I've had the title for this post on this day for a little while as deciding on genre is something I've been thinking about a lot. I've got into the habit of reading through the blogs I'm following first before getting on to doing my own, and I'm glad that I did today.
A blog that I've been following by The Masquerade Crew also had the same title, and if you haven't discovered it yet through the A-Z Challenge you can find it here http://masqueradecrew.blogspot.co.uk
So I hope that I can compliment this post a little rather than going too far off point.
I love reading and don't tend to focus too much on just one genre, I much prefer to read from quite a broad range.
Unfortunately when it comes to writing I just can't decide which genre to focus on. I have more than a few ideas that I'd like to develop at some point but they cover two or three different genres, and I'm not quite sure that I would be able to mix and match properly. Each idea is more suited to just one genre.
Writing short stories is a good way to experiment with different kinds of genre, and I find i'm comfortable with more than one.
The concern that I have is that authors tend to be known for a particular genre, and once I had written one kind I'm not sure I'd be able to try something different. As you can tell I'm feeling quite optimistic with my writing today!
Rather than dwelling and wasting valuable writing time, however, trying to make an 'ultimate' decision, I'm going to focus on the novel idea that I've made the most progress with so far and see where I can take it.
You never know, I may even feel brave enough to put some excerpts on here for your scrutiny!
I agree that short stories are helpful when trying a genre on for size.
ReplyDeleteSome authors use pen names for different genres. Just a thought :-)
I really get what you're saying and have often fretted over what genre I write. To be honest I don't worry about it so much these days - I write and let the stories go where they need to go. Maybe that makes it harder to pigeonhole and market, but hopefully it also makes what I write more interesting.
ReplyDeleteDropping in from the A to Z.
Spellmaking- Simon Kewin
Thanks for the comments guys, and thank you for dropping by.
ReplyDeleteHello, Heather! I also want to write in different genres. I think I want to establish myself as an author in one genre first before I branch out to other genres, though. Many authors write in more genre than they're known for, quite successfully too. A terrific example is James Patterson. He's mostly known for his crime thrillers, but he also writes well-received, bestselling romances and YA. It definitely can be done! The way I see it is this: If the story is the best it can be, it doesn't matter who the author is or whether or not that's the genre he or she is known for.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great weekend and happy A to Z!! Good luck with your writing! :)