I am usually a fiction-oriented writer that enjoys writing fantasy adventures. I barely ever finish a work, but pretty much all of my work has been a fantasy adventure. I began writing a new story, and it just came to me. It's under novels as "Opinions on a Chapter 1?" It's...got...romance in it.... I find myself wondering what the *heck* happened to my writing. What happened to me?! Is it normal to write a genre that you pretty much never write? Should I stop now or keep going? Is it too late to change the genre? My dilemma here is that it actually interests me to see how the story will turn out and it's very, very easy for me to come up with ideas for it.... I know this is long and ill-planned, but advise is welcome. Maybe it will help someone else, too.
There are no bounds on your pen (or keyboard, it is the 21st century ) Explore other genres and have fun doing so! I, much like you, do the majority of my writing in the fantasy genre. But I went outside those walls on several occasions and it is a beautiful and new experience. Try it out. And no, you shouldn't stop. As Abraham Maslow once stated, love is one of our physiological needs and is therefore going to be a part of your subconscious. Trust me, it'll come out in someway. Just embrace it and enjoy writing! Go for it!
Love is the greatest fantasy adventure of them all. *Vomits* But seriously, there's nothing wrong with writing romance. And it doesn't have to be all stupid and sentimental...you don't need to get all Mills & Boon, just write about love!
Why would you want to stop if it's coming easily? There are no rules about what you write! Good luck with it!
Romance goes overlaps into every genre. Most will. You'd be seriously limitting yourself if you keep them genres in tiny little boxes that can't touch each other. Don't worry. Besides, labeling something fantasy doesn't tell you a thing about the story.
As long as you don't make the romance so blindingly obvious it warps your book to a new part of the space-time thingy (I can't spell conti...well, the proper word), it'll be fine. Don't classify your own stories by genre, you'll find that your characters become generic and your plot becomes a blatant copy of someone else's. So just keep writing.
Amen to that. I'm not sure if I've actually read any fantasy without romance. Maybe some children's stories I can't recall...? Branching out is inevitable and if you're finding this easy and enjoyable I can't imagine how it's a bad thing. I'd consider it a major breakthrough if it really is that easy. Congrats, and keep experimenting! Some fantasy authors have serious trouble with this. Robert Jordan would be a really great example of what not to do, but at least he recognised the necessity of romance in a great story. He tried so hard, but... wow.. train wreck doesn't cover Jordan romance. And people still love his books. I did. And even though it was that bad I still wouldn't want the romance gone. It's just a natural part of life, and so a part of almost any story involving more than one person stranded in the wild. And even then...
My goal is to eventually write every genre and subgenre that exists. Let what is happening to you happen. I think you'll enjoy it.
I've got the same thing going. I used to write strictly Horror, then I wrote a story for this one girl at school last year and I haven't written Horror since. I've done the story for her (I guess she took it as a Romance, I didn't think it was. Whatever???) I've been doing a lotta fantasy lately I guess. Haven't been writing much the last three/four months, too busy editing.
just because it has romance in it dosn't mean it still cant be a fantasy adventure, take harry potter, that is a fantasy series but yet there is romance weaved into it.
The beauty of fiction is you can write anything you like. I used to think you had to know what genre story you planned to tell before you ever wrote it. But, aside from the kinds of template advice that relates to a book's marketability, there's no reason at all to concern yourself with what genre story it is till you're ready to submit it someplace (for a short story), or let your agent decide (for a novel). Your job as a writer is simply to write a compelling story and polish it enough that your reader (agent or editor) can relate to its zing!
Thanks for the encouragement; I suppose I just got a little self-conscious? It's practically based on me..(oh, link is in my signature, if anyone's interested). That's why I'm like: *gah!* I too think people should *try* to write every genre, or at least most. Some are a bit...racy, perhaps? Something I've tried not to get into, usually successfully.
For a long time all I wrote was Science-fiction. I was in love with the idea of being a great SF writer like Asimov or Heinlein, and my writing imitated theirs and it was boring and formulaic. Funny thing was, at the time I was reading more Clive Barker than Asimov or Heinlein, and I liked his stories more! I later discovered Howard and started writing fantasy, and it was like WHOSSH, all these ideas flowed my pen to paper and opened a new door for me. Since then Ive experimented with about every genre, yes, including romance (but not erotic romance, more like adventure romance) and in doing so I believe I became a better writer because instead of writing for the genre I enjoyed writing just for the sake of the art itself. Good luck!
