There are so many great authors out there with their fancy vocabulary and writing prowess. Do I really think I stand a chance to compete with them?
Yes, and yes, this may be overconfidence, but I feel like I will. This is not my main concern however. I just want to write a novel worthy of reading. My main aim is to entertain and if this goal changes then I have failed. The money I’ll make will be a bonus and a way to feed the author, but if things get out of control… if I am that good, will my writing diminish? Will I become a cash grabber that doesn’t care about quality? I told my brother to shoot me if that happens… I probably shouldn’t have said that. I just feel like I owe my characters and readers a great story.
So do you think you’ll make it? Come on, just because you aren’t published does not mean you aren’t any good and, no I am not a hipster either. Some popular authors have blown me away. Hugh Howey’s Wool was so good I could not think to criticize it when I read it. I read Killing Floor by Lee Child and I loved it.
They deserve respect, but I don’t want to write like them. I want to write like me. Sure, I will polish my skills, but if I try to be like them there is a good chance I’ll forget my voice. Maybe it’s just the paranoia speaking. You don’t know how good you can be if you try to replicate someone else. I am not saying you shouldn’t learn from them and in fact this is inevitable as you pick up certain qualities of other writers as you read their work. Just don’t forget you… your dream and to write what you feel like writing.
Maybe I’m just a dreamer… but hey… I am a writer.
Noveltray 
I think every writer has to have a bit of overconfidence (or insanity) to put your writing out there in the world and let people do with it as they may.
I really relate to your drive to write as YOU and that you owe characters and readers a great story. I’m definitely not in it for the money (which is good. . . Because authors don’t really get that much!), I just want to share the crazy stories in my head. And I wouldn’t worry too much about your motivations for writing changing, just make sure to keep your head on your shoulders.
In that same vein, I worry a lot about my voice changing too! Even from book to book it sometimes changes. Then I feel like I have to go back and try to make it sound the same, which I’m sure doesn’t help anything.
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I agree with that. Those crazy stories keep coming up and we have to just let other people know of it. As for my voice… I hope ir doesn’t change too much. I am nearly done with my first novel’s draft and can’t wait to get to editing and rewriting.
Thank you for commenting.
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