We divide the writer's workshop by genre, and it occurs to me that it might be a good idea to provide subgroups of the Applied Writing forum in the same way. My hope would be two-fold - one, it would provide a place for those with an interest in a particular genre to discuss that genre, possibly reducing the number of posts in "General Writing"; two, it would provide a place for adherents of a particular genre to congregate and get to know one another, possibly form critique groups and such. Alternatively, they could be subgroups of the Creative Writing forum.
Yeah, I like this idea. It doesn't mean people can't hop between genres, but it also means you can concentrate efforts on the ones you like, or like to write. I do think a high-quality critique from someone who likes your genre is more helpful than a high-quality critique from a person who hates it, or is totally unfamiliar with it.
It would provide genre writers with an invaluable tool to received feedback from writers who understand the parameters and templates of the genre disciplines. The fiction I read is almost exclusively genre ie. romance, high fantasy, classic science fiction, and historical fiction. Overall, I have found genre writing to be better than just standard fiction because they do tend to follow a set subset of writing criteria. The voices stay truer and are more defined. As a writer, I write within the genres I read, and as such, there are some things within my work that confuse reader unfamiliar with either the time period or the genre. The cant terms can cloud a reader's perspective and possible critique of a piece. Review tend to be more thought out and thorough if it is a genre one enjoys reading or is familiar with. It gives one a comfortable jumping off point. I work at a book store, so I need to have a handle on what is on the shelves, but everyone on our store's staff has a section or genre they specialize in making it an awesome place to be, however, I diverge. One of the things that I love most about my job is when the genre readers encounter one of their own. Like will recognize like and the discussions and debates about the writers' pros and cons is on. It is truly apples to apples and not apples to squash. I think it would be a great opportunity if all the writers in this forum could get that chance. Writing conferences are expensive and not always handy to one's location, and these forums have been a boon. They have grown and expanded marvellously since I've been here. This is a suggestion deserving of serious consideration. Sorry about the rambling, - Darkkin, the Tedious