August 3 question – When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original, or do you try to give readers what they want?

I write for me as I don’t think about what readers want. I do try (I hope) to make what I write original in some way. That said, if you are writing a ‘romance’ everyone wants it to end happily and if it doesn’t, it will probably leave an unpleasant ‘taste’ for the reader. Fantasy might be a little freer in how a story ends, but it still needs to ‘satisfy’ so perhaps not so different.

How you get to that ending, however, could be varied. That is where the creativity comes in? All stories have a ‘conflict and resolution’ arc. Fortunately, there are endless ways to complete that pattern.