Did you choose your genre, or did your genre choose you?

My main story seems to be morphing slightly into something I hadn't originally intended, and I'm frequently torn about whether to rein it in to keep it something I could allow my mom to read.

I was farther along in a work intended for a YA genre, but I haven't touched that one in three years. I'm fairly certain it needs to be rewritten, but that'll have to wait for another phase in my life.


I get the feeling I might need to embrace flash fiction these days... it's about all I have time for, and seldom getting more than 10 minutes uninterrupted is maddening when working on a larger story.

Hard to say. I've been reading fantasy and science fiction my whole life. Occasionally I'll make an attempt to read something else, but I usually end up thinking, "Yeah, I appreciated that. It was a good book. But I didn't actually enjoy it."

So now I only write fantasy with a little science fiction thrown in, but honestly, I doubt I'd be competent to write anything else. I haven't read enough outside my little speculative-fiction happy place.

So did I choose this or did it choose me? Whichever is the case, it happened quite early in my life.

I still don't know what genre my current WIP is. I don't think it's "heavy" (introspective) enough to be literary fiction, but it's not quite contemporary either. Ugh, I just don't know.

I used to write predominantly fantasy-- it's what I enjoyed the most. Lately I've been branching out a bit more in general I guess, but really I've always genre-hopped.

Definitely, the genre chose me. After I finished the novel, I had the hardest time actually pegging the genre. Literary fantasy? Adult Paranormal? Fantasy-SciFi? Mainstream with a paranormal streak?

Only after months of brainstorming with my agent, my husband and several industry friends did we come up with the genre (subgenre?) gaslamp fantasy.

It was the furthest thing from my mind to write fantasy at all, but it just sort of insinuated itself into the novel, and there you are

By the definitions people seem to be using, I guess my genre chose me? But it seems so awkward to put it that way.

I think up a story. And I pick a genre based on what the details of the story require. I'm the one making all the decisions. If the story has magic, it's fantasy. If it has the space ships, it's sci-fi. If it has both, it's science fantasy (and that's my last three finished manuscripts). If the next idea was a pair of high schoolers falling in love during adversity, then YA or romance or both.

I don't really fall into a specific genre. I have been writing for the YA MARKET almost exclusively for the past few years...but my genre flexes...

I find it interesting that so many people say something to the effect of, "I write xxx. I have always read xxx and so I write xxx.

Maybe the real question with that is, what, between your ears made you always gravitate toward reading this or that? That would go a long way toward understanding the genres in which you write.

I was fortunate to have a super fantastic grandmother who encouraged, among other things, reading. Reading lots. And reading lots of different 'things'. A blessing for an ADHD like me. So, all of my life, I have read an abundance of eclectic subject matter - both fiction and non-fiction. This led me down a path of degeneracy and writing. Logically, my writing leans toward nothing and everything. Thrillers, Mystery, Time-Travel, Romance/Women's, YA, Kiddie Lit, Scifi... And, if I haven't written it yet, I'm sure there's something on my bookshelves in whatever genre I've missed so far and I'll find my way to it eventually.

I tried to write romance years ago. Complete fail. Somehow the heroine had managed to stab the hero for being a complete tosser by page 5 and there was no turning back. Plus, I can't write 'wryly' with a straight face.

I read many genres, and never, not once, thought about writing. Then I read my first YA fantasy. Soon there was a story in my head, growing like a balloon, kept bugging me until I wrote it down. It was YA fantasy. And that's all I write. PERHAPS I have a YA non-fantasy story in the back of my mind. But I have to finish the 6 YA fantasies first that are threatening to drive me crazy if I don't write them down.

TheWordsmith said:

I find it interesting that so many people say something to the effect of, "I write xxx. I have always read xxx and so I write xxx.

Maybe the real question with that is, what, between your ears made you always gravitate toward reading this or that? That would go a long way toward understanding the genres in which you write.

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For me, I read for escapism. I have anxiety and depression issues, so I love to choose entertainment where I can relax and enjoy an adventure without some of the ugliness of life. I'll also read some gentle contemporary stories, because they make me feel good.

I love stories with magic or some kind of fantasy element, because it feels like anything is possible. I loved cartoons, anime, manga, and animated films, because many of them have some fantasy elements.

I love happy endings, because life is already depressing. It's why the romance genre and most (light-hearted) MG appeals to me.

I like characters who are active and in control of their lives. I feel helpless or powerless in real life, and I had a controlling family, so I enjoy stories in which characters gain power, whether they gained literal super powers or become active in controlling their destinies.

I tend to feel smothered by peer pressure and expectations, so I am drawn to characters who are, or become, free of such restraints. I love free spirit characters as well. I am female, and sometimes I have to deal with teasing about my lack of crushes/boyfriends or lack of sex, so I enjoy reading about female characters who break away from such pressure.

I don't like being forced into doing things, either. (It's why I hate the forced seduction or rape tropes.)

I also know what genres I would probably never write: Epic Fantasies, Horror, and Mystery/Suspense/Thriller. This is because I tend to get stressed by such genres, or I prefer to watch them on TV/film. I already have lots of fears, so I don't need any more horror in my life, lol. (Well, I don't mind a little bit of paranormal/supernatural horror, but I prefer to watch it than read/write it.)

Based on what I most enjoyed reading, that is genres that fall one way or another under the "Crime" heading, I was drawn to write what I liked to read, so crime novels, be it police procedurals, heists, etc, were my preferred genre to tackle. I guess you can say the genre chose me... but that's only becuase I chose it intially. I was comfortable with it.

