Wednesday, January 4, 2012

C is for conflict

When I say conflict, I imagine the first thing most writer's think about is the conflict between the hero and heroine or the conflict between an antagonist and the protagonist, but today, I'm talking about the a more personal conflict.

I have eleven books out now, which considering my schedule, is quite a feat. With two jobs and a family, squeezing in writing time has become a challenge but I'm addicted so.... I guess as long as I'm able, I'll continue to write.

But I've sorta come to a crossroads. With this new year, I'm conflicted about the direction I should take - both with the genre and with my career as a whole. Because of my hectic life, I elected to stay with one publisher. They've been great to me, publishing anything I send their way. Why would I want to change? Most writers publish with more than one publisher because it truly broadens their readership. In order to submit to another house, though, it means drafting the dreaded query letter and synopsis. All good things to consider.

And then there's the genre. I've dabbled in just about every genre except contemporary and yes, I do have a contemporary story floating around in my head. My heart lies with historical western, but my best sellers are in the sci-fi - fantasy realm.

I guess my true internal conflict is deciding what I want from my writing career. Do I want fame and riches? Or do I just want to write a damn good story and make those that like my type of story happy? I tend to lean toward the second as I've always done. I've never been one to really worry over sells and such, but heck, wouldn't it be nice to have both?

5 comments:

Bethany said...

Best wishes with working out this problem! Whatever you decide, I hope it goes well for you and your work :-)

Stephanie said...

I think about the same thing. Here's wishing the best of both worlds.

Ciara Gold said...

Thanks guys. Spent two restless nights thinking about it all. Ugh.

Callie said...

Hi Ciara,

I have three books with one publisher, and one with another. I may want to try a third somewhere down the road, but you're right, the dreaded query letter, and the wait....ugh.

Right now I'm writing what I love (Western Historical), but going off into another direction would be good to pick up other readers. I got hooked on historicals myself because I read a Judith McNaught contemp years ago, and when I looked for others by her, I found a wealth of historicals.

Good luck with your decision.

Ciara Gold said...

Hi Callie, I'm hooked on western historicals also. Wow. We have a whole thread going in the amazon forums (the author section) if you want to join us. I got hooked with I read Sandra Brown's few and then later, Joan Johnston.