Hi Everyone, I notice that a lot of writers are sticking to one (or a few) genres only and lately this has been on my mind as I don't think about genre at all, and my latest stories have ranged from everything between satire (debatable) to fantasy to light romance and thrillers. Usually a story comes to me with a certain tone and so also a genre. Therefore, I wanted to ask: - Do you work with one (or a few) genres only? If so, why? - Do you find it's helpful to focus on selected genres only or do you find the opposite more helpful for your writing? Hope you're all having a good day Best, G.
I've always written SciFi/Fantasy/Horror stories, generally paced as Thrillers (the Doctor Who story in my sig is basically a novel-length action sequence ) , and have started to branch out into the YA with my newest completed story, but I've always been more interested in writing "stories with romantic and/or comedic elements" than in writing "Romantic and/or Comedy stories".
I'm focusing on contemporary YA stuff at the moment because I don't want to be in a situation where an agent says "Great! I love it! What else have you got? Oh, well I don't represent scifi. Give a call in a year when you've got a follow up novel, I guess?" Perhaps it's wishful thinking to be concerned with it at my stage, but publishers want a brand that's associated with a genre, so I don't want to make it harder for myself.
Well I picked fantasy since I'm only on my second book and that's the genre. When I get a few under my belt, and explore the different genres, it may change.
Everything that I write almost always has a humoristic aspect to it. Can't imagine a book without humor.
Most of my work is real-world, everyday-life kind of stuff--humor, some drama, interpersonal relationship stories. I like doing those quite a lot--for some reason, creating realism is a lot of fun for me. However, I also have a post-apocalyptic novel. Not sure if I want to do anything more in that space. I do like speculative fiction, and I'm interested in potentially adding fantasy elements to stories as well (more Alice in Wonderland style, less LOTR and GOT style). I may try down this path in future. My two main projects are a real-world, everyday-life one and a spec fic one, so we'll see how it goes.
I don't/didn't so much decide to 'pick' genre to work with as I just write what I like best - which is sci-fi and horror. They're what I'm most comfortable with and feel I'm most competent with, and %90 of the concepts I come up with are going to fall into one or both of them just because they're what my head is filled with. When I actively pursued an urban fantasy idea I had, it ended up turning into more of a Southern Gothic (horror) thing with distinct magitek (sci-fi) aspects. When I decided to write about superheroes (whatever genre that would be), I accidentally got a lot of body horror and aliens and cyborgs in it. Turns out I'm just not very good at not writing sf and horror
I tend towards crime/action thrillers some of which are set in fantasy or sci fi settings and which may include some romance and probably some humor. I did once write a lager saga - a la nick hornby/mike gayle etc - chick lit for boys - but it was so fuckin awful that it never saw the light of day
Good day to you as well. Well as for my novel/sequel they are Sci-fi. Though I have been trying to branch out both as a reader and as a writer. Guess I am what you would say is an experimenter. Suppose in a way I don't want to be what I call: 'A one trick pony." Now I am not knocking anyone who is really into a single genre that they write, and might try something new that sticks close to home at some point. Because some are really good in their chosen singular genre. For me, I just don't know yet. I picked a starting point, and from there is anyone's best guess.
One of my favourite things about being published in romance is all the sub-genres that fit under that large umbrella. Yes, for maximum marketability I would probably pick one sub-genre and stick to it, but I think it's definitely easier to persuade readers to switch from, say, SFF Romance to Romantic Suspense than it would be to get them to follow an author from SFF to Suspense. So I write mostly romance (both m/m and m/f) but within romance I write SFF (both SF and F), Contemporary, Humorous, YA, NA, Suspense... maybe others, too...
I have yet to finish my first novel, but all my book ideas are definitely fantasy. I just love dragons, and pretty much every idea has them in it.
Hi, Thanks for all your answers! It's interesting to see that so many do write mostly or only a few genres but that it doesn't seem to be a conscious choice for many. I wonder how come we automatically gravitate towards certain genres - if it's to do with what we read or how we view the world - and I wonder how come I don't gravitate towards any certain genre. But in any case, the more books written in any genre the more for me to read!
I like novels set in the past, and all my planned ones (and the one I've finished) are set in the late 19th century. Other than that, I wouldn't say I write in any particular genre.
I didn't set out to write a particular genre; I just had this idea for a story and wrote it how I thought it should go. I'd almost finished it when I thought I'd better work out what genre it was, which wasn't as easy as it sounds! I eventually decided it was contemporary romance. Since then I've stuck to that genre. It's much, much more efficient to market an author in one genre than multiple, and marketing is hugely intensive work if you do it properly. Just the thought of doubling it up to market myself in two genres makes me want to cry. I don't think that's as true for sub-genres or for closely linked genres; someone who writes horror might do okay with a dark thriller, and I might one day write the story I came up with that would have to be women's fiction rather than genre romance. But I think if you have success in a genre, the smart thing to do is build on that until you have a solid base to branch off from. Of course, it can be done, but it tends to be well-established authors who make the leap. I adored Tess Gerritsen's sci-fi novels and I love her detective novels just as much - maybe because they were medical sci-fis and medical detective novels, and I like medical settings in multiple genres. I don't know much about her career but I think she sold even more when she went into the ever-popular crime field. Then there's Ken Follett. In his foreword to Pillars of the Earth he talks about people thinking he was crazy when he, a successful spy novellist, decided to write a historical novel about cathedrals. But he did it and it was hugely successful in every sense. I have no interest in spy novels, but Follett has royalties from me (and a few million others) for his cathedral books. So to answer your questions: - Do you work with one (or a few) genres only? If so, why? Yes, because there lies the greatest chance of building a successful career. - Do you find it's helpful to focus on selected genres only or do you find the opposite more helpful for your writing? I think whether it's good for the writer depends on the writer. I'm happy in the same genre, but there are writers that seem to get bored of projects quicker than they can write them. They probably need to mix it up to have any hope of finishing a novel. But I think it's helpful for one's career to stick to what they have success with.
I think you are right about this, and this is also something I think a lot about. I haven't been writing for that many years, so I don't feel there yet where it's a career path for me (unfortunately), but I think about it for the future.
I voted other because there was no mixed bag - which is what I like to write! lol. I kinda feel like my style is just sort of ... out there and no matter what I do - the style dictates the genre rather than me conforming to a genre - possibly why I have a hard time with romance. I love fantasy but I haven't read a lot of fantasy books my favorites have been George Macdonald, Angela Carter, and John Collier. Ditto with sci-fi I'm very old school - Clifford Simak and A Merritt. I think my reading habits kinda keep me on the outskirts. A lot of my short stories have been sci-fi or fantasy but I've also done thrillers and dramas, and light horror. My novels have been - surreal-noir, 2 psychological thrillers, a kinda literary drama, a horror. Right now I've been working on 2 psychological dramas. I'm all over the place. But oddly enough my tone kinda shines through in every story. The same humor. The same need to lightly shock. The same desire to create odd characters in strange little worlds.
Personally, I tend to avoid writing or reading much genre work. I have dabbled a bit, but my focus has been and remains literary fiction. I think people tend to write similar to what they like to read. And if we are talking novels here, it takes a pretty long time to write a novel. We're talking at least a few months if not a year or more. How much time do any of us really have to be writing in a bunch of genres? I think it's best to really hone in and focus. There's nothing wrong with trying out different genres, but I think most writers know the type of stuff they want to write even before writing it.