Deciding what to write next / Figuring out what sort of writer I am

mistri

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I'm sure this post has been done many times before.

As an adult, I seriously got into fiction writing at the same time as I discovered fantasy fiction. So for 20 (?) years, I've been attempting to be an SFF writer in one way or another. It's sort of part of my identity.

I've had quite a few short stories published, but only in token or semi-pro markets. I've completed a few novels, some very bad, a couple of middling ones. An urban fantasy got some agent attention, but ultimately went nowhere. In late 2019 I finally finished an epic fantasy that took me years to write and started sending it out - silence. Trying to look at it with objective eyes, I wonder if perhaps it's a bit dated, if I'm writing it as the fantasy reader/writer I was ten years ago.

It struck me, what if focusing on fantasy was just a habit? You're supposed to write what you love - but the problem is I love everything! I read more science fiction than fantasy (but don't know any science), and also thrillers, crime, romance, commercial fiction, etc. What if another genre is more suited to my voice?

This year, I completed a contemporary fic/rom-com novel and I'm sending it out now. It's had a couple of full requests but I actually wrote the beginning a long time ago and once again I'm wondering if taking too long on a project always risks in it being dated!

The thing is, I have no idea what to write next! I don't think self-publishing is what I'm good at, so I'm still seeking traditional publishing.

I'm in the UK, and I am stuck between writing:

1) fantasy fiction, but something edgier/with more voice than what I've done before. No ideas so far. Something about revenge maybe.
2) a cozy mystery series, which I think would be a hard sell in a UK market, but lots of fun, I have an idea for a concept but it's not hugely original
3) I have an idea for a psychological thriller. I read the genre (and fly through the books), but not sure I 'love' it. I'm not passionate about any one author
4) Another commercial/romance idea, I have a couple in the very early stages
5) Attempt to come up with an SF plot but would have to be 'soft' science really

I can't ask you to choose because none of those are actual ideas, but I just don't know what to do. Do you only focus on a single genre (yes, is the advice I usually read)? But what if it's not your forte? Argh! How do you 'know'?!
 

mccardey

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I feel your pain - I'm a bit the same way. I've decided the best thing is just to write stuff and not worry about where it falls until later. True, that means if people do ask what you write, you're sort of stuck talking about what you've written, and if they ask what you're writing now, it all goes to hell in a handcart - but there's no help for it. That's just how it works.
Do you only focus on a single genre (yes, is the advice I usually read)? But what if it's not your forte? Argh! How do you 'know'?!
No. I just focus on writing. And finishing. And then writing again.

I think in some genres, career writers do need to commit to one thing for a while. But I'm to old to be a career writer, and too grumpy to do as I'm told.
 
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MythMonger

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It struck me, what if focusing on fantasy was just a habit? You're supposed to write what you love - but the problem is I love everything! I read more science fiction than fantasy (but don't know any science), and also thrillers, crime, romance, commercial fiction, etc. What if another genre is more suited to my voice?

You say you love to read those genres, but what do you love to write?

I guess it would be impossible to know until you write it, but maybe follow your own thoughts. What do you think about most when you're in a creative frame of mind? Maybe start there.
 

mistri

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You say you love to read those genres, but what do you love to write?

I guess it would be impossible to know until you write it, but maybe follow your own thoughts. What do you think about most when you're in a creative frame of mind? Maybe start there.

*shrug* everything! I guess I need to start brainstorming a few ideas and wait until one calls more than the others, but right now it all feels about the same. They all have pluses and minuses. I remember getting annoyed writing my fantasy and having to spend ages researching tea clippers, but then in contemporary fic you have to get things right too (and research can be fun, too!). In the fantasy I struggled to create a sense of wonder. In the contemporary did I get the relationship right? If I wrote a suspense would I be able to get the tension needed down on page?

Maybe it's the in-between books blues.

Maybe I just want to try something new.

I read SF when I want to think and explore what humanity could become - and see worlds we will never get to in this lifetime (fantasy similar but more about humanity in different situations).
Cosy crimes as comfort reads in-between other books, to see familiar characters and know I won't get stretched too much
Suspense/thrillers/regular crimes for when I really want that page-turner experience and feel propelled through a book because I need to know the answer/whodunnit/if they live.
Non-fic around interesting topics, literary fic for when I'm happy to take my time over a read (happens less often!). I definitely can't write literary.
 

Elle.

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I think for now you can write whatever you want. However you said that you want to be trade published so bear in mind that for example if you sign with an agent and sell to a publisher your romance, as a debut author it will be very likely that they will expect that your next 2-3 books are in the same genre. I've had a few friends who got their 2nd book idea turned down because it was a different genre and too much of a step sideway step from their debut. So something to keep in the back of your mind.
 
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A S Abrams

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Your concern seems to be two-fold: you're worried that the length of time it takes you to write leads to your stories feeling outdated by the time you send them to agents, and you're worried that perhaps you kind of fell into writing the genres you do now without really knowing if they are what you write best.

I can't really speak much about the first point... but unless you've put in trends and fads and present-day slang, I'm not sure how taking a long time to complete a novel would be against you. What kinds of stories sell changes by the year (which is difficult to predict anyway), and surely good stories are always in fashion (maybe that's trite to say).

As far as knowing if one genre would be more suitable for you or not. I would say that you could reframe that idea.

Which elements of stories speak to you most? Not genres, stories. You could list out your favorite parts of stories (whether certain character types, particular settings, themes, specific plot points, etc.) you've enjoyed and see what keeps popping up (and what genres they may be categorized as).

Then think about combining your ideas. A fantasy setting can definitely be explored through a 'soft science fiction' concept since the fantasy will have societies and groups and cultures. There can be a cozy mystery plot for your romance. A psychological thriller subplot in a science fiction story? Explore the ones that intrigue you, especially if they make you uncomfortable (ideas that knock on the core of who we are can make us feel...I don't know... threatened).

Take the elements that resonate and see how all those interact. A novel is a big thing, after all, and is made of many different ideas -- not just one. This way, the combination of ideas (under the umbrella of a dominating genre) will be your unique author brand, something only you can write. I don't think very many people's tastes fall into only one genre category. They kind of just pick the one that they're most likely to find the story elements they enjoy most.
 

mistri

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I think I'm using this thread like writing therapy, to be honest :D

So re. my last two completed works, in both cases I began them a long long long long time ago, then sat on them for various reasons, wrote bits and pieces over the years, then suddenly got motivation and completed them in a few months.

I agree that a good story should be a good story regardless of when you began it, but I know as a writer I've moved on with what I can do and rewriting something completely is very tricky. So I think they are dated mostly due to my writing style changing rather than the entire concept. Saying that, my fantasy has a rather slow beginning to an epic fantasy, and I do think that's a lot harder to get away with nowadays!

What I've learned though, is that I can complete books quickly/write with more discipline when I want to, and I'm confident now that if I begin something new I should be able to get to the end within months rather than years.

I'm not super keen on mixing genres unless it creates a really hot one-line premise. And as Elle mentioned, I'm keeping in mind that if I'm ever trade published I will need to stay in the same genre for at least a little while.

So, what next?

I'm going to flesh out a few ideas - I think the more I write them, the more I'll sway to one or the other. What I've been missing I suppose is this internal compass that says 'you are a fantasy writer, now it's time to brainstorm fantasy fic, here are the fantasy books and communities that will inspire you'. I feel a bit more at sea these days (love mixing all these metaphors), but I'll still get there in the end.