What do you like about your genre?

TheKnightWhoSaidNi · Aug 20, 2007

Why do you write romance, or fantasy, realistic drama, horror, etc.? If you dabble in multiple types of narratives, why do you write the ones you do? What is it about that kind of story which intrigues you the most?

I write fantasy at the moment because I love the fantastic, the unreal. It's the most escapist of all literature, I believe, because you are truly taking the reader to a place they are unfamiliar with (or familiar with in real life, but not your version of it), populated by characters, races, and places which are odd and wonderful. The epic fantasies out there can really tell a story that combines all the genres in large scale; there are frequently horrific elements to fantasy, as well as romance both in the classical sense and in the modern love-story sense, and the unknown naturally breeds mysteries.
Everything about it gives you permission to let your imagination soar boundlessly, coming up with whatever you want and setting your own rules for your universe. The only rule is that there ARE rules in the first place, and you abide by the ones you create.
That just scrapes the surface, but I'm not going to make this an essay. I want to hear what you all love about what you write and read.

JoNightshade · Aug 20, 2007

I like my genre (mystery-romance-thriller-contemporary-romance) because apparently I'm the only one in it.

::Jo walks off muttering about genres::

TheKnightWhoSaidNi · Aug 20, 2007

Lol, well that's a plus! No one can accuse you of being cliche, that's for sure.

scarletpeaches · Aug 20, 2007

I only realised a couple of months ago that I write YA urban fantasy.

When I was in my teens, books really were a source of escape for me, and a distraction from real life, so I write the kind of thing I would've liked to have available then, and also the kind of book I'd like to read now. I still read a lot of children's/YA novels.

I've also got one WIP that's leaning towards the - well, I was going to say chicklit, but it's really not. It's probably closer to contemporary women's fiction...maybe that's basically the same thing. No wonder I'm getting nowhere with the queries; I don't even know its genre.

~grace~ · Aug 20, 2007

I write what I like to read: fantasy and mystery.

Fantasy...because if you can imagine something, you can make it happen. Because I'm a dreamer who likes the fantastical. Because whatever world I create, dredged up from the murky depths of my brain, will be different from anything else, and it will be there solely for ME to play with.

Mysteries...because I like "wrongness;" I am fascinated with how and why a person becomes "bad." Because I see crime stories on the news and wonder how the perpetrator grew up to become That. Because I am fascinated with people who want to investigate such things and love being able to build a Detective.

and why historical mysteries? I had to get my obsession with Victorian England in there somewhere.

Shadow_Ferret · Aug 20, 2007

alternatefish said:
I write what I like to read: fantasy and mystery.

Ditto.

I love fantasy because I can't deal with reality.

Azraelsbane · Aug 20, 2007

Shadow_Ferret said:
Ditto.

I love fantasy because I can't deal with reality.

I'm seeing a trend here. I'll raise my hand for this answer.

CaroGirl · Aug 20, 2007

Everything! I love writing it; I love reading it. I love playing with words and images and letting them dance in my head. I love character-driven narrative, apt description, the perfect word in the perfect place (such a rare jewel). Ah.

Ravenlocks · Aug 20, 2007

I write fantasy because it cuts down on the research.

Actually, more serious answer now, I write fantasy partly because it gets me away from reality, like a lot of you above. And partly because when I'm inventing my own cultures I can know absolutely everything about them, whereas I can't if I'm trying to write about a real culture, no matter how much research I do (unless it's my own culture, which is boring).

Fantasy is also a way to explore important issues without coming out and saying that's what you're doing. And fantasy worlds tend to be more primal, so you can boil things down to life and death and the choices people make under those circumstances. IMO, it can get you deeper into your characters' heads, which is the fun part.

I also grew up reading mostly fantasy, so it was a natural choice when I started writing fiction seriously. When I dabble in screenplays, though, they're usually not fantasy because it doesn't sell. Of course, neither have they.

Danger Jane · Aug 20, 2007

I'm in fantasy denial.

I write the kind of fantasy that I like to read: not epic fantasy. I just can't do swords and sorcery. Two of my WIPs are more romances and the third is I don't know what. I never set out to write fantasy, I just set out to write my stories, and I realized halfway through the first that I was writing fantasy (you'd think the gods and goddesses as characters would have clued me in). It's almost historical fiction, too, because I do a LOT of research and ground myself really strongly in whatever culture/time the story is set in. I think I do that as a subconscious compensation for writing fantasy. I'm a weirdo.

So I don't know what I like about my genre. I guess the same thing I like about writing in general: freedom. I can do whatever the hell I want.

Siddow · Aug 20, 2007

I don't think I have a genre. Maybe horror-lite? Dark suspense? Speculative fiction?

Crapola?

I dunno.

But I like making it. If it's ookie and it's kookie, mysterious and spooky, I'm in.

JoNightshade · Aug 20, 2007

Danger Jane said:
I write the kind of fantasy that I like to read: not epic fantasy. I just can't do swords and sorcery. Two of my WIPs are more romances and the third is I don't know what. I never set out to write fantasy, I just set out to write my stories, and I realized halfway through the first that I was writing fantasy (you'd think the gods and goddesses as characters would have clued me in). It's almost historical fiction, too, because I do a LOT of research and ground myself really strongly in whatever culture/time the story is set in. I think I do that as a subconscious compensation for writing fantasy. I'm a weirdo.

Have you read Gene Wolfe? What you describe sounds like his stuff.

