A few weeks ago, I did a talk at the MFA I adjunct for. There were a ton of great questions from newer writers, but one that really stuck with me was from someone who was very young and very worried about getting their work out there and making money from it.

I understand lots of people need to make money from their work. Some have children and can’t work outside their homes, so writing is their main source of income. Some have disabilities and need to make money from their writing. There are a million reasons to need or want your writing to pay. Personally, however, I think that mixing money and art is not always the formula for great art. I think the concerns of your studio practice and the concerns of your financial life should be kept as separate as possible.

I realize this sounds like a somewhat privileged position to take, but let me lay out the reality of my life: I am $150,000 in student loan debt I’ll never pay back. I make less than $60K a year at my pastry chef job. I will never own a home. I drive a Vespa instead of a car. I am able to work a full-time job, and I suppose that in itself is a privilege. But I want you to understand that I was not born with the wealth to make such decisions easy, but instead have made a multitude of sacrifices.

But all that aside, the point I really want to make here is this: you shouldn’t worry about publication while writing. You shouldn’t worry about how much money your book is going to make you while writing. You shouldn’t worry about how your book will be received while writing. All you should worry about while writing is writing.

I have seen a lot of writers who chase trends in publishing, thinking that’s the sure ticket to a best-seller. They think if they just write what’s selling now, they can make a lot of money and capitalize on the current market. Publishing moves like a glacier, however. Today’s “romantasy” trend, for example, will likely not last the years it takes you to write a good book, find an agent, and find a publisher, then the year to two years it will take for publication from that point. For every person who wrote a vampire story when TWILIGHT was hot, there was a person who met a market that was “over” vampires relatively quickly. You get the point. Chasing trends in a deadly slow industry is no way to make a living, much less a best-seller. It’s the writer already positioned to write and publish quickly who can capitalize on such things. That’s rarely a new writer, without an agent or a publisher. I hate to be the bearer of bad news for people who think they’ll be the next romantasy star, but romantasy will be dead by the time your book is done, much less published.

So what is one to do? Again, my solution is to worry about the writing and nothing else. Should you read what’s popular? Sure. Should you keep abreast of the industry? Absolutely. Should you let these things influence what you write? Absolutely not.

It’s also my position that you shouldn’t even worry about publishing your book until it’s finished. The business of publishing is another concern that’s for later. For now, write the book.

Your worth as a writer does not hinge on who you publisher is. It does not hinge on what your advance is. It does not hinge on what kind of reviews you get. These things are all nice, but they’re business concerns, and business is not art. The only way to make art, in my opinion, is to focus on that art. To write something you’re truly proud of, that could only come from you, that’s written to the best of your ability. If this is on a topic that’s trending, that’s great for you, and if it’s not, that actually means nothing in terms of your work’s value. Your job is to make the best possible book you can.

People, especially young people, think that they will publish a book and that will solve everything. Publishing a book really doesn’t change your life that much. It doesn’t change who you are, or what your relationship to your work is. I fully understand the drive to have your work out there. I fully understand the drive to make a mark on the world with your art. These things come later. For now, write the book.

There are two big joys in artistic life for me. One is community (which I won’t get into too much here), and one is the work itself. If you don’t love the work, what is the point? I’m sorry to tell you no one is making you write and no one ever will. There are very few writers who would be missed enormously if they stopped producing work. This goes for me, and it probably goes for you. No one is making you do this. The only reasons to do it are if you feel compelled, if you feel you have something to say, if you feel you couldn’t live without writing. And not a single one of those things has anything to do with money or publication.

So, to the young person who asked about publication and money, and to the person reading this who has yet to find either of those things in connection with their writing, I say: worry about the art. Make it the best art you can make. Make it something you pour everything into. Make it beautiful, and make it yours. And if you never publish a word of it, you will still have the satisfaction of creating art only you could create.