Genre Choice

[Cheryl Loux]

I have always had a hard time choosing what genre to write in. I have a wide range of interest. Is it a steadfast rule to only write in one genre? What do you think?

I just don't have a calling for one particular genre.

[ccmal]

I know many writers who dabble in different genres, so I don't think it's unusual for writers to be in different places at the same time. I've written the first draft of a women's fiction novel, had a children's picture book idea accepted, have a crime fiction piece I want to turn into something bigger, and am writing a middle grade novel for NaNo. Oh, and there is also a Christian fiction piece that has about 6 chapters of a first draft completed.

See, I don't stick to one place either. Maybe it's the name.

CC

[galatyne]

You may write in any genre you choose for the first five years of your writing. After that, you must pick one and stick with it for life. If you stray from your chosen genre, you will start seeing things from different, possibly conflicting, perspectives. Not only is that mentally disorienting, but it can throw your entire psychological foundation into upheaval. As with geology, such upheaval can result in vast transformation of the original form (in this case, the self) to the point that the original may be unrecognizable to others who have steadfastly followed the rules and stayed in their pigeonholes. Once that happens, you are on a path to a completely indescribable level of existence, which will just upset the balance of tightly controlled predictability that the rest of the world has worked so hard to maintain. So, as you can see, crossing genres will throw the entire multiverse into chaos. If you want to avoid that, I strongly recommend narrowing your interests and vision and confining yourself to as small a niche as possible. If, on the other hand, you choose to ignore all the boundaries of society and nature, immerse yourself in different, potentially paradoxical ideas, and set yourself up to become a force for unorthodox change, then by all means... write in different genres, explore new lines of thoughts. But let the consequences be on your head.

Oh, and I'll mention right now that at least on of those consequences, closely associated with the distortion of reality brought on by the inability to recognize boundaries, can be a pink, furry noggin--or some other such mutation.

[Cheryl Loux]

LOL!! Galatyne! Too funny. I get your point.

[LtSonya]

If one genre doesn't call to you, don't worry about it. Write the book you want to write. Just make sure whatever genre you write for, you're familiar with it. I'm sure you've heard each genre has their own set of 'rules.' As long as you're well read within that genre you're probably covered. A lot of those things we sort of pick up through reading and will do it naturally during the story-telling process.