OddButInteresting · Aug 20, 2007

Ravenlocks said:
Fantasy is also a way to explore important issues without coming out and saying that's what you're doing. And fantasy worlds tend to be more primal, so you can boil things down to life and death and the choices people make under those circumstances. IMO, it can get you deeper into your characters' heads, which is the fun part.

This pretty much sums up my WIP, in the sense that I'm tackling realistic issues out of the context of the world in which we live.

However, I do feel that I have something genuinely fresh on my hands which is why I'm currently very protective of it.

As for its genre, I had to invent a sub-genre of fantasy to accommodate it, which imbues me with even more faith in its originality.

Danger Jane · Aug 20, 2007

JoNightshade said:
Have you read Gene Wolfe? What you describe sounds like his stuff.

Nope but I will now

Looking him up on Amazon as we...type.

I actually don't mind a good epic fantasy, like I love the Abhorsen books by Garth Nix. Cool place to write about. I just can't do it myself.

Chasing the Horizon · Aug 20, 2007

I write fantasy because Earth wasn't carefully engineered to provide the maximum possibilities for seafaring magical adventure. What really pushed me into choosing fantasy as my exclusive genre was when I discovered tall sailing ships didn't have running water. After that I figured I might as well go all-out and create a world full of cool magical stuff too (to go along with my tall ships with gravity plumbing systems).

Simple answer: I write fantasy because reality gets in my way. I have no desire to ever write anything else, because now I'm spoiled by being the ultimate god, with no rules for accuracy beyond those I self-impose.

Harper K · Aug 20, 2007

Ah gee, I think I'm the odd girl out here.

I write contemporary literary YA. It gives me the chance to observe people and translate the human experience into fiction, to pick out the tiniest yet truest details of life and remind people of them. It takes a bit of a journalist's eye, and a near-photographic memory... both of which I have, to some extent. Plus, I love messing with language and structure and narrative style and seeing how I can get all of them to work together with the theme of my story. It's like creating a puzzle.

Oh, and I love writing about the experience of being a teenager. The heightened emotions, the many, many things you do for the first time in your life, the all-consuming fear and excitement about what's to come next. And through it all, you're always mildly miserable. (Or, well, at least I was.)

Dave.C.Robinson · Aug 20, 2007

I write fantasy and SF, aiming for the pulpy side more than the literary side. I like Sword and Sorcery, Space Opera, and even Urban Fantasy.

Danger Jane · Aug 20, 2007

satori said:
Ah gee, I think I'm the odd girl out here.

I write contemporary literary YA. It gives me the chance to observe people and translate the human experience into fiction, to pick out the tiniest yet truest details of life and remind people of them. It takes a bit of a journalist's eye, and a near-photographic memory... both of which I have, to some extent. Plus, I love messing with language and structure and narrative style and seeing how I can get all of them to work together with the theme of my story. It's like creating a puzzle.

Oh, and I love writing about the experience of being a teenager. The heightened emotions, the many, many things you do for the first time in your life, the all-consuming fear and excitement about what's to come next. And through it all, you're always mildly miserable. (Or, well, at least I was.)

I think once I'm done with the actual high school experience I'll be able to write about it. Right now, however, it would be an updated-every-five-minutes memoir.

scarletpeaches · Aug 20, 2007

satori said:
...the many, many things you do for the first time in your life...

That's a very, very good point and articulates what I love about so much YA fiction these days. Reading and writing it, of course. So much still to be discovered...especially when it comes to first love.

Although, having said that, I've never written a love story - so far it's 75% urban fantasy, but...you can still have the sense of the new and yet-to-be-discovered if you're dealing with shapeshifters, too.

Felicia Beasley · Aug 20, 2007

I write mostly fantasy, though the sub-genre changes from work to work. As those above me have posted, I like the freedom fantasy provides. I also like not having to live in the reality of housecleaning and baby poo for a few hours a day. I've also always balked at the idea of writing what I know (when it comes to plot at least) because lets face it, who wants to read about baby poo

JohnDavidPaxton · Aug 20, 2007

I don't actually read urban fantasy.

I'm certain it's wonderful, though. I mean, it hast to be if I write it.

OverTheHills&FarAway · Aug 20, 2007

I tried that "unbound by the rules of reality" fantasy thing a while back, but felt my stories were so, um, unbound, that they would actually start floating away.

So now I write about real settings and situations, things you actually have to either research or know about already, and let my imagination run wild by letting very strange things occur. Things that could not happen in real life.

Everything comes off sounding like a fairy-tale set in the modern world. Where people pop up and do inexplicable things, and everyone's just sort of, oh. Well. That's that.

Don't know if it's working, or even what I'd call it. I'm unpublished. But, it's the sort of story I'd like to read. Could I call it Stephen King for kids, minus all the hocus pocus?

No? Okay.

vrabinec · Aug 20, 2007

Historic, for the simple reasons that I get to pick and interesting time in history, make it sound plausible, and I get to research something I did n't know much about. Of course, the drawback is that it's a dead genre and I essentially writing for my own pleasure. (not that I object to pleasing myself)

Shady Lane · Aug 20, 2007

I write young adult because that's what I know.

sanssouci · Aug 20, 2007

satori said:
I love messing with language and structure and narrative style and seeing how I can get all of them to work together with the theme of my story. It's like creating a puzzle.

I write literary fiction and that's exactly why!

What do you like about your genre?

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