The last couple of weeks have been intense. I’ve been writing short stories, novels (yes plural) and poems. I stopped chasing side hustles that took me away from writing to focus on a side hustle that is writing. I looked into website content writing, copywriting and things related to those. But it would take me time to develop skills in those areas, and while potentially lucrative, they didn’t feel right. What feels right, is writing fiction and poetry.
So I’ve started writing more genre focused fantasy under a pen name. This came about after long consideration about what the follow-up novel to my debut novel would be. The second novel needs to be similar enough to the first not to disappoint those who like the first. When I looked at all my ideas and half-finished stories and novels, I saw I wrote in two distinct genres that probably didn’t have a big overlap in readers. What was I going to do with all those ideas that didn’t fit my readership? The obvious answer was to publish them under a different name. I’m sure someday I’ll publish both under my name, but right now I think I’m better off keeping them separate.
This solution also provides a partial answer to the problem I mentioned earlier about getting published in traditional markets. More on that later.
The result (so far) is liberating. I’m creating more than ever. I have clear outlets for all my work. I also have the potential for an income stream that can support me. And that, is my goal: creative happiness and a living wage. Yesterday I wrote for six and a half hours straight. Pure creative writing. Yes, I need to do other things, such as minding family and my author business, but that’s what the rest of the day is for.
I go to sleep excited to get up and do it again.
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Kevin J. Fellows 