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What Uncle Jim said.
Write the story however you need to write the story. Don't try to shoehorn it into a genre where it doesn't belong.
Feeling Something Is Missing Genre/Plot-wise.....
- Thread starter Silver-Midnight
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What Uncle Jim said.
Write the story however you need to write the story. Don't try to shoehorn it into a genre where it doesn't belong.
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Does that also go with if I want the story to have romance or romantic themes(or any other theme/setting/etc.), and it isn't working (or well enough) I should stop trying to use that theme? I know that you suggested, like many others, that I should grin and bear it, and continue until I reach "The End". However, what if that theme is very integral to the plot and it's not working?
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Your story is what it is. You DO have to define it when you go to sell it. The good new is, you can change your pitch for different ages. Is it fantasy with a strong woman character? Guess what, you could qualify your book at 'women's fiction' and see if that sticks. I've read books couched under 'literary fiction' containing a fair amount of alternative world and apocalypse fantasy. Speculative fiction and urban fantasy often can slip across genres. With epic fantasy or sci-fi, it's easier to define what genre you're writing, but there is a lot of room in the 'non traditional' fantasy tent.
You could work the story to 'The End'. That let's you know what you have, and then, you can tackle your problems in the edit. However, it depends how much you have written. If it's still early in the novel, keep writing and see where the story takes you. If you're closer to the end, or stuck in the middle and losing enthusiasm for the project, maybe the story needs to be rethought or abandoned. I had a 70,000 word first draft, couldn't finish it because the main plot wasn't working. I rethought the story, scraped everything but 5,000 words, and restarted the book, doing draft '1.5' in the rewrite. This process? It sucks, and I don't recommend it, but this story is worthy telling, and the retelling came together in a 110,000 word bundle.
You could work the story to 'The End'. That let's you know what you have, and then, you can tackle your problems in the edit. However, it depends how much you have written. If it's still early in the novel, keep writing and see where the story takes you. If you're closer to the end, or stuck in the middle and losing enthusiasm for the project, maybe the story needs to be rethought or abandoned. I had a 70,000 word first draft, couldn't finish it because the main plot wasn't working. I rethought the story, scraped everything but 5,000 words, and restarted the book, doing draft '1.5' in the rewrite. This process? It sucks, and I don't recommend it, but this story is worthy telling, and the retelling came together in a 110,000 word bundle.
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Thank you; I needed to see that for some reason. Haha.
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