If your questions are not rhetorical, then I would say: yes, keep putting different irons in the fire. Definitely pursue what's paying off now, but stick some eggs in other baskets (gotta love my cliched metaphors here!) because things keep changing.
For myself, I've stepped back from writing for publication. The industry contracting (always contracting; it seems like it has been in a perpetual End Times for decades now [and ironically some of those decades are now seen as golden eras!]), the ever-shifting and energy-sucking landscape of promotional activities, and the ever-growing sea of available art by so many others made me really wonder: Do I really need to do this? Would anyone miss me if I left this party that has gotten so noisy and crowded and run out of food?
I had the luxury (by design) of not depending on writing for my income. And it's been a relief to leave the party. But I do hope the party continues, and I wish other writers well, and I want writing and reading to thrive. I am an avid reader, and I hope books don't become a rare, niche form of art.
And yet, to be optimistic here: writing does seem to have become more ubiquitous, even if people don't read as many books. People stare at screens all day long. And they're staring at a lot of pictures, sure, but humans also crave story. And even a video may need a script (or at least an outline). Blogs, and then newsletters and podcasts, became new ways for people to absorb stories. TV series still capture people's attention. The form that our stories take, and the way these stories find an audience, seems always to be in flux, but underneath is that enduring longing for story.
I find it astonishing that people are even still able to write novels, as in, to sink the enormous bodily effort into it; it seems a neat negation of the idea that 'an audience' (even if only implied) is a prerequisite for literary activity.
What do you suppose is at the heart of the dearth of middle school and YA publication? Is it, I wonder, related to how digital the world is becoming, especially for kids? Do they ever read anything these days? What if the Harry Potter series were just appearing? Do they listen to audiobooks?
If your questions are not rhetorical, then I would say: yes, keep putting different irons in the fire. Definitely pursue what's paying off now, but stick some eggs in other baskets (gotta love my cliched metaphors here!) because things keep changing.
For myself, I've stepped back from writing for publication. The industry contracting (always contracting; it seems like it has been in a perpetual End Times for decades now [and ironically some of those decades are now seen as golden eras!]), the ever-shifting and energy-sucking landscape of promotional activities, and the ever-growing sea of available art by so many others made me really wonder: Do I really need to do this? Would anyone miss me if I left this party that has gotten so noisy and crowded and run out of food?
I had the luxury (by design) of not depending on writing for my income. And it's been a relief to leave the party. But I do hope the party continues, and I wish other writers well, and I want writing and reading to thrive. I am an avid reader, and I hope books don't become a rare, niche form of art.
And yet, to be optimistic here: writing does seem to have become more ubiquitous, even if people don't read as many books. People stare at screens all day long. And they're staring at a lot of pictures, sure, but humans also crave story. And even a video may need a script (or at least an outline). Blogs, and then newsletters and podcasts, became new ways for people to absorb stories. TV series still capture people's attention. The form that our stories take, and the way these stories find an audience, seems always to be in flux, but underneath is that enduring longing for story.
I find it astonishing that people are even still able to write novels, as in, to sink the enormous bodily effort into it; it seems a neat negation of the idea that 'an audience' (even if only implied) is a prerequisite for literary activity.
What do you suppose is at the heart of the dearth of middle school and YA publication? Is it, I wonder, related to how digital the world is becoming, especially for kids? Do they ever read anything these days? What if the Harry Potter series were just appearing? Do they listen to audiobooks?