My first full-time writing job was as a staff writer at a corporate online publication. It started out as a dream job; I got to log in every day and write about what I’d gotten my degrees in, and people actually read what I published. It stopped being a dream job when the company was forced to pivot to publishing articles that were most likely to be picked up by search engines. My niche was not part of that focus shift.
I stayed in that job for years after that, for a lot of reasons. And I coped by, on the side, writing about the things that actually mattered to me. Because sometimes, you don’t have to choose one or the other. You can — and may even have to — do both.
It gets a little more complicated when we’re talking about fiction. But the same point still stands. You can — and should — write about what you want to write about. Even if there’s no guarantee it will get the readership you’ve always dreamed of.
What’s Trending Isn’t Always What’s Most Interesting
I’ve seen a lot of writers over the years fall into what I’ll call the Vampire Trap. Left and right, it may seem like books about fictional vampires are appearing on shelves. Logically, writing a vampire book therefore seems like your best option … right? People love vampire books. If I write a vampire book, people will love my book!
You can absolutely write a vampire book if you want to write a vampire book. But you don’t have to. And that’s my point. If you’re invested enough in creating a vampire-centric story that will stand out from the rest because you’re genuinely interested in doing that, then yes. Write that story. But don’t write about something solely because it’s popular. If you’re not into it, any potential future readers probably won’t be, either.
(Additionally, publishing is way more complicated than I have time to get into here. The short version is that what’s popular now may not be what publishers are buying by the time your book is ready to sell.)
Writing Is Already Hard Enough
It’s hard enough already to get yourself to sit down and write consistently — myself included — without always having to box yourself in to a subject simply because you think it’s what a lot of people will want to read about. I have a whole newsletter about Star Wars books. I don’t write those posts because millions of people are interested in them. I’M interested. And most days, that’s enough.
There are going to be times you’re only going to be able to write because you genuinely care about what you’re writing. It may not come with the money and recognition you want — because deep down, we all want to be lucky enough to write about what we like AND get paid for it. But at least you’re writing. That matters more than you might think.
Your Passion Can Shine Through Your Words
I write much better when I’m covering or creating a story around something I’m deeply passionate about. I spend less time on worrying about how my writing sounds and more about telling a compelling story. Readers are attracted to that sort of thing. They can sense when you’re writing because you care.
Never stop writing about what matters to you. It will remain your favorite writing time, even if it’s not what you get to do full-time. And that will always be more important than anything else — that you get to enjoy writing, as it was always meant to be.
Meg Dowell Writes 