Should I Be Worried?

Do you need a setting? Got one I'll give you for free.

FWIW, I'm going through a similar "conversion." The most recent stories, specifically intended for mystery & sf/f markets, somehow deserved to be sent out to literary magazines instead. I stood back & took a first objective look at the finished stories, & realised they deserved the chance to get outside the fence.

A story desreves to be well-written - not to be a certain genre.



ETA: And I should learn to read my posts before I hit send. Desreves = deserves. *sigh*

I'd say forget the glory and write what you can write. If you're meant to write the next great contemporary drama or whatever it'll come to you. Don't try to force it, it'll only make you depressed. Keep an open mind and if you ever feel inspiration hit -go from there.

There was a period where I tried to write "literature." It was while I was in college taking several writing classes. It was for strictly selfish reasons, I had a crush on the TA and wanted to impress her. Anyway, I came up with a few story ideas, but no real plots. They weren't badly written, they were just poorly conceived. I've come to realize I don't think about ordinary life in an ordinary manner, I view things from a fantastical viewpoint. I'm geared to think "what if" and then I throw a unicorn in. I've since pretty much abandoned trying to portray real life and now just write either alternative histories or urban fantasies or space opera. In other words, I write about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstance.

My primary interest is in fantasy as well; however, now I am starting a Chick Lit book. (Odd change I know) The problem I have with writing something not fantastical is that I tend to start digging material out of my life...like I can't make up real stuff. Weird. Even my new book has an element from my real life. It is a genre that would run out of material real quick, if I only wrote it from my experiences.

Perhaps people write what they imagine. And if your head gets filled with dragons and wizards and outer space, well....that is what you were made to write primarily.

However, that being said, I think it is fun to go outside of your box once in a while. You never know, perhaps you have a different type of novelist in there that you didn't know existed. The only way to find out is to try.

There are, or should be, three components of every writer: The Artisan, the Craftsman, and the Tradesman.

The Tradesman is concerned with business and with career, with publishing and marketing and getting the best value for services rendered. While important to keeping food on the table, we're not going to discuss this entity today. Instead, let's focus on the Artisan and the Craftsman.

Both the Artisan and the Craftsman are components of the writer's creative side. They are closely related. The Artisan is the element which can be inspired by the muse. It goes with the flow and only wants to work when it is called to do so. It can be possessed by a certain project or idea. It hears voices and despises outlines. The Artisan highly creative but often lacks discipline.

The Craftsman on the other hand is concerned with how everything fits together. It likes details, both the ornate and the practical, and studying the different components of story. It understands POV, verb tense, omniscient and limited narrators. Outlines lets it see where it is going and what tools it needs to accomplish the final project. It will examine other writers' works in order to be able to improve it's own. It is meticulous and does not need a muse in order to accomplish its goals.

What you are asking is should you work on the Craftsman, despite the fact that the Artisan is not currently on board with the project.

In order to grow as a writer, you need to develop all three parts of yourself. To work on the Craftsman, you need to stretch past your limits and accept new challenges, ones that are sometimes not inspired by the Artisan, just to prove that you can do so. It will increase your skill set and make you a better overall writer if you do so.

I say go for it.

I'm mystified when I read that people are afraid to write things. As if starting something and abandoning it because it doesn't work is some kind of cardinal sin. Go ahead and write. Give it a try. What have you go to lose? Even if you write something that goes nowhere, so what? Even if all you waste is time, it's not really wasted, is it? Everything you write helps you learn and grow as a writer.

Not really a waste of time at all.

My WIP is a suspense novel combined with women's fiction. I don't normally write that kind of thing. I usually write just straight women's fiction or maybe even mainstream. The suspense thing, because I've never done it before, really has me doubting if what I've written is any good or not.

I have an itch to write something in the horror genre, but I've never tried it before. I have other ideas I want to explore first, but I think I will write something in the horror genre someday.

I've had the same trouble in the past. Turns out it was a research problem. I wasn't comfortable enough to flesh-out the real world, because I didn't know enough details. With speculative fiction, you can kind of make up the world on your own terms, and no one can call you on your bs.

Seems odd, since I live in the real world, but that's what the problem was. Now if I have an idea that would work well in a real-world setting, I research. Law enforcement, hydro-electric engineering, sailing, geology, "ecotecture." ...doesn't matter. Research, and the story will come to you.

Cool thread, thanks goatpiper.
I love sci fi & horror, but my story ideas always seem to be very real-world. My daughter keeps saying "just write a sci fi story if that's what you want to do" but it doesn't feel/flow the same. Maybe that's a good thing?

Thanks Birol and Caro, you've given me a lot to think about today (don't tell my boss, he thinks when I stare blankly at my screen that I'm crafting brilliant e-mails to customers).

josephwise said:

I've had the same trouble in the past. Turns out it was a research problem. I wasn't comfortable enough to flesh-out the real world, because I didn't know enough details. With speculative fiction, you can kind of make up the world on your own terms, and no one can call you on your bs.

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This is the same problem as I'm having. I'd like to write something set in the mid 19th century, and even though I've read several non-fiction books about the era, I still don't feel confident enough to put pen to paper. The basic setting for the story is in my head, along with the MC and the situation he finds himself in. However, the devil's in the details, as they say. It's the intricacies of life back then I want to feel comfortable with before I begin, as to a large degree these will be one of the things that shape the character's actions.

goatpiper said:

What is my problem? Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have the reverse problem? I just saw 'The Departed' (yes it's a film, but it made me think of this constant problem I have) and I thought, "Why the hell can't I come up with a good story idea that has absolutely nothing to do with the fantastic?"

Fire away.

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Yep, I have sort of the same problem. I love sci/fi, fantasy stories because of the fantastic nature of them. But where I deviate, is that I would rather work in the constraints of reality, because creating believable science fiction seems tougher than herding cats.