Liu Cixin, the author of the trilogy, Remembrance of Earth’s Past (aka Three-Body Problem,) had written 4 novels and over 20 short fiction works, before they had their first major international hit.
It’s a solid reminder for me to write my stories. ‘Get them out of the way,’ so I can work on the next big thing and get it out there.
There is an anecdote that I can’t currently find, nor am I certain I have the author and story right.
But there was a person who picked up Fifty Shades of Grey while his wife was reading it and claimed he could write better in spite of not being an author; I think they were a programmer. Anyway she challenged hisband Dennis E. Taylor who then wrote the Bobiverse.
So… maybe you just need that first one to really get going.
Also a reminder that Fifty Shades of Grey started out as a Twilight fanfic titled “Master of the Universe”. Which honestly adds a lot of context to the characters, you can basically just substitute names and it works.
Liu Cixin, the author of the trilogy, Remembrance of Earth’s Past (aka Three-Body Problem,) had written 4 novels and over 20 short fiction works, before they had their first major international hit.
It’s a solid reminder for me to write my stories. ‘Get them out of the way,’ so I can work on the next big thing and get it out there.
Vonnegut didn’t get famous until Slaughterhouse-Five (1969). He had already written a load of what are now classics but still had to have a day job.
Player Piano (1952) The Sirens of Titan (1959) Cat’s Cradle (1960)
Mother Night (1961) God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965)
I’m sure there were also loads of short stories in that time frame.
And for anyone who hasn’t read Vonnegut, I think it’s important that you try.
Steven Donaldson had his first Thomas Covenant novel rejected by 27 publishers before it was finally bought.
There is an anecdote that I can’t currently find, nor am I certain I have the author and story right.
But there was a person who picked up Fifty Shades of Grey while his wife was reading it and claimed he could write better in spite of not being an author; I think they were a programmer. Anyway she challenged hisband Dennis E. Taylor who then wrote the Bobiverse.
So… maybe you just need that first one to really get going.
Also a reminder that Fifty Shades of Grey started out as a Twilight fanfic titled “Master of the Universe”. Which honestly adds a lot of context to the characters, you can basically just substitute names and it works.
Similarly Scott Cawthon, the creator of Five Nights at Freddy’s, created 79 games before FNAF.