Trending

There's a rebel lying deep in my soul. Anytime anybody tells me the trend is such and such, I go the opposite direction. I hate the idea of trends. I hate imitation; I have a reverence for individuality.
― Clint Eastwood

Just because a series is trending, it doesn't mean you automatically have to tune into it. Not everything broadcasted is healthy for the brain.
― Torron-Lee Dewar

Regardless of the popular literary trend of the times, write the thing which lies close to your heart.
― Bess Streeter Aldrich

I’m a sucker for trends. I don’t have much in the way of agency. I always want to try whatever’s popular.
― Izumi Suzuki

You know, when I came up with the idea of writing to the trends for this blog post, I figured it would be pretty easy. I should have known better when it was so hard to come up with quotes about trends in fiction. Sometimes Google can be your friend, other times Google can withhold its information until you word it just right. Hey! Maybe that’s an idea for another post. LOL

Let me ask you a question? Do you write whatever feels right to you, or do you follow the current trend?

Remember when Fifty Shades of Grey came out? Suddenly we’re seeing a glut of kinky billionaires who may or may not be redeemed at the end of the book. And Outlander’s popularity spurred a plethora of time travel romance stories set in Scotland.

Following the current trends may seem like a good way to break into a specific market, but do you really want to jump on an already crowded bandwagon? Trends will come and go. It’s probable that by the time your finish your novel, the trend will have already changed, especially if you’re trying to publish traditionally.

When you write your story, following a current trend, you’re limiting your creativity and imagination. You can’t let the story take you where it will because you need to stick to the scope of the trend. The stories you create are going to be similar to every other story written on the same subject. They’re no longer unique, no matter how much you dress them up.

Another thing you might keep in mind before following a trend is that if everyone is writing the same kind of novel, then the market will be flooded with similar novels. It’s going to make it that much harder to sell your own story.

Don’t confuse genre with trend. Science fiction is a genre, but climate based fiction with the doomsday clock ticking away is a trend. Romance is a genre, but bad boy motorcycle club based romance is a trend. Within each genre there are many, many choices. Don’t take your cue from the hot new trend of the moment.

Instead of focusing on what everyone else is writing, write the best version of your own story. By all means, keep the current market in mind, but make sure you’re following your own passion, not someone else’s. Who knows, maybe you’ll be setting the next new trend.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Last week’s word was definitely frustration.

Once again the week started out fine. I was starting out my day in my office, actually kind of getting into the groove of things, then it all seemed to fall apart. My buddy Jamie finds that Tuesdays are cursed, but my curse, apparently, is Wednesdays. No matter how well my week starts out lately, something always happens to upset the applecart on Wednesdays.

And no, it’s not because I’ve been babysitting my granddaughter on Wednesdays. Although it would be nice to have something other than myself to blame for it, this trend was happening well before school let out for the summer.

Sometimes it’s just Wednesday that’s the trouble, sometimes Wednesday is the precursor to the rest of the week sliding down hill, as it was last week. And the worst part is, not all the lists or organization or planning in the world can stop it.

All you can do is hit the reset button and hope that this will be the week you can make it through Wednesday. It won’t be the coming week though, because the week ahead has a butt load of stuff going on. But one of these weeks.

NEW WORDS:
1849+885+339+731=3,804
DOWN 363 – words from last week

I’m still getting my posts done earlier, well, Monday and Wednesday’s post anyway, but they just weren’t as long as the ones last week. It’ll be nice when I can finally add in some “extra words” but I’m thinking that won’t be for a while yet. I’ve been updating my journal on a regular basis and keeping up with my emails, but those words don’t really count.

The installments for Winter’s Child continue to be a bit problematic. It’s just that I’m finding it hard to write a winter-based story when we’ve been experiencing record breaking temperatures. Of course the heat is one of the reasons I spent more time in my office last week – it’s too hot to work with my laptop on my lap, even with the buffer of a lap desk.

Goals For Next Week:
Get my blog posts written (with everything else going on, it’s the best I can hope for).

EDITING:
0 hours

Editing? What’s that? Oh . . . That’s that thing that other writers do. :-)

I actually do want to start editing Elemental Spirit, enough so that even though I know it’s in terrible shape, I’m seriously considering printing out a working copy. Maybe I’ll be more inspired if I can actually see it.

