Horror Writers... What if...?

I'd still write. You can always throw a little horror into whatever genre you write in. John Connolly writes P.I. thrillers and he throws in the occasional supernatural element. Preston-Child don't write horror but their work seems like horror until you get to the end. There is a way around it.

I love horror. I love every aspect of it but I love writing more. If I could make a name for myself in fantasy or sci-fi then I would. I would then go back and release horror works under a pen name.

I would have the same passion if I couldn't ever write horror. I'm an ecclectic writer and have stories in the sci-fi, thriller, and fantasy genres. It would hurt but I would still go on. My goal is to have my books in the hands of readers, not just the horror readers.

I only just realised that what I write is horror. I never wanted it to be. But it is. So the answer is yes.

As untalented as I may be, my desire is to write. So, yes, I would continue to write all the genres I write. Horror will always be my favorite, though.

I would continue writing, for sure. I love it too much not to write. I would be somewhat upset, but there's nothing saying you can't continue writing horror just for you. Horror is my passion (it's wonderful to know I'm not alone here) so I would never give it up. But, I would be willing to compromise by writing other genres.

Writing

I don't believe it's at all likely that you will be paid handsomely for work you don't enjoy doing.

Then again, I'm not a horror writer, I'm just a writer. It isn't horror I love, it's writing, and I love writing no matter the field I'm working in at the time.

I disagree with James. Dave Drake is a friend of mine and in case you don't know who he is, he is a best selling sci fi writer with dozens upon dozens of books in print. Dave hates Sci fi. Truely. He loves writing military thirllers but the market is too small. Dave makes tons of money.

Me? I love writing in more than one genre, yes horror will always be my favorite, but I want to WRITE so I am willing to branch out if necessary!

Good Luck!!!!

I think David might well be an exception, (making mucho money in a genre he dislikes) rather than a general example. Of course, I could be dead wrong.

Other notable authors have temporarily delved into other genres for the big bucks, only to return to "first loves" and lesser paying genres. Dan Simmons was (is) a helluva' scifi/fantasy writer. (Highly successful Simmons novels include Hyperion, Olympos, and Ilium.)

I'm not saying Simmons "hates" scifi/fantasy, or that he wrote Hyperion just for the money. All though I've followed his career, I don't know the man. However, his actions speak volumes. He opted for a return to gothic horror, a solid market, but not nearly as large as the scifi-fantasy crossover.

In answer to the original question, I'd continue write, but I'm not sure I would find the same enjoyment.

scfirenice said:

He loves writing military thirllers but the market is too small. Dave makes tons of money.

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Military thrillers might be a small market, but it isn't that small. Matthew Reilly and James Rollins are two that I know of off the top of my head that write them and make good money doing it. Albeit Rollins does write other style books his newer ones are based on a military group. Reilly has made a name for himself with his 'Scarecrow' Schofield books.

If Dave has made a name for himself he should be able to branch out into this genre without a problem. Rollins writes horror/thriller and these new military style books under that name but writes sci-fi under the name of Clemmens and his fans read both. Dave should be able to do both if he wants to.

scfirenice said:

I disagree with James. Dave Drake is a friend of mine and in case you don't know who he is, he is a best selling sci fi writer with dozens upon dozens of books in print. Dave hates Sci fi. Truely. He loves writing military thirllers but the market is too small. Dave makes tons of money.

Me? I love writing in more than one genre, yes horror will always be my favorite, but I want to WRITE so I am willing to branch out if necessary!

Good Luck!!!!

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Then I'd say he's the very rare exception. But military thriller is not a small market. It's at least as large as science fiction. No one who wants to make a ton of money should intentionally choose SF. Or even fantasy, for that matter. Very few writers really earn a living in these genres, let alone get rich. As a whole, they're only about 8-9% of the market combined, and most of this is either fantasy, or Star Trek/Star Wars sales. Mystery is almost four times as large as SF/Fantasy combined, and romance much larger than this. Even mainstream is much larger. I can't think of a genre that doesn't give a writer a better chance of getting rich.

And I could be wrong, but the couple of novels of Drake's I've read WERE military thrillers. Set in the future and labelled science fiction, yes, but still military thrillers.

But I'll stick with what I said. There are exceptions to everything, but by and large there are darned few writers anywhere who can get rich writing material they don't like. And there are certainly far easier ways of getting rich than writing things you don't like. If I'm going to make a living doing something I don't enjoy, I'll join the business world and get stinking rich.

And I think it always shows when you're writing something you don't enjoy. It may get published, and it may earn a lot of money, but it will probably also quickly disappear into the mists of time.

And the simple truth is that for every writer who can pull off writing in a genre they hate, there are a hundred who can't. It's just not a smart move for most writers. I'm tempted to say "for any writer" who is more concerned with quality and enjoyment than for his bank account.

I'd also say the only reason any genre is small of dead is because there's no one in it with enough talent to write a novel that can bring that area of writing to life. The western was completely dead and written off when Larry McMurtey wrote "Lonesome Dove," and the techo-thriller was pretty much non-existent when Tom Clancy wrote "The Hunt for Red October." If you want to make a small genre big, you just have to write a big novel the public will love.

