New Beginnings in Writing

Writing in a genre that just isn't your heart? There's time to recreate yourself. It's okay to step back and explore the options. That's the beauty of writing. Come find out how to accomplish a new direction and how Last Chapter Press is redefining traditional romance publishing for a new era of writers.

It's okay. 

I promise, it's truly going to be okay. 

I've been there. I've questioned things-- life, writing direction, what kind of coffee creamer to have this morning, and so much more. And the choices we're faced with on a daily basis are just too numerous to count or talk about. But today I'm going to talk about writing direction. Where are you going and why? It's important to know. 

Maybe you're a new writer or maybe you're someone who has put out 200 stories, either way, sometimes you just have to PIVOT! You have to pivot from what you thought was your journey and destination were going to be and explore new paths. 

Pivoting-- or making a new decision for a direction --isn't failure. It's understanding who you are and what you truly want in life. It takes a VERY strong person to do this. It takes a VERY grounded person to understand when something isn't right for you and to step back and say "I can't do this. Something has to change." 

I've written in eight different genres/sub-genres: contemporary long romance, contemporary short romance, contemporary dark MM romance, contemporary sweet romance, contemporary paranormal romance, contemporary LGBT romance, contemporary sweet YA romance, and non-fiction.  And after each one, I've learned something. Something to take away and to be able to say, Okay, that wasn't for me, but what I did like about it was...

I have the wherewithal to step back and examine what's working and what isn't. And this is vital to every author career and their writing health. 

Here at LCP, we've seen authors burn themselves out when they continue to write in a genre that just doesn't vibe with their internal voice. But when they find a genre or sub-genre that makes their heart sing, it shows both in their writing and their attitude. 

Don't get us wrong. Writing for money is essential. You like to eat right? So do we! Cheese. All the cheese. 

We encourage every writer to write a marketable story. If the story doesn't have a valid and clear market, then it is hard to market. Period. Costs go up exponentially for advertising to find the right readers, and the reader pool can be quite limited. So keeping to a genre or sub-genre that is at least evergreen (think vampires/sports romance) or experiencing popularity (hockey currently) is a great way to increase both income, but visibility and reader interest.

So here are some tips to know if you need to pivot to a different genre/sub-genre.

1. You find your mind wandering to other stories that "you're waiting to write". Why wait? Is that the story of your heart? Find out! Nothing says you can't go back to what you were working on before. Give yourself permission to pivot--change direction and explore. 

2. You're succeeding, but feel... lost or nothing. You've lost the joy. You like the money, but in your heart you feel like it's for nothing. Your heart has opinion, listen. Be okay with finding out that the direction you're headed in isn't exactly where you want to go. 

3. You have to drag yourself to the keyboard. If a writer isn't looking forward to writing, then it will show in the words. We have seen it. It's reading a "looking glass" story. It shows the unhappiness that the author has. Characters tend to be downtrodden with lack of hope and they reiterate this over and over. Don't do that to yourself or your readers. You deserve to want to write. Happiness behind the keyboard will show in what comes from the keyboard. 

4. You're afraid to stand out now that you've developed a group of author friends. Oh, I feel this one. When you find your group, you feel secure, welcomed, loved. It's hard to say, I need to explore outside of this genre and into something else, which often means joining other groups. But if you're rejected by your original author friends for exploring your heart, they weren't your friends in the first place. You have to stand up for your passion. 

5. You're good at it... and that's all. We've met many romance authors who are good enough at what they write, but when they write what they're really passionate about the words have a different meaning. They find the reader's heart. They take readers to magical places. 

You can be a good writer in many genres/sub-genres, but focusing will get you the most return for your money. I went from earning less than $1000 a year to a stainable income by finding my heart in short romance. 

And that's how you find your most loyal fans. The ones who would trudge through the muck of life with you because you're being authentic and real. Don't play a part in your writing life-- be the leading character of your writing life! Great writers find a way to pivot to what their heart is really calling out for. 

So how do you pivot your writing career? Good question and there's not one way that will be right for every author, but there are some tips on how to move toward a pivot. 

1. Research this new genre thoroughly and align your writing skills from the beginning. Know the beats of the stories. Know what readers expect because not meeting expectations is a big reason for author failure. And know how and where you can cheat the system. And by cheat we don't mean be unethical. We mean-- know the rules and when you can bend them. Find a way to make the genre rules work for you. 

2. Prepare a pen name and start building it while you're still writing in the last genre. Find followers and get them excited for what you're going to be offering. Be authentic and real. You can do this! 

3. Slowly graduate your writing time from the currently paying genre/sub-genre to what you want to do. This is your transition plan. Now how slow? We don't know, that's up to you, your wallet and your current financial situation. It could be months. It could be years, but have a date. And write it down: On 01/01/YYYY, I will be writing XYZ. It's a due date for your future. 

4. Reassess occasionally. Has thinking about writing in a new genre given you hives? Then think about what it's doing to you physically to make this change. Maybe you reexamine what you want. Maybe you do the passion genre on the side and still stick with the original paying genre/sub-genre. 

Maybe you publish three works in the new genre and the reception isn't what you were looking for. Step back-- find some perspective. Maybe you need more training. Maybe find some new beta readers who can give you some feedback on writing genre specifics. Don't think of it as failure, think of it as learning and developing yourself, your writing, and your future. 

Are you going to keep wondering or are you going to take a chance on being the writer you want to be? 

We can help!  Last Chapter Press is here to help you find that voice in romance.

Last Chapter Press holds yearly coaching calls with authors who have published with them in the last 12 months. These calls are for development of the author, covering things like what do you want? How can you get there? We also offer quarterly trainings on topics like money and budget management, marketing and social media, websites, and more. We don't want you to just succeed with us. We want you to succeed for you!

It's time to sign off. Until next time-- later gnomies! ~Jules (Acquisitions Editor)