I've been talking
about goals. It’s worth spending some time figuring out the balance between
doing what you want to do and doing what you need to do to make money.
Art versus Commerce in Writing Goals
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| Molly also writes as Cece Barlow |
Molly Blaisdell started by writing novels,
but she needed to make an income and wanted to do it from writing. To turn
writing into a career, she advises, “Take any gig you can get. If the checks
don’t bounce, it’s a good gig.”
This attitude has
given her dozens of books in print, most of them work for hire beginning
readers or picture books. It also led to her first trade picture book, Rembrandt
and the Boy Who Drew Dogs. “Work for hire made me bold and helped me
put together a professional front,” Blaisdell says.
Not everyone puts
income first. For Louise Spiegler,
another job pays the bills. With writing, the main goal is always “to write
compelling, passionate, funny, tragic, thought-provoking books that really
speak to my readers. This means I need to keep pushing myself to work on my
craft, to think hard and work hard.”
But Spiegler
recognizes that being a successful writer doesn’t stop with craft.
“Professionally, I also wanted to make sure that I get more people reading my
second book, The Jewel and the Key than read my first. I get emails
from people who have read The Amethyst Road and felt very moved by
it. This is the most rewarding thing for me. I just want to make sure every
book finds its readers.”
Janet S. Fox, author of picture books and novels
such as The Charmed
Children of Rookskill Castle, says, “I want my
books to be exquisite. To be loved. To be read forever. To sell, yes—to be
commercial—but to be beautiful, and beautifully crafted. I’m constantly
questioning my work from two angles: will readers read it? And, will it be
eternally beautiful? Commerce and craft—my overwhelming goal is to keep these
two warring factions in balance.”
Keeping Your Writing Goals Flexible
Goals can change over
time, as we learn more about ourselves and our field. Author Esther Hershenhorn discovered
joy in helping other writers tell their stories well. “I began coaching writers
in person, via the mail, on the phone, from near and far,” she said.
“Like my character
Pippin Biddle in my picture book Fancy That, whose
hidden talents save the day as well as his three orphaned sisters, I returned
home from my journey with a prize far better than what I’d first sought. I
spend my days doing what I love and loving what I do: writing, teaching and
coaching other writers.”
Hershenhorn adds, “I
remind my students to be open to unimagined possibilities and opportunities.
I’ve watched writers assess their interests, talents, and experiences to find
related children’s book niches—reviewing children’s books for a journal or
website, writing curriculum materials, working with book fairs, selling at
bookstores, writing PR plans for fellow writers, returning to library school.”
Chris Eboch’s book
Advanced Plotting helps writers
fine-tune their plots, while You Can
Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids
and Teenagers offers great insight to beginning and intermediate writers. Her
novels for ages nine and up include The
Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery that brings ancient Egypt to life; and The Well of Sacrifice, an action-packed
drama set in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala. Learn more at https://chriseboch.com/ or her Amazon page.
Chris also
writes for adults under the name Kris Bock. Her Furrever Friends Sweet Romance
series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall
in love with each other and shelter cats. Get a free 10,000-word story set in
the world of the Furrever Friends cat café when you sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter.
Kris Bock also writes
romantic suspense novels. Fans of Mary Stewart, Barbara Michaels, and Nora
Roberts will want to check out Kris Bock’s romantic adventures. “Counterfeits is the kind of romantic
suspense novel I have enjoyed since I first read Mary Stewart’s Moonspinners.” 5 Stars – Roberta at
Sensuous Reviews blog
Learn more at www.krisbock.com or visit Kris Bock’s Amazon US
page or Amazon
UK page. (For other countries
click here.) Sign up for the Kris
Bock newsletter for announcements of
new books, sales, and more.
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