When I sit down to write I really only consider one audience: me.
I know that’s probably audacious considering I’m in a field where everyone is concerned with What Sells and What Doesn’t Sell. I don’t really care.
See, the thing is if I worry about or research What Sells I’m going to be behind the curve. I can’t afford to be behind the curve because I’m not anywhere near the road that curves one way or the other. I pay more attention to What Doesn’t Sell than anything else but only to know if I’m going to have trouble selling a story if I get brave enough again to send it out.
Like Modern Day SF. I like to write stories that aren’t necessarily set in today’s world, but maybe they’re only a few years ahead of us. I grew up a couple of favorite stories that were obviously set on Earth, just a few years ahead of the time I was reading them. They still hold up as being a few years ahead of Now though they were written in the 50s and 60s. So that’s the model I sometimes go for. Trouble is, I’ve run into a couple of publishers who don’t even want to look at that stuff and those had been places I’d wanted to send stuff. I suppose I should have sent it anyway, but I’m digressing from my topic. (more…)