Twilight is so last year.
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So says my 14 year old niece. She points out that real vampires don’t sparkle, as evidenced by this (Daybreakers):
Decidedly not hot. Except for maybe that guy with the gun.
Hot sparkly vampires are apparently being replaced by hot fallen angels. For evidence, just see this book cover (Hush, Hush):
Holy cats, who turned up the heat?
I would never gainsay teenage girls, with their quivering antennae on the pulse of what’s hot, but it makes me wonder what exactly makes for the birth (and death) of a trend. Writers are constantly advised to not follow trends, and to do the opposite of what “everyone else” is doing, but I wonder if this is really possible.
Trends, I believe, are the reflection of the cultural zeitgeist at the moment. This isn’t just about fashion, or teenage heartthrobs, but can also be seen in scientific breakthroughs and larger cultural moments, like our recent return to sensible spending after the economic near-apocalypse of 2008-09. Trends are a reflection of the age, and while trickier to predict than the stock market, I think it’s important to have some sense of the age that you live in – as well as a sense of the timeless.
Many writers will strive to write an enduring work, and very few will be successful. I think writing something that speaks to the essential conditions of humanity, maybe dressed up in the fashion of the day, will come close to hitting that moving target. I’m not sure that you can aim to write that work, however. In the end, I think you have to be present in the world, and write the story that speaks to your heart.
My philosophical self showed up to blog today. Sorry about that.
Are you writing to catch the next big wave of fiction in your genre? Or are you just striving to get published in a field that is changing faster than Superman in a phone booth (oh, that is so dated! Ouch!)? If you wax philosophical in the comments, be warned: I might wax back.
I've never been very good at trend spotting (as evinced by high-school photos that will burn every time I find one), though I think my writing genre has shifted to the hot genre trend (YA), though I kind of prefer MG. However, I'm not writing about angels or mermaids (I think those are the IN things now) — I did have a story w/ vampires, but they were all 13 years old and were rather petulant.
You can't write to the market.
The books you see on the shelf at Barnes&Noble today were acquired two years ago. The books the publishers buy today were (hopefully) first-drafted about a year ago. If you aim for a trend now, by the time your book is done they will have moved on to something else.
So write what you want to write, and maybe the market will come around to you.
Science fiction = the next wave. Children are hungry to dream of the fantastic possible!
P.S. Thanks, Sue, for spotting the wobbles in Nathan's voice in EARTHCROSSER. I've never written a full manuscript in first person before. I loved it, but I chose a plain-spoken character and so the soggy poet in me kept screaming to be let out.
Bane – Photography wasn't invented when I was in high school. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. YA is hot, but I think MG is a wave that's coming. And mermaids? These things baffle me sometimes.
Rebecca – SF=next wave, I hope! I hope! And I LOVE writing in first person, but I've only done it for YA. Although I think my next MG may be 1st person, because that will likely be the best way to tell the story. But getting into a 12yo head – well – it's tough to do, and you do a very nice job of it. (And I like your soggy poetry!)
I think I would go crazy trying to write to the trends. If I could do that, I would have been Fancy Nancy or Pinkalicious! ha ha ha. 🙂
I would be sooo glad if the Twilight wave was over. I sat down and looked at my order list for the library yesterday and an insane number of books are paranormal romance involving dark and brooding bad boys. Groan. But, that's what's circulating well right now. Sigh.
I expect my niece is on the leading edge of things, so it may take a while for everyone else to figure out that Twilight has become passe. (ha!) Seriously, I will believe it when the tickets for the next Twilight movie don't sell out weeks in advance.
And I DO think the paranormal romance wave will keep on rolling for sometime.
Shannon – Who is Pinkalicious?? I've heard of Fancy Nancy though.
I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to trends. Just look in my closet! I think if you try to write to a trend, by the time you're done and find an agent and find a publisher and finally the book comes out, the trend will be over. They move too fast. You just have to write a good book.
You have to read Pinkalicious. The "sequels" aren't as good, but Pinkalicious is one of the most brilliant PBs ever!
Pink, picture book, yeah – I can see why I missed it with 3 boys! 🙂 Thanks for pointing it out – I'll look for it during my weekly pilgrimage to the library tommorrow.