How to Write What Few Will Read - FS7 - Creating a Family Saga

I write family saga, historical fiction stories. It is what I love. It is what I do.

But, aside from a loyal few, who both read and comment; I get no feedback. Am I expecting too much? What do you think? There is plenty to read, if anyone cares.

This will be hub 98, under ‘HomeplaceSeries,’ assuming I publish it, all set in the 1800s. I also sit at 64 hubs over at ‘DrBill-WmL-Smith,’ the Weston Wagons West series, family saga fiction surrounding my own ancestors in their historic times and places. There are a total of 142 hubs at DrBillSmithWriter, 118 of which I haven’t yet deleted from my Squidoo transfer, plus 24 new hubs that are essentially my mystery novella, “Murder, He Figured,” in the ‘The Raymond Crimmons Mysteries’ series, now part of “The Homepleace Saga” series of family saga, historical fiction stories.

Since March 22, 2010, “The Homeplace Saga” home blog, the companion to my first novel in the series, “Back to the Homeplace,” has seen 292 posts. That novel sold a few hundred copies, but the sales of the last 4-6 books, depending on how you count, have sold less than a few dozen total.

Why do I keep writing these stories, when only a very few comment and provide positive feedback, and only a few dozen ever see them?

We each are part of a family, or were, so it is something we each have in common. When I say ‘family saga’ I am referring to the relationships, the personalities, we see in our families, and that we can infer from what we learn about our forefathers through family history research. This has been my passion for over 20 years now. Sharing it is a part of that passion.

I do understand that my passion is not of interest to everyone. That is a given.

There are no zombies or aliens in my stories. There are only real life type people living real life type lives. Perhaps only fantasy attracts attention, these days. That may be one problem. I really cannot deal with that.

Perhaps only controversy attracts readers’ attention. My stories are only very rarely controversial. Perhaps that is a problem. I’m a positive person. Negativity turns me off. Sorry, but that will not change.

I recently ‘decided’ to stop writing novels and concentrate of the short stories that are the HubPages contributions mentioned above. I have also posted a weekly series of articles on the blog that follows the story of “The Homeplace Saga” in the 1990s, following my latest novel “Christmas at the Homeplace.” Perhaps writing about the late 1990s and also about the 1870-80s, at the same time is confusing to some people. To me, they are closely related, and work well together. But, that could be just me.

I have written about the other ‘family sagas’ in literature… and they are few and far between. And, they are mostly set in ‘unique’ - largely foreign - settings. None are set in the Heartland of America - with the exception of the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ stories, and most don’t actually treat them as ‘family saga.’ They are one family. And, they took a long time to ‘catch on,’ - for that matter. I think my stories would make a fine family television series, as well. But, there isn’t one. Anyone want to help me with a pilot screen play script?

I am stepping away for a while. Perhaps this will be for a couple of weeks, perhaps longer. There are things I want to do that I keep putting off. Perhaps they will get me back on track. Only time will tell.

First, I really want to write some magazine articles to submit (at least one!) related to writing fiction to help preserve family history research stories. I have not found the time to do this important project while cranking out my family saga short stories. Now is a great time to do this.

Second, I need to seriously compile some of the series of short stories that have been written into collections, in books - both e-books and in print. I simply owe it to “the process” to take the time to do that - this has been five years of my live, after all. This again takes time. Now is that time.

Third, I must reassess my commitment to my writing interests. These have already shifted over the past eighteen months in several significant ways. It is time to seriously consider what I’m really committed to, not just reacting to external circumstance and whims of the moment. A new plan is needed, and that will be my prime focus in upcoming months.

• I have multiple blogs; some that have gotten little attention lately. Where do they fit in my future?
• Much of my personal family history research has floundered? Do I get back into that?
• I’ve not written in the ‘Weston Wagons West’ series for a few months? Do I want to get back into those stories?
• Is there something entirely new and fresh that I should consider?

These sound like New Year’s Resolution in the making. I didn’t do that at the beginning of 2015. Am I suffering from that, now, at mid-year?

Before I finish this, I feel compelled to state that I do understand the obvious - I have no truly meaningful Marketing Plan for my writing. I have a large Social Media presence but it is still limited. My current personal family situation precludes any personal appearances or conferences. So, these may certainly be limiting factors that will not be overcome, no matter what I do.

I will, however, continue to be positive, and do what I can do. I sincerely appreciate those loyal few that have been supportive on a continuing basis. Perhaps I will simply become satisfied with these folks being my support system; assuming I don’t lose them during this hiatus. A special thanks to them, in any event! ;-)