Advice for Novelists (Part 48)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

Randy Singer's response: Write for the audience of one. It sounds cliche, but the challenge comes when we start thinking "What does the market want?", "What does my editor want?", "What are people going to say about this book?" If we write the story we think God’s given us, that’s our best story.

The story you can’t stop thinking about, the one you daydream about, that’s the story God’s given you. It’s the characters you love, the story that just flows out of you. Our best writing occurs when we aren’t under contract deadline, we don’t have to produce, we’re just producing because we love the story and we love the characters. My whole life is boiled down to this issue of enthusiasm and passion and loving what you’re doing, working hard in that sweet spot of where your gifts and your interests intersect.

--Randy Singer, novelist, lawyer, pastor. His latest novel By Reason of Insanity has just released. Visit him online at his website.