How do you know what to write?

See what you like to read, most likey that will be what you write. It's the old maxim write what you know

 

I am apparently a poet and to say I fell into writing this genre is just a drop in the bucket. there is so much behind me even picking up a pen (if you will) and writing. I consider myself a ghost writer but yet one of my friends just tells me I have a talent. Today, I was told by someone that just read my book - that I write from the heart and soul. I enjoy it, yet I do almost scare myself with what becomes text on paper.

 

I starting writing late in life. I spent my life exploring the world and experiencing life. And I love reading, whether it's a fiction story I can live in until I get to the end of the story, or something nonfiction I learn from.

I'm writing a story I think needs telling. The characters and sci-fi genre lend themselves to that story. It's a duology, two independent but related stories.

After that, I'm planning a non-fiction book, The Real History of Nursing, that focuses on the accomplishments of women that are invisible at the moment and need a bit more light shone on them.

 

This is the second time I've seen you use "ghost writer" in a context that doesn't fit into my understanding. What do you mean by "ghost writer"?

 

I sometimes like to read some Fantasy, and I like Sci-Fi. But I can't see myself ever writing in either of these genres. My favourite kind of fiction to read is something historical. Something SET in a historical period, although I'm not fond of reading biographies of famous people, even when fictionalised. I just like pretending to live 'back then,' but creating my own stories to take place in that period.

So I guess I am a historical fiction writer ...but I find that when I read definitions of that genre, they don't quite gel with what I write. I'm not writing about anybody famous, or any specific historical event ...although important events will be acknowledged during the story.

I also like contemporary fiction if it's set someplace interesting and is character-driven. If I had to write in something other than 'historical' mode, that's probably what I would try to do.

 

If I look at anything in terms of genre I do often feel like I'm limited. I suppose mostly what I write is Fantasy based, but it's also mixed with realism and real-life relationships. It's like what Jannert said, on one level she may be writing historical fiction, but on another she's really telling the type of stories she's most drawn to. I guess you could call it real life fiction, even if that does sound like a contradiction. It's imagining people's lives and drawing on a general or specific historical period that may have no connection to a big event but really an exploration of that society.

As for how I know what to write, a lot of the time I don't. That's sometimes my biggest struggle. The good news is I very rarely go away from the computer without writing something once I've decided to sit down and write. At the moment I'm writing really slowly and just trying to spend time with my characters so that I can understand their story better. I feel I already know them quite well having written the first draft but now I'm going back and literally changing it all again, so this time I'm taking it scene by scene. It's sometimes difficult to know where to take the plot but I draw back to the things I enjoy... in my case that is intrigue, mysticism, relationship, trauma and the unfathomable...(think 'Stranger Things')

 

So would that be "period writer"

 

Well, let's see now.

I got started out with something which vaguely resembled Sci-Fi, plus gorey monster horror stories. This was in my childhood, before I had begun writing for myself, but whenever there was a short story assignment from school I always managed to twist it into something set in space or in some gothic castle.

Fast forward a few years, and I had begun writing as a hobby. Still doing Sci-Fi, but now in the form of Warhammer 40k fanfic or blatant 40k ripoffs. It was all pretty bad, but formative.

After that, I had a phase where I got way into Epic Fantasy. I started one such novel, scrapped it, started a dystopian Sci-Fi, scrapped it, started another big epic fantasy, and you can probably deduce what happened to it. For many years, I worked on these projects and nothing else. I was woefully unprepared to tackle stories of that size and maturity. But did I learn from it? Well...

Around 2013 or thereabouts I started yet another Fantasy novel, with elements of Sci-Fi. This was even larger and more complex than any of the others. Still working on that one, as it happens. I was still not ready to pull it off, but that one has too much good in it that I will let it die. Some day...

In 2017 I started to get into short stories, and actually finishing them. It's still all Fantasy and Sci-Fi, but I've been getting into subgenres and genre blends. I wrote my first of what might qualify as Urban Fantasy, and one story that probably falls into Horror. There are light horror elements in much of what I write.

Right now I'm working on yet another Fantasy novel, and this one is sticking.

So, in conclusion, I've apparently always been in the same niche, and I have no urge to leave. There have been some realistic stories sprinkled in-between, but I like to think I know where I belong.

I may have veered a little off topic there, but yeah.

 

I have no idea. That's not a term I've been able to find, except in relation to somebody writing within their own period, who lived in the past. I may live 'in the past,' but not in that sense!

 

It is a long story, but I use the term ghost - quite deeply for some. My ghost as I call it is quite real a spirit of a loved one.

 

Yeah, I thought that was an actual term for what you're talking about, but now I'm not so sure.

