The IWSG question of the month is an interesting one: What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?
The thing about good genre writing is that it requires a certain amount of passion for the genre. Passion brings a desire to learn more about the subject, to throw yourself in and understand all its nuances. If you're not that interested, you probably won't read much in the area, which makes it hard to write within the themes and tropes.
I'd love to be able to write within romance subcategories because they're so popular and easy to define when marketing a book. The tropes are clear cut. The stories don't have to be long. I could whip out a bunch of them...if I had a passion for romance writing.
The same goes with crime, historicals, thrillers. While my reading does include all those, I lack the desire and drive to write them.
My passion lies in fantasy and science fiction. I can't get enough. I love everything about them.
But the absolute worse genre for me to tackle? The ones I don't read or want to read. Erotica, westerns, military, world wars. No thanks. Not for me.
How about you? What would be your worst genre to write?
This post was written for the IWSG. Every first Wednesday of the month, members post on their blogs about their writing insecurities or offer some encouragement to others. If you are new to the IWSG or want to learn more, then please go HERE.
Note: Blogger struck again and put some comments that needed moderating into the spam folder. I rarely check spam. Big mistake! Turns out some of you left comments on my blog and even though you've been commenting for years, they still went directly into spam. I only just discovered them last week. And here I was, thinking the blogsphere was getting more and more quiet... Doh! I'll make sure I check all the folders now.
23 comments:
Sorry you missed some comments. I think I check once a month and should do so more often.
Well said about passion. I like thrillers and mysteries, but not my passion, so I could never write them.
Alex, Yeah, exactly!! And checking regularly is a good plan ;)
Sci-fi and fantasy are the genres I have no interest in writing about. However, I've read a bit of sci-fi as well as fantasy. I'm amazed at the intricate worlds that these writers develop from scratch.
Michelle, It's the worlds I love so much (and the characters in them). It does take a lot to build those worlds from scratch, though, so, you'd def need a passion behind it.
I agree. If you don't like reading it, it would be fairly impossible to write it!
Hi Lynda - you've expressed it all so well here ... and I think you must have a passion to write too. I love your stories ... and thank the hosts of IWSG for all they do ... cheers Hilary
Liza, well, you could write it, but it wouldn't be very good without reading it.
Hilary, thank you so much. I do have a deep passion for my stories, and I'm so glad you enjoy them. I'll be releasing more next year.
Sorry some comments have been going to your spam. I always check mine. I wouldn't write in any of the genres like erotica or military either.
We all have too many stories in us to write to work on a genre we don't enjoy.
I agree - we need that passion for the genre for it to work well and be fun!
Blogger has been so odd with comments recently!
Passion makes the difference. There's a lot of stuff I read but I don't have the passion to write it.
You have to really care about the genre you're writing in, I agree. You can't write a whole book without being passionate about it.
I couldn't write science fiction. It's just not my thing. All my stories are mysteries at heart, but they play dress-up with romance and a few other genres.
Yep, blogger is busily messing with us again. Unless you revert to pop-ups, very few are able to comment. It seems to be moving slowly through the blogs.
So we are polar opposites in our genre choice and that's as it should be. We can't be experts at everything. I experiment with various genres when writing a 1,000 word flash, but that's entirely different from writing a book!
And if romance was as simple as you think, I'd have hundreds of books published. It only seems simple, lol.
Diane, well said!
Jemi, with all the changes Blogger has been making, it's slowly getting worse to work with.
Holly, Exactly. I'll read a book, thoroughly enjoy it, but also know I could never write something similar.
Nick, writing books takes up so much of time. It would be a shame to waste that time on something we don't enjoy.
Carol, Yep, I also like filling my stories with romance, without writing a "romance story." If that makes sense.
Denise, I guess it's a good way of phasing out anything that's not a pop up comment box... sigh. And yeah, I love to experiment in the shorter form too. And yep, I agree that romance isn't as clear-cut as I made out it to be. There are always those important nuances that keep people coming back for more. I meant it as an example only.
I'm with you on erotica and westerns.
Oh, I need to check the spam folder, although today I'm late because we had a holiday in the US on Monday and I completely forgot it was Wednesday. My prescheduled post went out, but I was absent.
I understand not wanting to write some of those, but since I keep writing new things, I don't want to cross anything off entirely.
Yes, you summed it up well, you have to have passion for your genre. But what is meant by romance? It comes in many different shades, the sloppy and the heart breaking. But it is not for me, I am unable to write it and stick to the safety of my little children's books. Maybe one day... 😊
Oh no! That's unfortunate! I've been a bit irregular with my blogging too. Between writing the sequel, traveling and not keeping well, my schedule has been bulldozed :(
I would have to say all the books that I read end up being mysteries or suspense. So there in lies my passion! I agree. If you're not passionate about the genre, you won't put the time or effort into writing.
Tyrean, it's so easy to forget when so much is going on.
Lost, regarding romance, I was referring to some of the more niche categories where the tropes are highly specific. It's easier to fully understand them when you love them and read a LOT of them.
Damyanti, hope you are looking after yourself with all that business. And I hope you are feeling better too.
Jennifer, I do like mysteries and suspense. I haven't tried to write any yet. If I can slot them into a scifi or fantasy setting, then maybe it will happen ;)
I absolutely agree. If I don't want to read it, it is not likely something I would ever want to write in. Still, I think I will just let the story dictate its own genre. I'm so new at this game, I have no idea where I will eventually end up.
Natalie, your comment went to spam too...sigh. But I caught it! Yay!
Kim, your comment also went to spam. Blogger is so silly sometimes.
Douglas, one thing self publishing taught me is the importance of knowing where your story fits. It makes it so much easier to sell that way.
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