Do You Know What You Should Write Next?

"You know what you should write next? How about you . . ."

No.

How about you write that book?

Did you ever consider that I'm not writing that book because I don't want to? That I hate that genre? That it's not my style? That it's just not what I do?

Just because I'm an (aspiring) author, does not mean that I'm a freelance author. You can't just tell me a story that you think is great or a duplicate of something that someone else has written, and then expect me to run with it for as far as possible and publish a multi-million dollar deal. If that is what you want me to do, please hire me and start paying me money, because if I know that I'll get my money up front, instead of having to deal with the stupidity of the publishing world, I'll take that action.

I understand it's coming from a good place. You're just trying to help me out, but let's get this straight right now. I don't need your help coming up with story ideas. If I need help on what to write next, I'll ask. If I don't know what to do with my life, I'll come to you and say something. When someone that doesn't know me, or that I don't care about, tries to pull this on me I get really snarky really fast and have some cutting comments back to them. If you're related to me, I'll smile and say thank you as I quietly plot ways of giving you advice on how to do things that you're specialized in. I'm sure you'd love some advice about how you can be a better accountant, or start dealing with accounts payable if you've done nothing but accounts receivable for your entire career because it's from a creative writer, no?

Until I come to you and ask you for help on a story, shut up.

If you think that it's that great of a story, you write it. I give you full permission to write it. Sit down and crank out three drafts of it. I'll enjoy the view as you struggle to get past the first ten pages because you realize that you have no clue what you're doing and don't know how to do anything beyond telling other people what to do with their lives.

Seriously, never, ever, ever tell me what you think I should write. I have enough in back log to last me a few decades. If I ever run out of something to write about, assume I'm dead.

Until I stop writing, don't give me advice. I know you really want me to be successful, but I want to write something that I'm proud of, that I'm thinking of, that I actually want to do. It's part of the perks of the job, I get to write what/how/when/where I want. I'm not going to just drop everything that I'm working on and start writing your rough story idea that doesn't have much more than a genre that I have zero experience or desire in.