Comments on: Adventures in Genre-land

By: Kathryn Craft

Kathryn Craft — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 22:08:17 +0000

I have so many windows open on my computer right now, three of them from WITS, it isn't even funny. Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed this post and the POV work-around it presents, David and Marisa. A mystery author friend, Nancy Martin, knows her audience intimately. I think she calls her Janet. She can recognize her when she walks in the door at a book event and knows what she will wear, about what she makes, and how much schooling she's had. But incorrectly, I think the audience who reads "middle grade novels," even though the audience is presumable identified in the genre title, is more diverse and a tad harder to peg. One need only point to the number of adults who read the Harry Potter series to support that! Much success to you with this new title!

By: LauraDrake

LauraDrake — Sun, 31 May 2015 09:19:32 +0000

In reply to Susan A. Jennings. Great point, Susan!

By: Susan A. Jennings

Susan A. Jennings — Sat, 30 May 2015 11:47:14 +0000

Thank you for an interesting post, which made me wonder whether I considered the genre as I was writing. I don't think about genre while I'm writing but I do think about my audience. I'm not sure which comes first, the story or the audience.

By: Orly Konig-Lopez

Orly Konig-Lopez — Sat, 30 May 2015 01:15:05 +0000

In reply to strateagueo. I agree, David. Working on picture books always helps sharpen my women's fiction.

By: strateagueo

strateagueo — Fri, 29 May 2015 21:38:48 +0000

Having said all this . . . I nonetheless hasten to add that genre boundaries can make life more interesting. Writing picture books made me much more aware of how the elements of my novels will LOOK to readers . . . and Marisa's experience as a poet, as anyone who has read her novels will attest, has attuned her to the SOUNDS of words. I almost wonder if the fun of genre comes in crossing its boundaries, arbitrary though they may be sometimes, because the crossing can be challenging, and it improves one's navigational skills.

By: Denise Willson

Denise Willson — Fri, 29 May 2015 20:23:26 +0000

Yes! Great post.

Write outside the box. It's where all the fun is. 🙂

Dee Willson
Author of A Keeper's Truth and GOT

By: Holly Robinson

Holly Robinson — Fri, 29 May 2015 13:51:21 +0000

Marisa and David, as someone who has been a fan of yours for years, and as a novelist with five books published who just had a synopsis turned down because it had too many thriller elements for the publisher to consider it women's fiction (as in, I had a cult, a kidnapping, and a man charged with a murder he didn't commit), I found this post very refreshing. Keep pushing those genre boundaries, people! Yes, of course we all want to have our books accepted and read, and we all want to gain new readers, but does that mean we have to keep writing the same kind of book, over and over? I sure hope not.

By: Orly Konig-Lopez

Orly Konig-Lopez — Fri, 29 May 2015 13:36:42 +0000

I love how you guys approached this! My favorite part of this post - "it’s more organic, natural, and enjoyable to inhabit the story and let the “rules” take care of themselves." So true.

By: strateagueo

strateagueo — Fri, 29 May 2015 13:01:31 +0000

Thanks All! As I read these thoughtful comments, it occurred to me that certain authors seem to have gotten lucky on this point--their voices and plots appear naturally to fall into recognized genres. On the other hand, perhaps it's also possible to make your own luck, by hearing a voice clearly, and respecting it, and engaging it with curiosity and enthusiasm.

By: Normandie Fischer (@WritingOnBoard)

Normandie Fischer (@WritingOnBoard) — Fri, 29 May 2015 12:36:12 +0000

So much fun! I love the organic way you've found to work together to find these voices.