Do you feel you've found your writing niche?

RaggedEdge

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So I'm just wondering about this:

How much did you write - either in months/years or number of projects/ words/whatever - before you had a pretty good sense of what types of stories you prefer to write (genre, subgenre, YA vs. adult, etc.) and a pretty good sense of your strengths as a writer, your target audience, in a word, your 'niche.'

Or maybe most of you are still searching for this, like me. ;) Or maybe you have no desire to whittle your vision into a specific path, and that's fine, too. But if you have, I'd like to hear a little about your journey, especially how much time or effort it took. Thanks. :)
 

rwm4768

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I'm still searching for it. The problem is I like fantasy and science fiction (and sometimes horror) across adult, YA, and MG audiences. It's difficult to decide which age category I should focus on.
 

eyeblink

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I've had only short fiction published, and that's not age-restricted and goes all over the genre map.

Past novels have been adult, but most ideas I've had lately have been all YA - none published or sold so far.

As I have a day job, I won't be a full-time writer until I retire. I'm hardly the most commercial writer out there, but not relying on writing for my income means I can write what I like - and I feel that if what I write is what I am driven to write, then so be it.
 

jtrylch13

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I feel like I've found my niche in YA, but I'm not restricting myself to that. I've had plenty of ideas for MG, PB, Adult, and maybe some day I'll go there, but right now I like YA. I also mostly have ideas for speculative fiction, but I have historical and contemporary as well. I'm just going to write what I love for now. Getting published can restrict you to a certain genre, but I guess I'll just keep writing and see where that takes me.

To answer some more of your questions, when I was growing up I thought I would write historical fiction, though I had a few spec fic ideas. I didn't think much about writing from my teen years up into my late twenties. Then i wanted to write MG. I didn't actually start writing anything until 2006, and then I treated it as a hobby. I started writing my first YA in 2013 and I was kind of hooked. On YA and writing. I no longer treat this as a hobby. It is life and the career I want to have for life. And I think YA is where I belong.
 

Becca C.

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I definitely have a sweet spot where my best work happens and where I hope to make a career -- contemporary YA with a lot of family themes -- so that's where I'm concentrating. It's not to say I don't have other ideas in other genres or for other age groups, but I know it's what I'm best at and what I love, so that's where I'm focusing my energy for the time being.
 

ericalynn

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I like to think I have. I spent my BFA years writing experimental short stories (who didn't?) and then realized I wanted to concentrate on YA. I did my MFA in YA and have pretty much written within that field since.
 

The_Ink_Goddess

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What an interesting thread! I like to think so, but we'll see. My main love is contemporary YA, with a strong family thread running through them, but I've recently discovered my love for YA horror. My YA horror looks a lot like my contemporary, though - tons of family drama, parent/child relationships, and creepy rural settings, focusing more on the evil things people do to each other than any elaborate world building, except there are scary things in the cornfields and swamps in my horror. I don't think I'd ever write adult horror (famous last words) but I've started getting ideas for (pretty dark and nasty) women's fiction recently, one of which I think I REALLY want to do.
 

Putputt

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I don't think I've found it, but I'm not sure that I want to find one, tbh. :-/ I've written YA Fantasy, Adult Fantasy, YA Contemporary Suspense, and YA Contemporary Love Story thingy. I've enjoyed writing each and every one of them and hate the thought that I might have to focus on one genre. Now I'm considering writing an Adult Humorous Superhero thing. I know it's probably not the best thing for my writing career (what writing career??), but I write whatever catches my fancy, really. If pressed, I'd settle on whichever one allows me to have the highest body count. :)
 

Sara K.

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I think I have, but maybe it'll change over time. It's hard to tell. But for about five years now, I've been writing for the same audience: adult science fiction, with a concentration on slipstream. My science fiction is always light on the science, and is more about people, with a literary angle. Short fiction always, too. I have no interest at this time in writing a book (other than a collection of shorts).

I enjoy dabbling, but that's home to me.

I admire everyone who has said they write MG. I love MG books, but is beyond me to write for that audience.
 

hester

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I think I have--definitely YA, with a bent towards psychological thriller. Then again, I like dabbling in YA sci-fi, and after I'm done with my current project I'm planning on a male POV coming of age without thriller elements.

Hmmm...maybe I haven't found my niche after all :).
 

WriterBN

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I know I haven't. My first love was science fiction, but my published stuff so far has been literary/cultural short fiction, and I have outlines for YA science fiction and urban fantasy novels. I need to establish myself in one genre before I start in another, at least if I want to sell anything, but I have a very short attention span.
 

Christabelle

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I enjoy writing YA contemporary. It's where my writing passion is, but I'm contemplating some NA or adult(ish) ideas. One is returning to an idea I wrote out and destroyed (literally) years ago, but I'd change some elements. Those are all contemp too.

At the moment, I'm experimenting with a paranormal twist. No world building necessary. It just happens to have a ghost.

I usually gravitate toward male POV characters, but my non-YA ideas would probably have a female.

Other than that, I think I've found a niche, but I don't want it narrow enough to make me feel claustrophobic. :)
 

RaggedEdge

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I've enjoyed reading everyone's answers. I feel like what I'm supposed to be writing should be obvious to me, but I can't exactly see it. All I know is that everything I try to write has core elements like wonder and grit and power. I've been writing seriously since May 2012.
 