But once you establish yourself within a genre or sub-genre, you have to be careful of straying. If you suddenly build a following for you CSI-type of mysteries, your audience may be turned off by your sudden passion for YA or fantasy. So choose wisely, choose what genre you most identify with, and if you someday decide there's another, completely different, genre you want to write in (a situation I've found myself in), consider a pen name for your new muse.

SpiteLokidottir said:

I started off writing fanfiction *shock**horror* in my teens. It's what actually started off my love for writing. As most of my fandoms were SF in one way or another, it made sense for me to keep writing it. And I enjoy it. I love SF, cyberpunk, dystopian. It's what want to write.

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It's funny I used to feel deeply ashamed of the fact I made stories up in my head based on my favorite TV show when I was a teenager in the 80s, because I thought it was a really weird abnormal thing to be doing, and now it's totally a "thing". lol Amazon is even paying for it.

I don't think about genre when I write, but then again I have a hard time categorizing them later. Maybe I should think about it more when I start writing.

I write whatever pops into my head. I sort any boxes later. I feel worrying about the boxes first confines writers. Just go with where the words take you.

For the story I'm writing now I would say the genre choose me. It's a YA contemporary romance and I didn't set out to write that.

Though I do admit that sometimes I set out to write a certain genre but I haven't done that awhile. The muse alighted on my current story and it's the one I've made the most progress on at the moment.

It chose me. I had tried (and failed) to write several adult novels, but never made it through a full draft. And then, I had this idea, and I started writing, and about halfway through I was like, oh, holy crap (except stronger), this is YA! I proceeded to read all the YA I could get my hands on, because I had no idea what was acceptable. I finished the draft. YA was the thing that stuck. If only I had known that 10 years ago...

Genre chose me. Or rather, I wrote a novel, and realized it was a Psych Thriller.

Turns out I have a thing for thriller-style writing. Then again, since my only WIP is one, perhaps that's not that telling.

Pegging genres to the series in my head makes me laugh -- my WIP is a psych thriller, right? But the first in the series would be a Memoir tangled with YA, the second would be New Adult, the fourth would be thriller or erotica (haven't quite figured that out yet) and the fifth would be... god knows. (The WIP is the third in a series -- just the one I started first)

All the same series.

Yet life doesn't work that way.

But the storylines do. We'll see what happens.

The genre chooses me I suppose. It didn't occur to me until well into forming my idea that my current project could be classified as science fiction. It's just something that's stuck in my head, leftover ideas from a dream I suppose. There's a love story in there too. I've never written anything like this before, but I'm really enjoying it.

I chose YA fantasy, mostly because that's what I enjoyed reading. But as I got older, YA contemporary, what people might call "issue books" (I don't see my book as that way but that's the best I can describe it right now) seemed to pull at me. All of a sudden I felt like I wanted to debunk the myths about certain contemporary issues. So I kept the YA, tossed out the fantasy, and added contemporary issues.

I guess my answer to the OP's question is yes and no. I know I chose YA and will continue to choose YA again and again. But Contemporary chose me after Fantasy and Paranormal decided to abandon me. Lol.

My genre picked me

For several years before I started writing I had been caught up in the paranormal romance trend and loving it! I threw in just enough fantasy and romantic suspense reading to keep things interesting.

But the story lines for my own novels have all been contemporary romance with a few suspense elements.

It always seemed odd to me that I was writing in a sub genre I don't often read, and I wondered if I had mental block of some kind that was keeping me from writing the paranormal elements that I typically loved. Now that I'm starting to burn out on reading paranormal romance, I'm glad to not be writing in that sub genre!

I spent ten years working on a epic fantasy. Every year, I would add more characters, work on the map, write another few scenes, go back to the drawing board and start again. I never got farther than a brief outline of the book itself.

Meanwhile, I was going to writing workshops and conventions. I was reading Sookie Stackhouse and Harry Dresden. I was hanging out with Mario Acevedo (Felix Gomex vampire books) and Jeanne Stein (Anna Strong vampire books) and watching shows like Buffy and Angel.

I was going on about my lack of progress on my book and my best friend said "You read all this Urban Fantasy and you hang out with all these Urban Fantasy writers. Why don't you write that?"

I stared at her for a while with my mouth gaping like a moron and finally said. "That's a really good question."

A year later, I had finished my first UF novel.

So, I guess you could say my genre chose me.

I'm in the same boat as Myrealana. My baby project is a fantasy WIP, and it's one that I can always seem to add to but never finish.

It wasn't until recently that I realized that my issue is that my natural writing style leans towards science fiction, paranormal, and urban fantasy. My medieval world of goodness is sadly not my natural voice -- it's one that I actively have to work on. Fortunately for me, my partner is my opposite and she had this poetic style in her writing which is great for old world fantasy.

I'm not giving up on my love of fantasy though, this is a personal challenge to improve my writing. But being able to recognize my problem allowed me to prioritized my projects and I'm getting things done. So my genres chose me because I write whatever ideas come to me. However, we can all develop our writing styles to fit any genre if that's what we really want to do. It's not impossible, it's just work.

I ain't got no genre. Should I watch for one to come along? Do they come to your door? Robocall at 3 in the morning? Spam e-mail? Or should I just go contemplate the moon at night and wait for one to float past about eye-level?

caw

I write what I know.

I know about crime and detectives, and forensic science and pain, and loneliness and lost love, and found love. And ghosts. And humour.

And, I nearly forgot, about sex. Only about some of it, though, the normal stuff, at least I think it's normal.

Therefore, I am trained to write crime fiction with humour and sex.

For me, the answer sort of depends. For the most part I try to write the type of books I want to read, so my writing tends to fluctuate as my reading tastes do. I write predominantly YA and sci-fi, and have read it most of my life, so these are what I tend to write. However, as I started reading more thrillers and suspense stories, I began writing these and incorporating elements of these genres into my writing as well.