It's the first Wednesday in September, so it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group!
The awesome co-hosts for the September 7 posting of the IWSG are Kim Lajevardi, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguirre, Olga Godim, Michelle Wallace, and Louise - Fundy Blue!
This month's question is a good one too!What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?
I think there are a lot of genres I'd be terrible at for a variety of reasons. I'd never want to attempt fantasy because I don't enjoy reading it. Just the whiff of magic and dragons and potions and powers is enough to make me shut a book. Really not my thing at all. Which is interesting because a lot of the writers I read for write fantasy and I'd like to hope my notes on their work are helpful.
I tend to write stories I'd want to read so it makes sense that I wouldn't write fantasy because I would not pick a fantasy book off a shelf to read unless there was absolutely nothing else available and I was going to be stuck waiting somewhere for a LOOOOOOONG time.
I don't feel like I'm a clever enough plotter to write mystery, so that's another genre I wouldn't attempt. I have written a few things with elements of mystery in them, but I would never classify them as mysteries. I think you need to be someone who outlines their stories in detail to write a mystery and that's just not my process.
I probably wouldn't tackle sci-fi either, for much the same reason I wouldn't try and write fantasy. I just don't enjoy much sci-fi-fi. If it's a thriller or horror with science at its core, I can usually get into it, but anything set in space or with talking robots is probably not going to float my boat. So once again, because I write what I want to read, I wouldn't write sci-fi.
And that's probably it for things I wouldn't ever tackle. Pretty much every other genre, I either have already tried (usually in a short story, not a novel) or would be willing to try if the right story came to mind. And to be perfectly honest, I have written and published stories in the genres I claim I'd be terrible at. I had a story published in Residential Aliens which could be called fantasy, although I'd probably call it speculative, and I had a story published in an anthology called Post-Apocalyptic Raids which was probably sci-fi although I tend to think of it as dystopian.
At the end of the day, I like to challenge myself, and especially with short fiction which doesn't take a year or more of my life to finish, I'm willing to explore and try new things.
Is there any genre you absolutely wouldn't touch as a writer?
Your notes have always been helpful to me! It's always useful to have other perspectives, and I'd think someone who doesn't like fantasy would have an easier time being objective about it.
ReplyDeleteIt would be hard to write in a genre if you don't enjoy reading it. I really like writing fantasy and would like to try to write a mystery someday.
ReplyDeleteI think you highlighted my "no go" genres. I read in them sometimes but have never felt the call to attempt them.
ReplyDeleteI don't see myself ever writing sci-fi or horror. I don't enjoy those genres enough to be able to do it any justice.
ReplyDeleteI tried to write a murder mystery once. I never finished it because I never knew who the killer was supposed to be.
I think we are the opposites in our writing approaches. I write mostly speculative fiction, both fantasy and sci-fi, and I enjoy reading them. On the other hand, YA is not my cup of tea. I rarely read it and never tried to write it. Even when my heroine was 17, her story was a regular fantasy, not geared specifically towards the YA audience. I wonder why?
ReplyDeleteI'm the opposite. I wouldn't enjoy writing something contemporary unless I could shove some fantasy or sci-fi elements in.
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