Doesn't everyone have a single genre of writing that they try to avoid as they think they cannot write it well? So, what's yours? I think mine would be fantasy, sci-fi, deep romance and horror. Saying that, I'm already planning out a fantasy book, but it has a bit of everything that I find myself good at
everything I dont write But basically Fantasy, crime novels (I could be convinced to, though) horror, sci-fi. And childrens books. Never ever!!!
Children, horror, something with zumbies, something with "I'm a god and I'll impose my vision of morality in everyone". Really, poetry and children books. The rest I don't know yet. I write fantasy and sci-fi, but someday I can write a melodramatic novel and likes it
I think genres are so vast that I tend to avoid more subgenres that just don't interest me or that I couldn't pull off convincingly for true fans. Sci-Fi is not really my thing but it's classification is so varied, hard vs. soft and everything in between, that I'd never write it off completely. I've done time-travel pieces and alternate histories which are technically Sci-Fi (I think) and would like to someday write a superhero-esque type with the right idea but wouldn't be caught dead trying to write Space Opera or Steampunk. I won't write Erotica but have written in Romance. Fantasy has high and low as well and high is so out of my realm (no pun intended) but low I can manage, though it usually overlaps with another genre/subgenre...it's not strictly one thing or another.
i only avoid some genres because i don't like them, not because i couldn't write them well, if i wanted to... i'm still able to help mentees and clients with those, though, if i choose to...
The genre that I think is called "chick lit." I'm not even sure what it is, exactly, but when I was taking Gotham writing classes online, a couple of other students were writing it and I had to critique their work. I could not write that stuff even if I tried.
I would never try to write in a genre I don't read. Why? I don't read them because I don't like them. Why would I want to write something I don't enjoy reading myself? The genres I don't read would include Romance, Crime, Thriller, Mystery, Chick Lit, Horror. With the possible exception of Chick Lit, elements of these genres do creep into other things I read, and some creep into what I write as well. But I don't read the pure 'genre' offerings. I dislike formulaic writing of any kind. However, they are very popular, and are actually relatively easy to sell, if you stick to the genre requirements. So more power to your arm, if you like writing them. Sci-Fi and Fantasy are more open genres, in that they don't follow a formula. I do enjoy reading these. However I can't see me writing one.
@minstrel : There's some great Chick Lit, mainly first person, semi confessional, funny with a bit of an edge. It's reasonably rare, though. But don't write off a genre based on amateur drafts. I don't write horror or anything that revels in violence, blood and gore. It's not because I couldn't write it well, because I write the way I write, regardless of the topic and figuring out specifics of any genre is reasonably straightforward. But I don't like horror in any form. I like a bit of creepiness, but it mustn't be too dark or perverse.
I hope my post didn't come across as if I was condemning an entire genre. I didn't want to offend anybody. I understand there's great Chick Lit. I was just answering the question asked in this thread. There may be great Chick Lit, but I can't write it!
Ah, sorry! I misunderstood I guess I read into it because I generally can't stand the genre, and then I wrote in it, unknowingly, and actually liked it. As embarrassing as it was...
