We've all got the genre that is our genre. The one, maybe two, genres we usually work in. Then there are genres that are more on the periphery, that we read occasionally and think would be fun to write one day.
Then there is the genre that you look at and go, whoo boy, I could never write that.
I can think of a couple right off the bat.
Historical fiction. I so admire anyone who writes historical fiction, because I am so intimidated by the amount of research it seems like it would take. You want the story to pop, to be as real life as the world outside the window, and it just seems so hard to do that for a time that's not...well, now.
Christian romance. While I do think every story could do with a little lovin in it, I feel like specifically Christian romance would be so much harder than it looks. I feel like it would be incredibly difficult to get the writing so that its not cheesy or didactic, and anyone who trods in this territory, my hats off to you.
That being said, I think it could be a cool experiment to make myself write a short story or two in these genres. Alaska in the 1700s, maybe, or some story involving a preachers widow and an architect.
What about you? What's the one genre that intimidates you the most?
Sarah Allen
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I think Christian Romance would intimidate me, as well. I'm very spiritual, but not strictly religious, and I'd be so afraid of causing offence by not portraying characters correctly.
ReplyDeleteI'd also be nervous trying to write erotica, because I'm sure I'd be really embarrassed to think of friends and family reading it.
Literary fiction would intimidate me the most. Although I'm all about characters, I'm also a lot about plot too. And I'm with you on the research involved for historical fiction. I'd love to write it one of these days when I'm making enough money to do the research involved to write the historical novels.
ReplyDeleteMy challenge to write is horror. I end up scaring myself. So I stick with non-scary paranormal, but thrilling.
ReplyDeleteHugs and chocolate,
Shelly
I'm a genre hopper. My first MS was contemporary, then I went to Sci fi. The latest is a fairy tale retell. I learn so much each time I switch.
ReplyDeleteRomance and Science Fiction kind of intimidate me.
ReplyDeleteHistorical fiction, on the other hand, is one of my favorites. I love researching though :)
I think writing short stories would be a great idea! It definitely pushes you out of your comfort zone and expand your horizons, creatively.
Horror. I can't read it so I know I can't write it.
ReplyDeleteGreat question, Sarah! For me, sci fi and horror. I don't think I'm clever enough to write sci fi and as one of your other commenters wrote, writing horror would scare me. Just thinking about it scares me!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't write sappy romance or horror or paranormal stuff-- just too outside my zone of interest! Christian romance would be very difficult. I agree!
ReplyDeleteI think it would be difficult to write in a genre you know nothing about.
ReplyDeleteI think that would be a great exercise!!! It would help us grow by doing what scares us - my favorite writing advice ever btw. Hmm... I may have to take you up on that idea!
ReplyDeleteFantasy and science fiction. Too much world-building for a minimalist writer like myself! I wouldn't know where to begin.
ReplyDeleteI think are stories are hard to write if you have no experience of it apart from books and movies. Even then they tend to end up as either glamourising or being preachy.
ReplyDeletemood
Fantasy or Science Fiction. I'm not good at coming up with cool names for technologies, so sci-fy is scary. Fantasy is difficult because literally anything can happen, and I don't want the reader to be like "Well, why couldn't they just do this? It would make everything so much easier."
ReplyDeleteI didn't think I could write erotica until a writing tutor challenged me to try. Now I KNOW I can't write it! I do think it's a good idea to try something different though, even if it's just as a quik break from our more usual style.
ReplyDeleteYA absolutely terrifies me the most.
ReplyDeleteWhen I decided to start writing in 2006, everything was adult oriented which directly due to the fact that I had a lot of residual anger to get rid of.
Once I decided to get serious about my writing in 2009, I felt most comfortable in writing adult fiction.
The main reason why I can't/won't write YA is directly due to the fact that I'm purely incapable of reining in my thought process to make it palatable for that genre.
The closest I've ever come to writing in that genre was a short story that I wrote in '07 that was published in '09 that dealt with the four seasons of a mountain compared to the four stages of life.