for my writing. This isn’t sexy or impressive in the writing community because the writing community values money. I’m just telling you that it’s okay if you are looking at writing through the prism of “I love writing for passion�. Your stories are just as valid as any writer who is focused on book sales.

It is possible to make money while writing for passion. I used to do it. I’m not the only author who’s ever done it. The gold rush of self-publishing is over, so I don’t make the money that I used to. Could I make more money if I wrote to market? Maybe. I know authors who write to market who aren’t making the money they want. So writing to market doesn’t guarantee sales. It probably increases your chances. (I have only assumptions on this. I offer no actual proof. I assume stuff that is popular will sell better than stuff that isn’t.) I guess you have to ask yourself, does the freedom to write what you want outweigh the prospective money you can receive? I’ve seen posts in writing forums from writers who were making a lot of money writing to market, but they were miserable because they hated what they were writing. After going through burnout, that’s just not worth it to me.

Writing for passion also allows you to develop your voice. I think our greatest defense against AI is to develop our writing voice. Your writing voice can be as unique as a fingerprint. Have you ever read a book by an author with such a compelling voice that you fell in love with their work? That’s what I’m talking about in developing voice. After some time of writing, you should settle into a style that best fits you. So if you blend your unique voice with a book you are passionate about writing, I think you buffer yourself against a future where AI is creating stories for people to read. (The future already seems to be here, but I have no way of knowing just far we are into this rabbit hole.) All I know is that if a person falls in love with your voice and your type of stories, then it helps to give you an edge that AI cannot duplicate. AI can imitate, but it can’t “create�.

So anyway, that’s why I believe there’s value in writing for passion. I modified this a bit from the video. (I sure can ramble. I’m more concise when I write things down.)