The Worst Kind of Genre Writing #IWSG

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. 

Writing Unexpected Genres and New Releases

In two weeks, on August 17th I’ll be releasing the box set of the Wielder’s Storm trilogy in ebook form. I’m super excited about it. You'll be able to get all three books as a set for a discounted price.

I’d hoped to share the new cover today, but alas, I’m still working on the final touches. If you’re eager to see it early, though, the members of my VIP Club will get to see it first. I’ve decided not to put it up for pre-order this time, so keep your eye out on launch day.

To join the IWSG, sign up HERE.

The IWSG Question of the month: Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn't planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?

When I first started writing I had incomplete stories in my head that I needed to put down on the page to discover where they went. Because I loved fantasy, that was what they were. What kind of fantasy? Fantasy was fantasy, wasn’t it? (The answer to the question is a definite no). When I started branching out and reading more widely, I started writing other genres. It was fun and fed my creativity.

Now that I’m published, I’m learning a lot about marketing. For the story I’m currently working on, I first researched categories (genres and sub-genres) to give the book the best chance it could get based on what I’ve already published and my author brand. I even wrote the book description and the tagline before working on the story. Having that framework actually helped my creativity, though I’ll admit the story still wants to head in a direction I hadn’t anticipated, into a sub-genre I hadn’t tried before. That’s ok. I’ve added another category to the list and it probably fits the description better now that I see it.

While stories often have a mind of their own, it’s super helpful to do the research of where they might fit first. It helps with focus and in the long run, it helps with sales.

How about you? Have your stories headed in unexpected directions?

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New Release: Against All Odds 

Book 3 in the Crossroads series
by Jacqui Murray 

Xhosa’s extraordinary prehistoric saga concludes, filled with hardship, courage, survival, and family.

A million years of evolution made Xhosa tough but was it enough? She and her People finally reach their destination—a glorious land of tall grasses, few predators, and an abundance that seems limitless, but an enemy greater than any they have met so far threatens to end their dreams. If Xhosa can’t stop this one, she and her People must again flee.

The Crossroads trilogy is set 850,000 years ago, a time in prehistory when man populated most of Eurasia. He was a violent species, fully capable of addressing the many hardships that threatened his survival except for one: future man, a smarter version of himself, one destined to obliterate all those who came before.

From prehistoric fiction author Jacqui Murray comes the unforgettable saga of a courageous woman who questions assumptions, searches for truth, and does what she must despite daunting opposition. Read the final chapter of her search for freedom, safety, and a new home.

A perfect book for fans of Jean Auel and the Gears!

Available digitally (print soon) at: Kindle US, Kindle UK, Kindle CA, Kindle AU

To connect with Jacqui Murray: Amazon Author Page, Blog, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Website.

Favourite Genres and Favourite Books

The IWSG queston of the month: Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why? That's easy. I love both fantasy and science fiction. I love to read those genres too. There is something so appealing about visiting other worlds. The remarkable and different. The heroic and magical. The what ifs.

To check out my latest scfi short story, Between the Ticks, you can read it here.

Article worth reading: Walking is the key to creativity and productivity (It's not just a mind-clearing activity). Check out the article here. I loved it.

Standout books read last month:

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo: This one is the second part of her duology. It's amazing. I seriously loved it. Read the series if you haven't and you love fantasy. Beautifully written. A rich world. Yum. Part one is Six of Crows.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff: This one was written by an Aussie author and won one of Australia's most prestigious book prize for fantasy. I can see why. While it's super dark, it's brilliantly written. Another fully fleshed out world. It's about a girl in a school of assassins. I loved it.

The Outcasts of Time by Ian Mortimer: If it's a book with time travel in it, I'll read it. This one was different and interesting. It's about two brothers in 1348 who have six days to live after contracting the black plague. Each of those days they live another 99 years in the future. This read is more of a vehicle to see the reactions of a 14th century person to all the changes over time. It felt historically accurate which I loved.

The Templar Cross by Paul Christopher: This is the second adventure of John Holliday. This time his niece has been kidnapped. It's a chase across the globe involving an ancient Egyptian legend. I liked it more than the first one, which I also liked (The Sword of the Templars). It's just a lot of fun.

What's your favourite genre and why? What was your favourite book last month?

The Love of the Science Fiction and Fantasy

While I have a Christian non-fiction book out at the moment, Cling to God: A Daily Devotional, my most loved genre to write in is actually Fantasy and Science Fiction. Sometimes I write it for the young adult audience and sometime for adult. I have a number of novels, novelettes and short stories. All of them are currently in the proverbial drawer. Or they were. Recently, I pulled them out and started reading through them, which made me realise they aren't so bad. They need to be shared. So my plan is to start publishing them. But not yet. They need a little extra editing, they need cover designs, taglines, and formatting. I want to do it right because I love them.

Why do I love them? The joy of Fantasy and Sci-Fi is that almost anything can happen. They can be an exploration through a what-if, an escape into a remarkable world, an adventure to carry us away. They can scare us, delight us, and turn this ordinary world we live in into something exquisitely extraordinary. I love all the possibilities and the magic that entails.

