Should you write for the Market, or for yourself? If you aren't one of the few who can do both without conflict, this is a thorny issue. It's also necessary to decide at this step because whether you write for the Market or not will determine everything about the kind of story you write, from the length to the style to the genre.
I'm going to assume you are one of the millions of unpublished writers who are doing your first real research into writing books, because that is what this Lessons section is geared for. (If you aren't, you'll probably find the rest of this interesiting enough anyhow.) If you want nothing more than to be published by a major Publishing House right now, then by all means, write what the Market currently wants. Unfortunately, the advice I got from a businessman really is true: the Market doesn't want anything it hasn't seen before. In other words, original work which is unlike anything else out there probably won't be immediately snapped up.
The reason for this is simple: publishers aren't churches, their goal is not to make the world a better place. When it comes down to it, their goal is to make money. (Actually, making money does make the world a better place, but that is another issue.) They manufacture, distribute, and sell a product like any other manufacturer. They are willing, and have to be willing, to give a brand-new product (a totally new, unique book) a chance now and then, because it is necessary to bring new products into the marketplace to keep making money. However, most of these 'chances' will turn out to be bad gambles that won't pay off. So the most sure-fire way to keep the accounting department happy is to print more of what is guarenteed to always sell.
How do they know what always sells? Well, certain genres and subjects have a pretty good proven track record. Readers go through fads like every other industry… romance books are a pretty sure bet, since the readership for that genre is avid, loyal, and represent one of the largest markets in the publishing world right now. Young Adult literature is also pretty hot, because frankly the same people who buy romance also buy Young Adult. Why? Because that demographic of people don't like 'dark' ugly gritty stories full of bankrupt morality, graphic violence, and depressing material. Y.A. books tend to stay on the light side, as do romances. Think about it: life is hard and getting harder. When you are already depressed, what do you want to read? Something depressing, or happy sun-shiney brain-candy escapism? Yah, now you understand the wild success of something like 'Twilight.'
If you were a publisher, you would do the same thing. You see that teenaged vampire romances are pulling in millions of dollars. You know that when the people reading these books get done with it in a few weeks they will want another one just like it. So you tell your editors to sift through the submissions, and only pull the ones for teenaged vampire romances. Those go to press, while everything else does not.
But you say, my book isn't a romance about teenaged vampires! What do I do?
Every writer faces this dillemma, whether they work in fiction or nonfiction. Do I put in the time and effort to write a book that doesn't have a million clones already on the market, or do I research the snot out of the market until I find something that is 1) selling well and 2) I don't feel like gagging when I think of writing something like it? Yah, I'd recommend #2.
It's not sexy, I know. But when you head into the world of becoming a real, published author who might even make some money at it, you have to start thinking with your wallet and your head, not your heart. Business is about money. If you write for the money, and if you are any good, you will probably make some. If you can't stand the thought of using your talent that way, then you aren't ready.
I know all about this headache, because for years I was stuck there. What I write isn't anything like what has been written before. When I first began to understand the writing marketplace, I was thrown into howling fits of fury at the 'unfairness' of hard reality. Should the unique and inventive be punished just because they are unique and inventive? Should the bright new ideas be forever locked out of human circulation, so people have to keep reading the same five fantasy stories over and over again forever?
I came to realize, however, that if I was really truly as inventive as I thought I was, I'd be a lot more flexible too. I thought about it using my head, and began to reason it out. Business is business; I have to think like a business person. What sells? What doesn't sell? Where are all the agents? What do they buy? What are the percentages? Then I started looking very critically at my portfolio. What do I have? Is any of it anything like what they want? If not, can I adjust something to be more like what is already selling like hotcakes?
Eventually I found a story—an old idea that I'd thrown aside—and I found my inspiration. My advice is this: write the first one for them, and the rest you can keep. A truly creative writer will be able to find something exciting about just about any subject, if you just turn it around long enough, and look at it from enough angles. Publishers love work that is both square within a well-selling bracket, and original enough to present a refreshing new take on whatever-it-is. Like teenaged vampire romances—what if vampirism doesn't work in the classic way? What if it's actually more of a disease that people are trying to get cured from? What if the whole world were vampires, and normal people were the exception? What if… you can go on and on.
The fact is, once you get your first book published, you will have a much higher chance of being picked up a second time and published again, even if your second book is a little more 'unique.' If you prove to the publishers that your name sells no matter what you write, it won't take long before yes, they will take a chance on that super-unique book that is nothing like anything else out there. And then once that new unique idea takes off, you will have changed the market, changed the readership's taste, and probably started a whole new fad that every other poor struggling new writer will have to copy. So think of it like karmic justice if you like. Some woman forced you to write a teenaged vampire romance novel, you can force her to write a (fill in the blank) novel.
No matter what, always keep writing what you love, what you are truly good at that is unique to yourself, and by all means create something classic that might last for centuries. But add to your raw talent some business savvy and sense. Raw talent alone won't conquor the world; trying to push an unknown new sort of book on the market is like trying to shove a tree down by pushing against it. You need some leverage. You can do it, you really can publish something they've never heard of before, but get yourself the bulldozer called 'reputation.'
Success, it has been proven throughout history, lies more in determination and perseverance than in having an original idea. That's just the way it is. The great men who built empires from the ground up did it because they would not give up and took it one small step at a time. They used their heads, they kept their cool, they leveraged everything they had to work with. If you keep writing and keep submitting it to Publishers, especially if you tune your material toward what you know is selling well, someday the chances are that your work will be just what someone wanted to see.
A final note on the Market: the general advice is to read your genre. Keep up on the new hot sellers. This is necessary for the business-minded writer who wants to produce something for sale. You have to know what is out there, and what it looks like, before you can write something similar to it. Actually, you might be gratified to discover that the genre you are targeting isn't as boring or banal as you thought it might be; and at the same time, you might find yourself inspired by the pure frustration of knowing you can write something much better.
Do what you know you must do. Write what you have to write. If you can't write for the Market, keep writing for yourself for now. Someday when you're ready, you will come back to this decision and you'll be able to make the choice with a clear mind. Just remember, the entire Writing Industry can only be improved by everyone writing better stories: if there are better stories being published, more people will read, and if more people read, there will be more money to go around, more opportunities for new books, and more businessmen willing to take a chance. Publishers will be happy, Writers will be happy, Readers will be happy. And that in the end is what the entire thing is all about. So above all: keep it good, strive for quality, be creative. And if you can do all that and still write something the Market wants, you're golden.