As an author, what genre do you
choose? It sounds like a pretty simple question, but one that is loaded with possibility.
For the most part, I think that if anyone assumes anything about authors they
assume that an author will write most of their work in one genre and stick with the one. Why write
in more than one if you can help it? Well, because it's fun! And because the
next story you want to tell doesn't fit in the genre of the last story you told.
Sometimes an author sits down for
their next project and has decided already, or asks themselves, what genre will
I write in next? Fantasy lends itself to great amounts of creative output and imaginative
creation. Action books challenge the author to keep the book moving forward at
a heart-throbbing pace without much call for deep character development. If you
want to talk relationships, Romance may be the genre for you, setting up
relationships, breaking them apart and finding a way to lead them back together
again.
Whatever happens in the book, one
of the things you have to understand about me is that I’m a punster, I write by
the seat of my pants. That means I have to have a good idea of what my story is
before I sit down to write, even a basic concept – a young woman’s car breaks
down and she gets stuck in the middle of nowhere. Perfect! Now where do we go
from here? The key is to let the story lead you forward, no matter the genre.
One of the differences about
writing in a genre that young or inexperienced writers may have is whether to
write in a different style for the genre that they’re in. Should an author
change their style to suit the genre they’re writing in? My answer is not
straightforward. Don’t change your personal style of writing. However, if you’re
writing a piece set in Victorian England, this will naturally reflect something
different than a piece set in post-apocalyptic Boston, MA.
People have different vocabularies, dress differently, use different dishes and
carpets and furniture – the essence of the piece which you describe will lend a
different air to it which will set is apart from the next piece.
So if you’re deciding you want to
write, and you don’t know what genre to pick, that’s fine. Find the story that
you want to write and go from there. Once you know what kind of story you want
to write, the genre will be clear. The story will lead you in the right
direction.
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