You had that essay on Tor.com where you talked about The Way of Kings , and I’m guessing Words of Radiance too, being your most honest work. Do you think it’s important for other writers not to worry so much about the business side, and write what they want to write?
I can only speak from my own experience, which may be abnormal, but I really feel that the times where I worried too much about the market were the times I wrote my worst fiction. And the times where I wrote: “this is what I want to read—this is what I’m passionate about,” I wrote my best fiction. And so that’s what I would advise.
That being said, I was very steeped in this genre. You can say what I wanted to read was very naturally an outgrowth of what a lot of what the fandom wanted to read because I was one of them. That’s why it worked for me. And I’m sure there are a number of people who are writing to their passion, and it just doesn’t end up catching on. I wrote 13 books before I got published, and at the end of the day I decided I would rather keep writing and never publish than give up writing or go do something else. And if I reached the end of my life and had 70 unpublished novels, I’d still consider myself a successful writer. That decision has driven me ever since and it’s worked out for me.
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