Does anyone go through modes?

I'm not sure I'd call it modes. More like story ideas. But I do work on relatively different things one after the other. I can only stand so much young adult literary high fantasy before I need to break it up with some low-brow adult space opera.

I tend to switch genres or write short stories for a while. For example, I've been working on a sci-fi YA story for a while now (around university, so it's taking me much longer than I wanted it to), but have decided to pursue an idea in YA surreal/fantasy for a change, as well as thinking up two idea for short stories I'll probably write when the semester finishes.

I do find it refreshing to write MG - it's somehow 'freer' than other ages, in a way.

Sage said:

I go through reading phases, but writing is based on whatever book I'm working on, which is based on whatever inspired me, not a particular genre or market.

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That's me too.
But it's great that you have so many ideas in so many different genres. I've heard that's a mark of a good story teller, to see plots where others see the mundane.

I write whatever comes to me. Could be anything from poems for adults to picture books. I choose what to revise next, but not what to write in the first place.

I go through obsessions when I'm reading. I went through a three month period where all I read was medical history books about 18th and 19th century discoveries. Small pox vaccines, Hunter's surgical discoveries, fear of live burial, cholera, all that. Good times.

I also try to wait until the entirety of series are out so I can read them all in one push. With writing, books take me so long that by the time I'm done with them, I am DONE.

Re: Does anyone go through modes

I guess I go through modes a bit, but I have not had any desire to write anything other than young adult in terms of novel-writing. I do like writing essays about issues I am passionate about, but when it comes to writing books, young adult is my genre. I feel I am able to mix in other themes, like romance, and strong character development. The novel I just published, 'Freshman Fourteen,' is written from the perspective of ninth graders, mainly, and the themes are not quite as mature as I sometimes might like to write. However, I save those more mature issues and jot them down for future writing that I plan to do and novels I plan to write.

I do, but only for the sake of my sanity! I usually write something super dark, and then crave uncomplicated 'fluffy' YA romance or something, but when I'm halfway through plotting the romance I get bored and go back to my next really dark idea!

And I keep getting tempted by a selkie YA and then putting it off because it's male POV and because YA paranormal is impossible to sell, it seems.

How many selkie books are out there? That may be unique enough if it's done well.

Depends on what you mean by modes, I just now wrote down a novel idea centered around a pair of LGBT Black twins in their mid-20's living together and dealing with life. I've several short story ideas centered around serial killers, and an epilostery novel idea centered around one as well. All including the novel about the twins are set in a contemporary setting. Contemp is apparently my favored setting, with historically set comming in a close second and secondary world type stories being a close third. Sometimes my ideas fit more with one of the other of these things, like a contemp level tech secondary world story. I don't consider those modes because I can write an idea for each of those settings or any combo thereof through the course of a day is I choose to. I have done it as a matter of fact.

Now, whether my YA vs. Adult writing impulses comes in modes is another thing. I know it does. Sometimes my ideas are more likely to be YA and others they're Adult for days on end it seems like. Certainly sounds mode-like to me, and I'm alright with that.