Be honest, Jack. Do you still love the novel? Are you looking at Hollywood with one eye cocked half-shut in disbelief and wondering who the hell you’re gunna have to blow even if you finish it? Does Medium seem like a good place to take a breather and let some existential angst out?

You’re a good writer, a very good writer. I agree with your muse that you don’t know jack-shit about markets for novels and less about what Hollywood will or will not buy in any genre or period. But if you have been dicking around here instead of putting the work in on the novel, then you have to ask yourself why? Medium’s fun to play around with — after hours, in your free time, and for whatever cash you can make easily, but if you’re stealing time and energy from the more important gig, well… my first instinct is to wonder if it’s not a diversion rather than a decision?

I can tell myself that this is a way to make some much-needed extra cash till the cows come home but it’s not. Not more than pocket change, anyway, because there’s no way in hell I can write what makes money here. And I haven’t noticed that you’ve been putting the hourly effort required to make an actual living here either? (If you have, my apologies). I don’t agree with arbitrarily throwing out babies with bath water. Nothing has to be either/or. But prioritising according to things that are important to the heart and to the soul makes most folks happier in the long run.