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Friday, July 9, 2010

As The Sun Sinks In The West...

In case you were wondering why I've gotten rid of the dark, earthy colors and my wild west banner and changed to a softer --hopefully-- more romantic, generic look, it's because for some time now I've been moving away from the westerns. Not to say that I've completely given up on them, by any means. But I have been writing in other genres, kind of the way I did when I first joined RWA more than 15 years ago.

Given the current publishing climate--and because I have no desire at this time to write either erotica or inspirational, which is most of the westerns published nowdays--I finally decided maybe it isn't such a good idea to pigeonhole myself as strictly a western author. Yeah, I know, I'm slow, but I finally did break over. It really wasn't a conscious decision. After being away from the keyboard for a good while, story ideas started coming to me again (after a looong dry spell). Funny thing is, the new ideas weren't westerns. So I decided to stop being stubborn and just go with the flow. And that's what I've been doing and I'm enjoying the writing process more than I have in a very long time.

I could write an entire post on the reasons why I stuck strictly to the westerns for as long as I did, and maybe I will, sometime or other. As I said, I've not given up on westerns completely. I love them too much for that. And there are at least two manuscripts that are begging me to finish them, so I intend to. Eventually. Who knows, maybe someday traditional westerns will become popular again, but I'm not holding my breath any longer. For now, I intend to write what speaks to me at the moment, regardless of genre.

The changes I've made to the blog I also plan to do on my web site. But I keep putting that off because changing out the template on an entire web site is no small undertaking and I'm dreading it. Just so you know, even though I got rid of the banner and the cowboys, I simply could not let go of the little red horse. So I moved him to the very bottom of the blog. He's inconspicuous there, but I can still scroll down and see him whenever I want. He's there now, running his little heart out.

Happy writing!
Devon

2 comments:

  1. I'm a firm believer in writing what is speaking to you at the moment. I do this all the time, even within a single manuscript. I find myself really wanting and trying to write chronologically, but sometimes there are scenes in my head that are so clear and so strong... the only problem is I'm half a manuscript away from them! I finally gave up and just started writing whatever was in my head, and going back and filling in the blanks later.

    I know you'll never give up on Westerns, but it's good to spread your wings! And as talented as you are, I know you can succeed!

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  2. Amy, I don't think there's a thing wrong with writing all over the ms. I've always done that. When those snippets of scenes or dialogue start clamoring in my head, I go ahead and write them onto the back end of the ms. in the order I think they might happen. It's easy to move things around later. Moments of inspiration shouldn't be ignored. This happens to me a LOT when I'm driving. Then later, when I'm able to get to the computer or a notebook, I can't always recall them word for word, so I'm a firm believer in writing those gems while they're fresh in our minds.

    Thanks so much for the vote of confidence!

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