When it comes to writing fiction, there is a plethora of things we could write about. One of the first things we need to narrow our choices down to is what genre do we wish to write in.
Since I started to write fiction, I’ve heard time and time again that the genre you need to write in is the genre you read and usually you want to write in the one you read the most because you are most familiar with the format.
For me that genre would be romance. I like all versions of it: contemporary, historical, contemporary suspense, historical suspense. I’ve been reading romances since I was thirteen-years-old. So naturally you’d assume when I started to write my first fiction book that it would have been a romance. That’s what I did. And then the more I wrote it the more it didn’t feel like a romance but something I was totally unfamiliar with. I continued to ask for assistance in helping me figure out what genre I wrote in and lo and behold it was women’s fiction (WF). I had no idea what was even required in a book like this until one day I started to read a critique I received back and someone really nice took the time to explain it to me. I kind of had one of those awe-ha moments.
I’ll be honest, I still don’t read a lot of women’s fiction, but I do understand the genre so much better now and can see why I’ve been lead in this direction as I can relate to the down to earth issues that WF deals with.
I notice the same thing about myself. I like reading fantasy/dystopian/sci-fi genre of young adult books that have romance to it. But when I write, I don’t know why I’m not drawn to writing fantasy as much, but the fantasy aspect as always intrigued me, even now. I don’t know why is that so. Heh.
Suzanne, I wonder sometimes that even though we may not read it that somehow we are in tune with it. I think for me the reason why WF works for me with my writing has to do with everything that’s happened in my past. I understand tragedy. I understand abuse. And so many other things that most people have never been through. I can infuse what I’ve been through into my characters and hopefully make it into a better story as a result.
I don’t know, I enjoy writing stuff that can have an impact on people emotionally, but I haven’t gone through those kinds of emotions myself, romance specifically. (I’ve never had a boyfriend before) However, I’m drawn to writing romance.
I’ve been told over and over that the story I’m writing is a hard story to write because of what it’s about. The basic gyst of the story is it’s about a woman who gets in a car accident with her husband and two children and she’s the only survivor. For me, it’s come almost naturally telling the story itself. I don’t think of it as hard and I guess that’s because I understand grief so well and the emotions that go along with it after losing my daughter. My sincerest hope is that it will always come through my writing in the end.
I know not everyone needs to have gone through something in order to write in that genre because if you read enough of it and do enough research you can then better understand what needs to be done. I think this is why I naturally assumed I’d be writing a romance instead of women’s fiction. But instead I found myself writing in a genre I didn’t even know what it was until I’d been trying to write this story for well over a year. And then when I finally did, I had no clue really what it was until someone really explained it to me. Now I can see why writing women’s fiction comes so naturally for me is because of my own life.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Must be hard as a mother….
I feel that your choice of genre makes sense. For me, maybe because I’ve always been fascinated by love (romance) that I enjoy writing about them? I’m still trying to figure that out. Thanks for your input though. Really gets me thinking.
I think it’s kewl how we all seem to help each other out as writers. Each one of us, whether big or small, impacts the other in some way. I think some of those who leave comments both on this site as well as my daughter’s dedication site (http://mommysangelinheaven.com) and open themselves up have touched me so much. On my daughter’s site when they read what happened to hear, I’m always amazed at what people are will to share with me and they can touch me so deeply that I cry as a result. I can feel their pain through a few words. I feel blessed that I’m able to write and just share what’s inside me.