JKRowley

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I think it takes a lot of time to find your niche. There are so many avenues to writing. You might want to test a few out to see how they feel.

I have done the gamut. I was a journalist, then left to work in PR, went to essayist. I started writing picture books, failed miserably, went to MG and YA, attempted an adult novel. Did a stint doing book reviews. Went to editing journalism, found I am quite good at it.

I still like to write, and settled in MG or YA, but I think I prefer YA. I know I like contemporary books. That is as far as I got in nailing down a genre. I like the age.
 

JalexM

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Finding a niche is hard and I kind of don't want to find a niche.
My first book series is Science Fiction, my next is a dark fantasy YA, the next is a super hero book, and the next is a dark science thriller similar to Xmen. So maybe there is a pattern there? I just write what I want to write.
 

Ellaroni

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I'm focusing on contemporary YA, and I love writing it. I have a couple of historical plots too, plus an idea that is more adult - plus one idea that is borderline fantasy/magical realism.
I'm not good enough at making up alternative worlds and such, and I'm much more interested in the real world, so I doubt if I'll go into anything but contemp/history. But never say never... :)
 

Becca C.

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I'm not good enough at making up alternative worlds and such, and I'm much more interested in the real world, so I doubt if I'll go into anything but contemp/history. But never say never... :)

I'm exactly the same. Contemp, maybe historical, maybe some magical realism. I love reading fantasy but I'm just not cut out to write it.
 

Melanii

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I thought I knew what my niche was. I enjoy writing about young protagonists, like aged 15 - 19. And I love fantasy, urban or epic. The thing is, while creating alternate worlds is fun, it's hard to have it make sense. Sadly, for contemporary fantasy, my brain can't always wrap around putting something supernatural in our world. I've been thinking of games that have alternate high-tech worlds recently, though.

I also enjoy the idea of fairytales, psychological horror, and soft sci-fi. XD
 

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I don't feel like I've found my niche, but publishers seem to think I have!

I can't seem to escape from Romance. I finally sold a contemporary YA last year and was totally excited b/c it only had "strong romantic elements" instead of being a full-on romance, but during editing... that's right, they wanted to pump up those elements and make it a romance!

My agent is shopping an NA around that has what SEEMS to be a romance but then turns out not to be, and the feedback she's gotten so far has been that the lack of romance is a problem.

Aaargh!
 

Niiicola

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I've written three manuscripts over four-ish years and they're all set in the real world with speculative elements. My newest plot bunny I'm not allowed to play with yet is maybe going to be a straight thriller, but I kinda want to throw some magical realism in there because apparently I can't help myself. I guess I do have a niche.
 

phantasy

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I plan on writing every sort of fantasy. In my mind I have an epic fantasy, a paranormal fantasy, a dystopian fantasy and so on. I like horror too, but I think my work won't exceed the dark fantasy realm.

A lot of my work sits in between YA and adult. But I dislike the stereotypes of YA, no offense, so I don't want to be marketed that way. But if the book gets accepted by a publisher that way, I guess I'll bear it. :)
 

eyeblink

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I think I have, but maybe it'll change over time. It's hard to tell. But for about five years now, I've been writing for the same audience: adult science fiction, with a concentration on slipstream. My science fiction is always light on the science, and is more about people, with a literary angle. Short fiction always, too. I have no interest at this time in writing a book (other than a collection of shorts).

I enjoy dabbling, but that's home to me.

I admire everyone who has said they write MG. I love MG books, but is beyond me to write for that audience.

I'd certainly use the S-word (slipstream) about my own short fiction, and others have used it of my work too.

There's nothing wrong with only writing short fiction either. If you can do that, and do it well, then editors want to see your work, as the SF/F genre needs all the good short-fiction writers it can get, before they start getting novel deals and have no time to write short fiction any more.

And likewise with MG. My novel ideas are all YA, almost all contemporary YA, and all so far older YA - 14+ instead of 12+.
 
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Fuchsia Groan

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I started out writing adult literary with speculative elements, but that seemed to have no real market, at least the way I was doing it. Then I read Uglies, and realized my market existed in YA, where it WAS possible to write "Philip K. Dick type crazy high-concept books with a strong female POV." So I aged down my characters.

Sadly, my book that fits that description (more or less) has not sold. I switched over to writing a somewhat less high-concept thriller, and that did sell. At this point, I'm sticking with YA, but all I know for sure is that everything I write will be creepy and character driven. High concepts and/or "big" ideas will get in there somehow, and I will always be writing for the older end of YA. There will always be violence, a few swear words, and sexual tension.
 

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Fantasy is my favorite genre. I used to prefer urban fantasy (and wrote a few things too), but I'm more into secondary world fantasy now.
I also like Sci-Fi, but I'm a very fickle reader when it comes to that and my writing is also kind of specific, either dystopian (YA style yeah) or space opera-ish.
YA Contemporary Suspense is also something I like.

One thing I know is that I really enjoy YA and I wish the market would keep booming and blooming. I used to write adult but ever since I discovered YA I never looked back. I started a NA but eventually realized I wasn't as much into it as I thought.
Maybe I'll write a MG fantasy one day, I like its adventure-filled spirit.

I also have a pretty clear idea of what I'd like my writing career to look like. I want to have a solid spec series or two going (not the super long kind, I actually really like the idea of trilogies) and also write smaller standalone books and participate in anthologies along the way.