The perils of professional focus

Do you know what genre and format your book is going to be? Is it a picture book? A YA thriller? When writing for kids it’s a good idea to have a strong grasp of who your intended audience is, and to focus on one form so that you can build both skill and, when published, brand… etc.

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You’ll have read this advice before, if you’ve read any online writing resources. And it’s basically sound. Take it from me, I’m an editor with a waggly finger.

On the other hand, I’m a writer, and my writerly self has a thingy in her head. It’s an idea so formless that it’s more of a feeling than a plan. And it’s got company in there, too – some picture books, a young reader, an MG novel, a YA novel and an adult novel. My ideas file is crowded, and quite a few of the denizens didn’t turn up in response to a casting call from the marketing department.

This is not what the successful modern writer is meant to do. You are meant to find one thing you are good at and do it repeatedly until you wear such a groove in the public consciousness that a significant amount of money slides down onto your head.

That’s how it works now, and my professional self, who spends all day writing to order or shaping other people’s writing into the required niche, knows that well enough. But my creative self doesn’t seem to be so keen, even though if I’d started writing one type of thing 15 years ago and done nothing but that ever since I would probably have stood a better chance breaking through as A Writer, with a following of people who buy stuff because it’s got my name on the spine.

I’d probably be less good though. And less interesting. And know a narrower range of stuff. And earn less money. And I’d fear the thingy, instead of feeding it finest brain and waiting to see what happens.