I don’t remember specifically choosing mine. Which, by the way, is psychological suspense/thriller (though I’m sure the cartoon version of me in my blog header, standing in an alleyway beside the words “The Serial Killer Files”, gave that away a long time ago).
What I do remember is sitting down one night in the summer of 2007 and writing. And what came out was dark, indeed. But dark like haunted house dark. Like things go bump in the night dark. Like early Stephen King dark (think Salem’s Lot and Pet Sematary). It felt good to write that novel, but it didn’t feel exactly right to write that novel.
So the following year, I tried again.
And what came out was a serial killer story. And that felt totally right. I felt it in my bones. It felt natural, almost like an extension of myself, almost like the story had been buried in my brain all this time and was finally ready to come out and play. I remember being about thirty pages in or so, and my stomach was doing somersaults because the story just felt so, so right. Nothing felt forced, or contrived.
I would say my genre chose me.
This isn’t to say that I don’t ever think I’ll write anything else outside of thrillers. I hope I do someday. But if or when I do, I’m sure that genre will choose me, too.
So, how did you choose your genre? Or did your genre choose you?
I'd say my genre chose me too. I thought I'd write adult books until my basement flooded and I had to go through all my high school mementos (the only stuff still in cardboard boxes instead of plastic totes). Halfway through reading old notes from friends I thought, there are a lot of stories here. The next day I started the rough draft of my first YA book.
It's so true…when it works, it's right.
Like Jennifer, I would say my genre chose me : psychological urban and historical fantasy.
My life has always taken a turn for the extreme and dark. It has prompted me to try the understand the human psyche and to try to see beyond the veil we call reality.
And dreams spark many of my books — and you can't get more fantastical than dream symbolism! Have a great week, Roland
I'm in the "my-genre-chose-me" camp. I write what I like to read. It's the cheapest way to keep myself entertained 😉
I've always written what Iliked to read best; at first it was historical romance, then fantasy, now YA with a bit of fantasy thrown in. I'll probably stick with these.
My genre definitely chose me, too. I write YA, though every idea jumps all over the place: contemporary, fantasy, dystopian. Just whatever feels natural to me at the time.
I'd say my genre chose me, too. SFF wasn't the genre I intended to write in when I first started. The first novel I wrote would probably be classified as women's lit. And, it just didn't feel right and eventually I decided it wasn't the type of novel I wanted to write.
It was then that I kind of toyed around with the idea of writing SFF, but I didn't think I was creative enough to do so. I didn't think I'd ever come up with a good idea. And then one idea struck me, and another.. and now they won't stop, ha!
I still like to experiment in other genres, but I usually keep those experiments to my short stories. Eventually, I would like to write a novels in other genres as well, but for now, I'm really happy I finally took the dive into SFF.
Like you, it chose me. I was always attracted to those stories who didn't try to put the good vs evil template up front, where things were getting too complex and confusing to chose a good guy.
Yep, noir chose me.
I feel like my genre (YA, more specifically comtemporary) chose me. Every story I wrote before I discovered YA wasn't very good. Once I started writing YA, the ideas came and stories flowed out of me. I might branch out into other types of YA and also middle-grade but I definitely know I'm meant to write for kids.
the rights holders to Conan the Barbarian avoided the kid market in the 70s/80s and what came out of that refusal were two rip-offs that would change my life forever: Thundarr the Barbarian and He-Man were Conan.
When the He-Man toys first sold, they came with an 8-page comic booklet. Now you may have seen the popular 80s cartoon, but the original He-Man wasn't a bumbling prince in disguise. When he wasn't kicking ass, he was sunning himself on the beach. He didn't have a cowardly pet, he had a tiger that was a big ferocious tiger all the time. And Castle Greyskull didn't have a sorceress, it had a spirit, a ghost that manifested itself as a smoky skull.
Despite my mother being fanatically opposed to fantasy that wasn't by CS Lewis, she let me have He-Man figures and I read the first five comics repeatedly. Those two properties (and He-Man in particular) turned the crank of my creativity. Stories I came up with were equally fantastical. By the time I was 14 and finishing Tad Williams' Memory, Sorry, and Thorn trilogy, my course was set in stone. Fantasy or bust.