 

I think to figure out what you're good at you need to write the things that make you happy, and then get it critiqued. People can tell you want's good about your writing when you can't see it

Take me for example. My favorite thing to write is science-fiction, military fiction, and horror. But, I always get the best feedback from the comical stuff I write. Let people tell you what you're good at, and compare it to what your own goals are.

 

You should read The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver. Her novel, which is quite beautiful, takes place in the 1940s. I'm not sure if it is officially historical fiction, but it is definitely set in another time, and Graver does a great job with this.

 

You may or may not be aware that "ghost writer" is already a term used in writing/publishing, to refer to someone who writes books without being credited for them (like someone "helping" a celebrity write a memoir).

ETA: Nevermind. I see in another thread that this has already been clarified for you.

 

I'm not sure about you, deadrats, but I never really stuck to a certain genre, or even a specific topic. I love writing about whatever comes to mind, whatever interests me at a certain point...even small things like a good videogame or a lovely place like Carmel-by-the-Sea can inspire a story. I don't think of any specific genre as my niche. Instead, I think of my mindset and my ideas as my niche. Those can lean into genres like science fiction, with niches like cyberpunk or steampunk, as well as grand adventure stories with topics like human extinction and themes of family dependence and what it means to be human.
Point is, I guess, is to just write what you like ^^ Don't feel like you have to fit yourself into some corner of the writing world. Write whatever interests you, and if you like it, then I'm sure many others will, as well!

 

I'm writing the story that came into my head on its own, and I have been writing it for a few years, though I can finally glimpse the end of that road in the distance. I can't even pinpoint what genre it is that I'm writing, so I would probably need a few lifetimes to try them all. I am drawn to the magic that can happen in real life; I am amazed by meaningful coincidences, and I am intrigued by the nature of reality. This is what I'm writing about, I guess...

 

I love the metaphysical and I am fascinated by the complexity of the history of human nature. They go together like peanut butter and honey. I have tried writing genres other than historical fiction, but it feels like being kept from a loved one when I am away from it for any length of time. Happy writing! Mark Lemohr

 

I always say to people I write fantasy, but recently I tend to realize when I write little things when I'm bored that's separate from my WIP it's usually romance. I also believe I tend to bleed into sci-fi, and horror. Although, currently I feel like writing Victorian era, historical fiction, or sci-fi with time travel due to the classes I'm taking right now, but I don't know where to start since I imagine it requires quite a lot of research to write something like Victorian era/historical fiction type stuff. Especially when including the Sci-fi time travel shenanigans.
However, I have read a lot of books like fantasy, Sci-fi, and supernatural. I have read a couple of books on the Victorian era, or historical fiction and I enjoy how it was like back then with the dresses and speech (maybe I liked those times when it's somewhere like London? I don't know) For me, since I like reading these types of stories I tend to want to write these types of stories. Though reading these comments, it seems it's sticking to what you're good at which may not correlate to what you like to read maybe? I dunno.
I may still need to improve as a writer to solidly find my niche I guess. One of these years I'll find it.

 

I've often found my brain to be an enigma wrapped in a question, shrouded in mystery.

When I'm writing short stories, I almost always go for horror. I find that medium to be fantastic for horror because, while it's a fully-fledged story, it's short enough to keep tension throughout. However, whenever I've tried to write a horror novel, it usually crashes and burns with many fatalities.

When I'm writing novels (I've written 2, no you will never be allowed to read them!), I often find it much easier to write somewhat realistic stories with some elements of fantasy, and usually a romance mixed in. No matter how much I try to tell you that my heart is a cold, dead organ sitting idle in my chest, I'm a hopeless romantic in the end.

 

Hmm,

I've been sort of successful writing literary fiction. I've noticed that the actual writing and word choices help boost an alright concept of LF. You can simply write about a boy coming back to his childhood home years later and it would be fairly pleasant with good, flowy writing.

Aside from short fiction, fantasy is what I find myself enjoying more in novels. There is so much you can write about so you won't come across barriers and if you find yourself going over your preferred word count, you can always cut your writing.

Right now, my novel is very messy so I'm focusing on LF.

 

I once wrote a few short romance stories. A friend of mine who loves romance novels spurred me into it. I ended up creating several terrible comedies. They were so laughable I couldn't read them out loud. Oh, and I wrote a mystery once and accidentally gave away the "who done it," in the first paragraph.

I've written a ton of erotica. Erotica is easy for me to write however, it's not my favorite thing to write about. I think, there's a fine line between telling a story along with driving someone's passion and just creating a one handed type of story.

Horror has been my favorite for a long time. It's a different type of adrenaline. I think I like it because it's more than the shock factor, it's interesting to see just what the mind can come up with.

 

Meditating in one's experience in life, and rightly judging the incidents may inspire the writer to sincerely reflect his/her ideas. I believe talent plays an important role, but a writer and even a scholar should put the matter into effect simply by writing more. By time, it should emerge if, he /she is really dedicated to the craft.