Prior to this year whenever I sat down to compose a new story I never thought about the category in which it would fall. More importantly, I never considered whether I was even qualified to be writing in a certain genre. Whenever I talk to writers about a story, they have written or are in the process of writing they always at one point convey that the story just came to them in some way. At the writers conference I attended in September one of the authors stated how she was in the bathtub when the idea for her tale popped in to her head. She relayed how she felt compelled to write that particular story. Well that makes for a great water cooler moment but does it really chalk up to a good enough argument as to why she should write that tale? Sadly, it does not.
With a new year fast approaching, I feel this is a great time for reflection. Whenever I tell people, "I have written a science fiction novel." A perplexed expression comes over their face. I had always brushed off such doubts even when it came from those that know me well: ) until now.
With the school year in full swing, I now see the kids in my neighborhood with library books. One day one of the girls proudly exclaimed that she was on chapter seven of the book she was reading. I asked to see it and before I knew it, I was telling her about a story I was working on just for fun. Her eyes got big and she wanted to know if she could borrow the book. I had to try to explain to her about me being a writer and that it was not a “real” book yet. She was confused but I think she got it. Anyway, talk about your light bulb moment.
It was not until then that I even considered taking what I write when I need a break from my serious writing and try to build a career around that. Duh, I tested the waters by mentioning the premise of the story to those who know me well. I waited for the familiar perplexed looks to emerge but they never did, instead I was greeted with happy head nods. Moreover, such phrases as, “I can picture that, yeah. Can see you writing something like that.”
Yeah it was a duh moment for me yet think about it, how many of you took the time to even consider your qualifications for writing the story you are working on? I did not. Luckily, for us it is all about growing, getting better at this crafting fiction thing and all that other stuff. No matter what stage you are in, please take the time to do a checklist about you and research the various major fiction genres as well as their sub-genres. The whole point is to answer this question: Does this genre make my writing look phat? In this case you want the answer to be yes:)
Chick Lit
Children
Crime Fiction
Fantasy
Historical Fiction
Horror
Mystery
Romance
Science fiction
Thriller/Suspense
Western
6 comments:
What? No "Family Sage" genre? I'm hurt.
For me figuring out why I was qualified to write the novel and what genre I was writing was the easy part. Figuring out who would read the novel (gender & age and that stuff) was the hardest part.
That or trying to find agents who rep Family Saga.
I do love the whole explaining the book wasn't a real book. I'm pretty sure I would have thrown a fit at that age. But, maybe you have a new beta reader.
-Amanda Nicole
Sooorry.
Family saga genre, I guess "Roots" is an example of the kind of novel that would fall under that heading. Have fun with that:)
I think my attempt to be cute fell flat. ;) "Roots" was a family saga. There are still some 54 agents who rep family sage. Ah, the joys of writing in a small genre.
Nice play on words. Glad you included a definition of phat. It took me forever to figure out what my genre was: visionary fiction, fantasy, magical realism. I finally settled on women's fiction with a paranormal element. Each genre comes with a slew of expectations. Readers have to know what to expect. Sometimes it's a tough call.
I agree. Write what you know:)
My story is easy to categorize. Young Adult Paranormal. Hopefully with all the books in that genre being put out I can find a spot for my story ^^;;
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