An interesting Consumed column in today’s New York Times Magazine discussing Lewis Hyde’s “The Gift,” which was originally published 25 years ago, and delving into creative expression and raising the question of if its endurance. Does it need to take into consideration the external market forces to succeed?
As a fiction writer, this sometimes creeps into discussions: should you write what you want to write as well as you can OR write a vampire/wizard/love story/[insert popular fiction subject here] because those are selling well?
As I understand what Rob Walker mentions about the update to “The Gift,” Hyde believes that the more we rate and rank creative works–a like on Facebook, a RT on Twitter, and so forth–”the less gifted we will become.”
Admittedly, I attempt not to write with an eye to the marketplace, which often gives me pause and makes me wonder if that is why I remain unpublished. 
If I wrote my fiction based on the successes I see in the bookstores, how does that affect my creativity? What do you think about the marketplace increasing (or lessening) your creativity?
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I think you have to tell the story you need to tell. I don’t think that necessarily has anything to do with the marketplace, unless you want it to. That is, unless that’s where your passion lies–in writing the next big breakout novel, and you study the market like crazy to find out what that is. To me, that’s less creativity and more marketing. Good question, though, because it takes creativity to develop a marketable plot and that brings us back to your original question. Maybe the answer depends on the person or the project.