Writing and the Art of Feasibility Studies.

When I reach a certain stage in my work, I like to begin to think about what I want to do next. I'm one of those people who likes to have another project lined up for when the present one is completed. So far, I have narrowed my list down to five options pending feasibility studies. A nightmare for an indecisive person.

Why carry out feasibility studies ? Well...

1, The project has to be viable. It's no use launching into a project that has limited scope or that will not appeal to many.
2, Linked to this is is the marketing aspect. It's a sad fact that there's no point in writing a book that won't be stocked in the shops and that no-one wants to read.
3, The subject has to be interesting and engaging enough to spend a long time with. A book will take at least a year to write, usually significantly longer. If an author 'falls out' with the subject, that's a long time.
4, Will there be time to do the work ? Perhaps the author's time is limited, or they have other commitments. If the work is meant to coincide with an event, such as the release of a film or a TV series, will there be sufficient time to do that ?
5, Another consideration is: in what stage of the author's career does this new project fall ? If it is fairly late, does the author really want to spend time on a book they aren't in love with ? With time getting short, is there perhaps another subject the author would prefer to work on ?

6, Are there sufficient original sources ? Are those sources accessible, and can the author read them ?
7, Will the author have to learn new skills in order to research and write the book - a foreign language, perhaps, or their own language in archaic from. Do they have to learn to read old handwriting, or know something about how certain things were done or viewed in the period they will be researching ? Enthusiasm is no substitute for knowledge !

Such studies provide an important step as authors decide which subject they wish to tackle next.