What do you love about your favourite genres?

This post was written for the IWSG. Every first Wednesday of the month the members of our group post on their blogs about their writing insecurities or offer some encouragement to others. If you are new to the IWSG, then please go HERE to find out more and join up.

Genre Favourites Blogfest

Alex J Cavanaugh is hosting today’s Genre Favourites Blogfest. To check out the participants click HERE.

Favourite Movie Genre: That would be the pew pew genre. I love the flashy blockbusters with lots of action and lame one-liners. I switch off my brain and have a wonderful time. The Avengers is a great example. My favourite movies of all time however are fantasies: The Princess Bride and Ladyhawk. They are my indulgences.

Favourite Genre in Music: This one varies depending on my mood and why I’m listening to music. If I’m listening while I write then my favourite would be instrumental soundtracks with emotive beats. If I’m listening while doing anything else I think my favourite would have to be Rock, or anything with a strong drumbeat. My occasional guilty pleasure is trance music. I love the energy.

Favourite Genre in Books: No surprises here. While I read a wide range of genres, my favourites are anything speculative—fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, steampunk. If it’s strange and unusual I’ll read it. Occasionally I’ll indulge in reading stories simply for the beauty of the words, something fancy and florally with turns of phrases that make me go, “wow!” However, I do prefer my speculative reading to be written in a non-literary way.

What are your favourite genres?

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Thank you to Rita from Thoughts and Musings for the One Lovely Blogger Award!

What’s the Most Popular Genre?

Clarissa asked an interesting question: What’s the most popular genre sold in bookstores? Unfortunately this is not a simple question. There are so many variables that change the numbers. Some of these variables include:

Location: the most popular genres are different across countries, states, suburbs. I know that my local bookstore sells more children’s and young adult books than the bookstores in the city. It all depends on the demographics. It also depends on the shop itself. Independent bookstores tend to sell more literary fiction and non-fiction rather than genre fiction.

Date: the numbers vary widely from month to month depending on the current bestsellers—for example the popularity of the Harry Potter books made children’s books rocket into the most popular lists for a long while.

World events: For example, when the world falls into an economic crisis, the population turns to gambling. Strange, but true. Likewise, fanciful stories become more popular when people feel unsafe. For example, superheroes were born during the time of the world wars.

Trends: popular trends drive much of the market. A plethora of paranormal romance books are now popular in many locations because of the runaway success of the Twilight books and movies.

Data Accessibility: There are a number of holes in the accessibility of information regarding what exactly is most popular. Publishers of course know their own numbers through the royalty figures. Since 2001 in Australia that data has become a lot more public through a data provider called BookScan which provides point of sale data. It has allowed all the publishers to know how all the others are selling.

I found a list on Rachelle Gardner’s blog which might give you a vague idea of the popularity of genres. Remember, in terms of popularity, this is highly generalised and is subject to change depending on the variables I’ve mentioned above and it does not include children’s or young adult books. It’s also not a list of actual sales, but deals made in October 2010 and April 2011 covering 309 books:

38% General/other (non-genre fiction)
30% Women’s/Romance
11% Thriller
10% Mystery/Crime
6% Sci-fi/Fantasy
5% Paranormal
<1% Horror

The average writer can’t afford to tap into the data offered by BookScan because publishers pay $10k plus a year for the privilege. So, how do we find out the numbers for ourselves? We build a relationship with our local bookstores and libraries and we ask them.

What genres do you like to read and which ones do you like to write in and why?

If you’d like me to answer any questions, just leave them in the comments or send me an email.

The Pros and Cons of Writing to Sell

As we all know, in terms of novel writing, there is a wide variety of markets we can choose: Adult, Young Adult, Middle Grade. And then there is a wide variety of genres within those markets: Adventure, Romance, Mystery, SciFi, Fantasy, Thriller and the list goes on. There are even subcategories. Some markets are bigger than others and so some are easier to sell to than others. So, my big question for today is, do you choose a market and then write? Or, do you write and hope your piece fits into a market and genre? There are benefits and drawbacks for both methods.


The benefits of writing to a specific market/genre:
• You have a place ready for your piece when it is done.
• You don’t need to go back and make major changes to force a fit.
• To write to a specific market you need to have first done the research about that market. Therefore your piece will have a greater chance of a good fit.

The drawbacks of writing to a specific market/genre:
• The perceived market could be too narrow and your writing could lack originality.
• The market of choice could be the rage now, but will die by the time you’re ready to query.

The benefits of not writing to a specific market/genre:
• You have the freedom to write what you want.
• Passion can drive your writing.
• Originality may be easier to achieve.

The drawbacks of not writing to a specific market/genre:
• Lack of knowledge of a genre and how it fits into a market.
• You discover after you’ve finished writing that your piece has no real place within any market.

I’d love to hear how you approach writing and the market. Are you willing to change or adjust for the hope of a sale? Or do you feel like you are giving up integrity if you write to sell? Do you just write and hope to deal with the selling later on? Have you found the middle ground? If so, where do you think that middle ground might be?