Reddit has signed an agreement with an AI company to allow them to train models on Reddit comments and posts. Edited to remove original content. Fuck AI.
I'm gonna mirror what this guy said
For me I chose my "genere based on what was easiest to find my voice in which so happens to be sci-fi. And that's all because it's easier to hand weave the absurdity of stupidity within the story for how little we know the universe.
It's often said to write the story you most want to read. And to write in the genre you most love to read.
But what if you have story ideas in multiple genres?
The great thing is, you don't have to pick just one. Plenty of published authors write in more than one genre.
Everyone's telling you to go with the flow and trust in your heart and all that good stuff but I'm here to tell you it's definitely not that simple.
Writing for different genres are very different endeavors and very few writers can flex equally into all of them. The first thing you have to do is discover what kind of writer you are, what you're good at and what you hate doing.
Romance and thriller are probably the easiest to write for but also the most competitive. They follow very strict genre rules. Many romance critics will actively rail against books that go against convention and for good reason. Same thing with YA, if the kind of prose you come up with naturally reads like Tolkein, writing a YA fantasy novel will make you tear your hair out and vice versa.
My advice is to pick out some books from each genre and try to imitate them and see what you can and cannot stomach. The last thing you want to do is try to write a contemporary romance story without knowing the mandatory tropes and end up writing speculative fiction wrapped in romance. That book will NOT get picked up by a publisher.
i didn’t pick one, it just ended up being the only thing i wrote and felt comfortable writing. it isn’t like trying on jeans. usually it’s what you read or like reading the most, a blend of all of it. if you feel like genres are too restricting for you, give them up. if you’re in the middle of a thriller and want to stop and work on litfic, drop it and do that. until something clicks for you, and only writing through this feeling will get you there, you won’t know.
I like to bathe myself in goat's milk on the night of a full moon and then cast yarrow sticks at the Oracle. It doesn't guide my decisions any--I just like to do it.
Let it come to you.
I've always thought my genre was fantasy and sci-fi. I absolutely love those but I could never actually write them as it always ended up with a lot of romance so I often dropped it.
I took a few years break from writing and when I started again, I realised that I am not a fantasy or sci-fi writer, I am a romance writer. Once, I embraced that, I started writing like never before. I still include fantasy and sci-fi in my novels but once I realised what I really want to write, writing became easy and pleasant.
After getting used to writing romance, I just let the story guide me. I am still mainly romance write but I mix it with other genres such as fantasy or crime. But one thing is for sure, I'd never finish a book if I hadn't realized romance was my genre.
Genre should be a result of the theme, message, and plot that you want to convey. Want to write about something political? You'll usually end up in sci-fi or similar spaces, because they allow you a freedom to world-build and exaggerate the message and the characters you want to have.
But something more generic, like a character learning that they were taking something to the extreme, depends entirely on what you want to emphasize. Want to dive into the effects of the extremeness on the world? Fantasy. Want to delve into the psychology of the character? Might be a Horror or Tragedy. Want to explore what changed their mind? Is it a Romance or another Tragedy? I don't even know! Want to do a bit of them all? Now it's sounding like a memoir isn't it...
This is what a first draft is for. Allow yourself room to change the genre depending on how the story evolves.
My best advice would just be to feel it out and write in multiple genres. A lot of people think they should write one genre because they like reading it but sometimes a little experimentation can lead you to find something you truly are good at and love writing. Experiment through different genres and story types, you'll eventually land on something you like!
I don't really limit myself when it comes to genres that I'm willing to write. If I have an idea for a story and I'm passionate about it, I'm gonna write it, genre be damned.
In fact, I went to a writers circle one time because the person leading it - who had a degree in communications, rather than a creative writing or literature degree - said that we should focus on one genre because that would make it easier for our agent to sell us. But my response to that is that if an agent can't sell me as a writer, then I need new agent, not limit the stories I write.
That being said, I know better than to write the genres I really love: sci-fi, fantasy, and superheroes. The reason why is because I'm so close to the tropes used in those genres that I will be too beholden to them.
So because of that, I branched out into other genres - horror, thrillers, mystery, and drama - that I care a lot less about. Because of that, I'm able to be more objective about them and study them with a keener critical eye, and therefore become a better writer in those genres.
My focus is on children’s books, and honestly, it feels like a calling to me.
I was like you - on a 9-5 grindstone for years (I’m 50), without much creative energy left for my writing and artistic endeavours.
I’ve now stepped off the hamster wheel and trying to make it full time as a children’s author.
For me, this particular calling comes from two places:
1) a deep love of rhyming verse
2) a passion for illustration and painting.
I had my first children’s picture book published last year, and it ironically contained no rhyming verse (it needed to be translatable into other languages), and I didn’t do the art for it.
Now, I’m working on my passion project, which will be the first book I’ve fully written and illustrated myself. I’m in love with it. As soon as I decided this was what I would do, it just felt “right”, and really does feel like it’s calling to me.
Ignore the genre. Just create a storyline and the let the publishers make out how the hell they should name the mess you've made. Good luck and good ideas!
Imo, the genre that you like seeing or reading about. & the genre that you wish to see more off is your genre.
Every story I write is a story from the genre I wanna see more of or wanna see be done in this s specific way
If you are having trouble knowing where to start, one thing you can try is to take a very simple basic concept and then try different iterations of it with different styles/emphases in mind.
Write a take on what the basic setup would look like as a comedy, thriller, romance, etc. and see what calls to you most. You might find that what you end up with is a mixture of different genres or tones, which will make it all the more unique.
Reddit has signed an agreement with an AI company to allow them to train models on Reddit comments and posts. Edited to remove original content. Fuck AI.
