If I never write another word ...

I commented in the ACW Facebook group a few weeks ago that I write mostly by commission, and I wondered if I would really be bothered if I never wrote another word. This was thrown into sharp relief recently when someone  told me that, financially, I didn’t have the ‘luxury’ of spending time on things that would in all likelihood not be picked up by a mainstream publisher and I should focus exclusively on those writing jobs that pay. This opinion was based on the state of the publishing industry rather than on the perceived quality of my writing – one hopes! (Forget self-publishing; this person doesn’t consider that a viable avenue; whether from a place of prestige or commercial value was unclear.)

My initial response was: ‘Don’t tell me what I can and can’t write!’ I felt a strange sense of loss at the suggestion I never write the stories that could only be written ‘on spec’.

Resilience

My next response was: ‘Am I called to write?’ I hear other Christian writers talk about how God has ‘called’ them – whether that be a generic call to be a writer, or to write a specific book – and I don’t feel that. I write because I can’t not. God has given me this ability, whether or not I have sufficient to write something that would be picked up by Baen (which may give you some clue to where my writing heart lies), but I'm not sure if that constitutes a calling. But I write, and since I write to entertain, I have more stories filling my head, awaiting their chance to be committed to paper, than I could write in a lifetime. If only I didn’t have to pay the bills. Which circles back to my friend’s comment about not having the luxury to write what I want to write.

Many of us have to face this dilemma. I’m not alone in having to pay the bills, of having a day job that gets in the way of writing time. And if, like me, you also have a disability that eats into energy or perhaps mental or emotional capacity, that issue can be compounded.

I have no answers – I’m still trying to work it out for myself – but what I have learned through this is not to allow anyone else to dictate where I should or should not focus my writing energies.

And I would care if I never wrote another word.

Adrianne Fitzpatrick has around 25 years’ experience in the publishing industry as a writer (for adults and children), editor, teacher (of writing and editing), photographer, book designer and bookseller (both new and secondhand books). She has had numerous short stories and articles published; and her second novel, The Chalet School Annexe, was published by Girls Gone By Publishers in 2018. Adrianne has worked with many authors to see their dreams of publication come true, so it’s not surprising that she has started her own publishing house, Books to Treasure, specialising in books for children.