Good Walk Spoiled

Don’t go golfing when you really want to walk…And don’t go for a walk if you really want to golf. Seems pretty simple and straight forward, right? You either want to golf or you want to go for a walk. The answer is easy. You make the choice according to your feelings.

I feel like a walk. Or…I feel like playing a round of golf. You pretty much know which one you’d choose in this moment. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Golf is a good walk spoiled. ~ Mark Twain

The decision was easy, right? Let me guess, you went with your feelings? What YOU felt like doing, what appealed to you…where YOUR interest lies. The same should be said for authors deciding what their next book will be about. Do you feel like writing a mystery? Or is there a spectacular love story that you’re longing to tell? Or maybe it’s a 1920s time travel with lots of history and gangsters…Or maybe it’s this really out there reincarnation plot that doesn’t always have a happy ending…but the characters are already speaking to you and drawing you in, your thoughts are completely off the charts with inspiration, the words are flowing out your fingertips unlike anything else you’ve ever written and you are completely unable to stop even though your fans are waiting for the next book in your highly popular romantic comedy series (not just waiting, but seriously considering kidnapping you a la Misery…) and your agent is telling you no one is buying reincarnation books, especially ones that will make them cry…readers really just don’t want to feel these days and there’s absolutely NO publisher who wants the book.

Write it anyway.

Regardless of sales, trends, industry or what other authors are advising you to do. Don’t do it. DON’T listen to the voices! Don’t spoil your walk because everyone else thinks you should be golfing! You don’t want to golf! Remember, you didn’t FEEL like golfing….

Readers may say they want your next horror book, but what they REALLY want is just YOUR next GOOD book. They will either read it or they won’t. That’s their choice. But I promise you that if you write the book you FEEL like writing, especially if it’s something that lights you up, that you’re really being pulled to tell, then it WILL find the audience it is meant to find. All readers really want is a good book.

I saw this quote once and I think it’s absolutely essential for writers to understand. I’ll paraphrase…if you cry, your audience will cry…if you laugh, your audience will laugh. I will add that if you hate what you’re writing and not connecting with it…neither will your audience. They feel everything you feel while you’re writing.

TELL YOUR STORY. Tell your story YOUR WAY. Regardless of anything.

It’s time to own your story, own your voice and own what you really, really want to do. It’s not just your book, it’s your career and it’s your life. Own it.

Your words, your voice, your story.

❤ ❤ ❤

xoxo,