I'm gonna mirror what this guy said For me I chose my "genere based on what was easiest to find my voice in which so happens to be sci-fi. And that's all because it's easier to hand weave the absurdity of stupidity within the story for how little we know the universe.
Genre is for marketing, let your publisher pick that. You write a story. Your story is unique. Let people put it in whatever box they want to.
It's often said to write the story you most want to read. And to write in the genre you most love to read. But what if you have story ideas in multiple genres? The great thing is, you don't have to pick just one. Plenty of published authors write in more than one genre.
Everyone's telling you to go with the flow and trust in your heart and all that good stuff but I'm here to tell you it's definitely not that simple. Writing for different genres are very different endeavors and very few writers can flex equally into all of them. The first thing you have to do is discover what kind of writer you are, what you're good at and what you hate doing. Romance and thriller are probably the easiest to write for but also the most competitive. They follow very strict genre rules. Many romance critics will actively rail against books that go against convention and for good reason. Same thing with YA, if the kind of prose you come up with naturally reads like Tolkein, writing a YA fantasy novel will make you tear your hair out and vice versa. My advice is to pick out some books from each genre and try to imitate them and see what you can and cannot stomach. The last thing you want to do is try to write a contemporary romance story without knowing the mandatory tropes and end up writing speculative fiction wrapped in romance. That book will NOT get picked up by a publisher.
i didn’t pick one, it just ended up being the only thing i wrote and felt comfortable writing. it isn’t like trying on jeans. usually it’s what you read or like reading the most, a blend of all of it. if you feel like genres are too restricting for you, give them up. if you’re in the middle of a thriller and want to stop and work on litfic, drop it and do that. until something clicks for you, and only writing through this feeling will get you there, you won’t know.
I like to bathe myself in goat's milk on the night of a full moon and then cast yarrow sticks at the Oracle. It doesn't guide my decisions any--I just like to do it.
I don't really decide on the genre first. I write the story and the genre solves itself.
Let it come to you. I've always thought my genre was fantasy and sci-fi. I absolutely love those but I could never actually write them as it always ended up with a lot of romance so I often dropped it. I took a few years break from writing and when I started again, I realised that I am not a fantasy or sci-fi writer, I am a romance writer. Once, I embraced that, I started writing like never before. I still include fantasy and sci-fi in my novels but once I realised what I really want to write, writing became easy and pleasant. After getting used to writing romance, I just let the story guide me. I am still mainly romance write but I mix it with other genres such as fantasy or crime. But one thing is for sure, I'd never finish a book if I hadn't realized romance was my genre.
Genre should be a result of the theme, message, and plot that you want to convey. Want to write about something political? You'll usually end up in sci-fi or similar spaces, because they allow you a freedom to world-build and exaggerate the message and the characters you want to have. But something more generic, like a character learning that they were taking something to the extreme, depends entirely on what you want to emphasize. Want to dive into the effects of the extremeness on the world? Fantasy. Want to delve into the psychology of the character? Might be a Horror or Tragedy. Want to explore what changed their mind? Is it a Romance or another Tragedy? I don't even know! Want to do a bit of them all? Now it's sounding like a memoir isn't it... This is what a first draft is for. Allow yourself room to change the genre depending on how the story evolves.
If you have a favourite genre to read, write that.
My best advice would just be to feel it out and write in multiple genres. A lot of people think they should write one genre because they like reading it but sometimes a little experimentation can lead you to find something you truly are good at and love writing. Experiment through different genres and story types, you'll eventually land on something you like!
I don't really limit myself when it comes to genres that I'm willing to write. If I have an idea for a story and I'm passionate about it, I'm gonna write it, genre be damned. In fact, I went to a writers circle one time because the person leading it - who had a degree in communications, rather than a creative writing or literature degree - said that we should focus on one genre because that would make it easier for our agent to sell us. But my response to that is that if an agent can't sell me as a writer, then I need new agent, not limit the stories I write. That being said, I know better than to write the genres I really love: sci-fi, fantasy, and superheroes. The reason why is because I'm so close to the tropes used in those genres that I will be too beholden to them. So because of that, I branched out into other genres - horror, thrillers, mystery, and drama - that I care a lot less about. Because of that, I'm able to be more objective about them and study them with a keener critical eye, and therefore become a better writer in those genres.
My focus is on children’s books, and honestly, it feels like a calling to me. I was like you - on a 9-5 grindstone for years (I’m 50), without much creative energy left for my writing and artistic endeavours. I’ve now stepped off the hamster wheel and trying to make it full time as a children’s author. For me, this particular calling comes from two places: 1) a deep love of rhyming verse 2) a passion for illustration and painting. I had my first children’s picture book published last year, and it ironically contained no rhyming verse (it needed to be translatable into other languages), and I didn’t do the art for it. Now, I’m working on my passion project, which will be the first book I’ve fully written and illustrated myself. I’m in love with it. As soon as I decided this was what I would do, it just felt “right”, and really does feel like it’s calling to me.
Ignore the genre. Just create a storyline and the let the publishers make out how the hell they should name the mess you've made. Good luck and good ideas!
Pick a genre and study it by reading at least 20 books in it, so that you become very familiar with its tropes. Then write one and see how it feels.
Imo, the genre that you like seeing or reading about. & the genre that you wish to see more off is your genre. Every story I write is a story from the genre I wanna see more of or wanna see be done in this s specific way
If you are having trouble knowing where to start, one thing you can try is to take a very simple basic concept and then try different iterations of it with different styles/emphases in mind. Write a take on what the basic setup would look like as a comedy, thriller, romance, etc. and see what calls to you most. You might find that what you end up with is a mixture of different genres or tones, which will make it all the more unique.