Thrillers

And despite how the publisher labels them, most of Tom Clancy's novels are also military thrillers. So are the novels of two or three other techno-writers. Really good novels sell, and make lots of money, and if there's any perceived problem with the genre, the publisher will simply label them something else, which is why the term "techno-thriller was coined, and why writers such as Michael Crichton are called mainstream writers rather than science fiction writers

If I could get paid one cent per word for writing "Big Bird Busts Bunnies Beer Bash Before Bathing" 1,000 times in crayon on leftover Christmas wrap, I'd do it.

I'd rather sell the sci fi novels I'm working on so I could move to the mountains of Luray and dust off this Horror cycle I've been drawer-ing for years and turn it into a cohesive tale ( 5 shorts so far and a couple of charaters are in or mentioned in allof them)

(I'd really rather go hurt a couple of dingbats but that would be a poor waste of writing time...so I think I'll spend the weekend writing about disasembling a couple of dingbats.)

I am not sure if I would want to write anymore. Like most of you, I love writing-but I need to have passion behind it. I guess I'm a non-eclectic writer. I took journalism, and I don't care how much I was paid for an article-that just isn't me-now. If the 'ME' could come through truthfully in another genre-maybe. I wouldn't hold my breath though.
But, nothing is absolute. If I get tired of eating K.D too long, I may even sell myself out to the tabloids!

I write horror and even if I don't make any money from it, I'll still write horror. But I'm more than a horror writer. I'm a dark fiction writer. If I was a successful writing in say, fantasy. That'd be fine. The fantasy I write is usually quite dark and so I'd still find enjoyment from it.

You have a point there. I am not a sci-fi fan at all, although the story I have been working on for 2 yrs has more and more sci-fi elements popping up.I can't help that, and was surprised.I tried to fight it, but it wasn't working after awhile. I could say the same thing for fantasy. Although its easy to see all of these genres intertwined.
The stretch for me would be romance, comedy etc But passion.....

Let's take a big leap and say I wrote 'Star Wars' or 'Lord of the Rings.' I got paid handsomely for it-I love the money-I need it(thats the difference between McRaunchys and a lobster dinner)-millions of fans, etc, but I just got lucky, hate the story, its not me. I want to put out a wicked supernatural tale and no takers.

Thats a hard scenario. I would be excited if I sold 'SOMETHING..ANYTHING,' I'd be lying if I said different.But...
Pretend I am in medical school-I want to be the almighty, God-complexed brain surgeon. But, maybe someone suggests I have better qualities as a heart doctor. Or a gynecologist-or God forbid a psychiatrist. They are going to hire me for one of those things I am not passionate about. Heck-if I was the patient(like the reader), I would not want to be underneath those hands.

Of course thats not a 'knock you down' kind of opinion-its just mine. Though who am I to say? I am unpublished as I speak.

I have no passion except for my "first love". I would still write it and nothing else, even if only to please myself.

I'm a hack. If I came up with a sci-fi or fantasy world that people loved, I'd make myself love it too. Until then, horror seems to be where my best voice is.

Bart

My first love is horror fiction. The mystery/crime genre comes in at a close second. I haven't had much success with either. One acceptance in a horror anthology and a bunch of rejections. Yet, I won't give up. I'll write other stuff, but I'll continue with my favorite genres. I need to keep hope alive.

My first love is sci-fi, with horror a very close second. If I couldn't write (and get paid for it) in either of those, I'd still write. I'm versatile. (But I'd still write some horror and sci-fi on occasion, just for me.)

Jcomp said:

...you could be a writer--an author, paid handsomely for your work--but not in the field of horror? Would you even have the desire to write anymore?

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I say I would. Mainly because I'm the cusp of horror writing anyway. My series is more dark fantasy than anything else and I've been wanting to write some serious literature for some time and have even started a very autobiographical story about a guy dealing with his life after surviving a horrific car crash.

So, I'd still have the desire and drive to write, I just wouldn't have to do as much research into nasty beasties!

Rabe...

This thread is quite cold, but it brings up another question. I am first and foremost a musician, and I long ago came to this question: Am I going to create music that people want to buy, which I hate, or am I going to create what I want though it lacks commercial appeal? 21 albums later I am making music that I listen to and enjoy, give out to friends etc. I am not even trying to make money from it. I started writing expecting the same results, although it does seem that more creativity is accepted in books than in music these days.
On a side note, I only write horror because I feel it's what I'm most equipped to write based on reading experience, but I will not rule out writing in any genre (ok, no romance), and I think I would continue just for myself in the face of a failure to succeed commercially

jbal, so your question is, commercialism vs. what you really want to write?

For me, I will always write what I want to write, be it horror, or some weird political allegory (which is usually horror, anyway) and I do this because I'm not writing to be famous or make lots of money, but because I enjoy expressing myself through telling stories.

The question more or less answers itself, really. Otherwise we would all be piling on to write "Secrets of the Knights Templar" or some such nonsense.

jbal-I am also a musician. I played with an all female band in the 80's(drummer), and the girls wanted to go from metal to top 40. For me, going from horror to something else I am not passionate about is like going from Metallica to Barry Manilow. It just doesn't work for ME. I do wish I had healthy interests in other genres but I just don't at this time.