Plus, it’s something I can work on when I’m away from the computer, like when the granddaughter is here. And I can have fun marking it up with some of my pretty pens.

Goal For Next Week:
Print out Elemental Spirit; start marking it up.

POETRY:
I’m glad I did my poemwork poem as last week’s form, because this week’s form, the Acronet, was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I always figure any non-rhyming poem is easier, but not when it has a strict syllable count. I found the fewer the syllables, the harder it was to write.

And I’ll let you in on a little secret. I think I spent more time on the Acronet than I have on any other poem I’ve written. But it turned out in the end, and that’s what matters.

There was a poetry gathering on Wednesday, down at the park, our summer meeting place. It was so humid I found it hard to breathe. Every part of me was damp when I got back home, even the pages I was reading from. And it was a little noisy, what with the crowds of people on the nearby beach and several games of volleyball going on. Is it really necessary to have boom boxes blasting while you play volleyball? So, the park is not really my first choice for a group meeting.

The town is looking for a new poet laureate, and the daughter suggested I run for the position. Unfortunately, I don’t qualify because I have yet to publish a volume of poetry. Guess that’s another incentive to start thinking seriously about it.

Goal For Next Week:
Get a new form ready to share.

CRAFTING:
No stitch-in last week. I have to admit, I kind of missed it. But I did get that fold-out wooden sewing chest cleaned out, and hopefully the hubby will be able to repair it so I can put stuff in it again. And I got the two sundresses altered, which was one of my goals for the week.

I was not, unfortunately, able to alter the new bathing suit I bought so it would fit. I think to do so I’ll have to take it completely apart and I need to figure out if it’s worth the trouble. For sure I’m in the pool more this summer, and it would be nice to have a second suit to wear.

I’ve been making steady progress on the kit I started – I’ll don’t know what I’ll do with it when it’s done, probably offer it up for sale at our Christmas craft sale.

No progress on the zentangle sampler, but I did go to the Royal School of Needlework website and downloaded a bunch of instructions for some interesting stitches to use in it. I was thinking a few of the squares I could divide into four sections, and fill them with different filling stitches.

Goal For Next Week:
Continue on my samplers; figure out what to do about my bathing suit.

WHAT I’M READING:
I finished The Boy in the Rain, by Stephanie Cowell. And I’ve just started Stories With Bite, a collection of vampire stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

On the Kindle, I finished Stanton’s Sins, part of the Demon Squad MC Club series by Monique Moreau, and I’ve just started Puck’s Property, by the same author.

Goal For Next Week:
Keep up the good reading habits.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

I don’t know what to tell you about the week ahead. The son-in-law’s schedule changed so he’ll be working straight days next week, which means I’ll be babysitting straight days. I see much crafting and much pool time in my future. LOL

But this also means I won’t be wasting my evenings futzing around on the laptop, I’ll need to get my writing done after supper.

This is not going to stop me from printing out a copy of Elemental Spirit so I can start marking it up. Normally, this comes later in the editing process, but I really think this would help me get started on it.

I’d like to get started on the installment for Winter’s Child earlier in the week. The original short story went rather quickly, so I’ve been trying to slow the action down by adding more detail. But on the other hand, I don’t want it to drag things out and make it boring. If I have the time, I think it might be a good idea to create some kind of an outline, just to keep the pacing even.

My reading last week seemed to come in spurts. Feast or famine, don’t you know. This week I’d like to keep it to a steady pace, which is easy enough to do on the Kindle if I only read while I ride the exercise bike. I’m having a bit of a hard time getting into the vampire anthology, but I’ve never been a big fan of Doyle. I’ll stick with it though. I have a bad habit of buying books and then just sticking them on the shelf and I’m trying to overcome this. I have a stack of four books I bought recently, sitting beside my chair in the living room, and this book was one of them.

Once again my attempts at getting back on track were foiled. It’s like a car that you’re having trouble starting. It sputters, almost catches, and after several attempts it either starts . . . or it doesn’t. It’s up to you whether you persist, or you give up.

Despite the busy-ness of the week ahead, I’m going to persist.