I usually don't think about genre, until the second draft – so to start, I just write whatever I want at the moment.
My story ideas are different. Never the same EXACT sub genre. It's YA, but my ideas range from paranormal to SF to superhero. They all have romance (of course =D). But, I'll listen to a song or see something or read a book and an idea with come into my head. I write it down, thinking, that would be fun. What does that say about me? Therapy. Maybe. LOL
So exciting about your serial killer book. Eeep!
I think it always chooses us. Maybe we don't listen at first but when we do…it feels so right.
Mine is dark paranormal(sometimes fantasy elements). But I chose YA because my inner voice is an angry teenager.lol And that younger part of me that still wishes for a little magic in this world refuses to die.
Same here. It's interesting was seems so natural to write.
So it's as I suspected… We Are Chosen.
Dun dun duuuuun!
I write YA fanstasy because it's what I enjoy reading. One author in my genre whose books inspired me was Libba Bray. Another reason is beacuse it's fun to write 🙂
First I wrote MG, but then I realized MGs can't have romance. And I'm a HUGE fan of romance. So I said, okay… YA books can have a bit of romance! And that's when I dove into my genre 😉
I always read SF as a kid, and when I started writing there was never any question that it would be anything but. I didn't want to write, I wanted to write SF.
No choosing either way, it was pre-ordained 😀
I'm trying not to settle into just one particular genre at present, but it seems that most (if not all) of my work has some sort of "speculative" aspect to it. So maybe that's my genre!
My genre definitely chose me. Well, in that I've always been drawn to magic and supernatural stuff. So, everything that brews in my brain writing wise has something to do with magic. It's inevitable. I can't really see writing anything else. Good thing is, there's pretty much no limit to the different stories I can come up with in the fantasy genre.
My genre definitely chose me. I wrote fiction years ago but could never think of any good ideas. Then one strange day I had the idea to write a children's book… and plots weren't a problem any more. Guess I'm just a big kid 🙂
Growing up, I always read adventure and fantasy novels at home and at school. They would always inspire me to create stories of my own.
I've always loved the fantasy genre. I find it so compelling, captivating, and imaginative.
My genre definitely chose me too. I never set out to write anything romantic or funny. I just sat down to write a story and this is what came out.
Wait – you write psychological suspense/thrillers??? I thought you wrote YA Fantasy. That's not you as a vampire stalking the streets of Seattle in the dark? Wow! 😉 I think mine chose me. It all started with some bored teens who wanted me to tell them a story, then email them more of a story, and more and more and…back off already! Thanks to a mini NaNo, I had an entire book. Most of my ideas are YA – fantasy, dystopian. But I do have a killer thriller that I'm dying to write for this years NaNo. Mwahahahahaha.
I'm still choosing my genre(s). My category is YA, but within that I love writing thrillers, paranormal, and on the horizon…duh! duh! duh! Magical realism. Who knew??
I just love reading all these little stories of how you guys started writing and finding your stories. I'm glad I asked.
Very cool! And I love the design of your header.
I write women's fiction, and it found me, too. It was a path of trying other kinds of writing that brought me to it; when I got here, I knew that out of all the stops I made along the way, this was it for me. It's what I most love to read, and then came to be what I most love to write.
Thanks for visiting my blog, Jennifer!
Oh! And I meant to say, congrats and good luck on your upcoming release. 🙂
It was after I read TWILIGHT that I seriously decided to try writing as a career, and after that I discovered this whole world of YA fiction that I hadn't known existed. So I guess that's how I found my genres – YA paranormal romance/YA fantasy
I stumbled into my genre (YA) via, of all things (and like Rachel above), TWILIGHT. At the time I'd been writing full-time for nearly a year, and all three of my previous attempts at a novel had or were failing miserably (post-apocalytpic, chick lit, more chick lit…). I read the TWILIGHT novels, and through the recommendations widget on Amazon, realized there were all these other young adult books out there. As soon as I realized I could write about a teenager, things just clicked into place. Two and a half years later, I've written a YA contemporary fantasy that I'll begin querying soon and have recently started work on a YA apocalytpic.