Writers in the Storm

by Mara Purl

“What genre do you write?” This has become as ubiquitous a question as “What kind of books do you write?” and both questions often receive the same reply.

It should be an easy answer for an author to provide, but sometimes isn’t, as genres have grown more complex. The added “categories” were supposed to make specific kinds of books easier to find. Yet, to some extent, the added complexities have made finding what a reader of shopper or librarian wants harder. And, despite the added listings, there are times a book gets slotted into an ill-fitting box.

This business of being stuck in the wrong genre can be frustrating, and even damaging to a brand, a book, or an author.

Let’s talk about Romance

Romance is a fabulous genre with its own challenges. I've listened to colleagues in this genre share about the rigorous discipline required to fit all its requirements. This post isn't about disrespecting Romance.  

After decades of battling for recognition, it's now well-established, taken seriously for the money it earns and the rankings it gets. There's a spot for it on the New York Times bestseller list, which is an important benchmark.

Romance novels inevitably include an element of predictability. We know the couple will get together in the end, and the fun for the reader is watching the protagonists overcome the obstacles, while the author adroitly places challenges and roadblocks in their respective paths. And I am one of those readers on occasion, totally enjoying and sometimes admiring the work tremendously.

What about when a genre doesn’t quite “fit”?

But what do authors do with the “extra” material that won’t fit within the strict bounds of Romance? What about career choices and parental challenges, friendships and competitions, sibling rivalries and unimagined losses? In other words, what about the rest of life?

All these elements are the purview of Women’s Fiction. There is no such category on the New York Times bestseller list, perhaps because there’s an assumption that this is just a fancier word for Romance, or that anything that’s popular and aimed at the female audience is, in fact, Romance.

What is Women’s Fiction?

It used to be defined as fiction written by women. Think Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, and George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), to name a few authors of bygone eras, some of whom chose to write under male pen names. 

The term did a one-eighty during the last decades of the twentieth century, describing not fiction by women, but rather fiction for women. Though most practitioners were female, there were notable exceptions, like Nicholas Sparks. 

In the twenty-first century we find ourselves with what is probably the best definition so far: fiction about women.

Key Elements of Women’s Fiction

Women's Fiction may or may not end with the expected partners finding their happy-ever-after. Although that key urge to find the right partner may be an important part of the story, other urges and goals are equally important and sometimes predominate. 

The woman in the story is finding her identity, her career, her purpose; she's untangling her snarls, examining her mistakes, gathering her courage. The reader can identify with some of these elements, whether in reviewing old choices of her own or wrangling with her own future. 

Who’s Reading Women’s Fiction?

While the hottest trend for younger readers of Romance in this moment is Romantasy, the biggest volume of devoted readers age 40 and up is digging ever deeper into Women's Fiction. This may be why "Chesapeake Shores," "Virgin River." and “Sweet Magnolias” have such avid followers.

Whether in the form of books or television episodes, what do these series offer? 

• Multi-generational characters
• A sense that the protagonist is interested in more than sex with her chosen partner
• Storylines that tackle personal and professional challenges with more frank realism and startling authenticity than what Romance usually offers. 

Challenges I’ve Encountered as a Women’s Fiction Author

Things are getting easier now, as I find excellent company amongst authors with more expansive storylines. But not too long ago, readers who picked up one of my books in a bookstore, believing it to be a Romance novel, were disappointed and even irritated.

Why?

Because my novels don’t guarantee the traditional happy ending. If the reader sticks with my saga, she’ll see those happy endings arrive . . . eventually.

Why the delay? Why the frustration? Probably because that’s my lived experience.

When I fell deeply in love in my 20s, I believed my own happy ending/ happy beginning had arrived. But the man took off for other adventures and I had to lick my wounds and start over. Heartbreak taught me a lot about myself, about the world, about the journey. I did, eventually, find my soul mate and our marriage gets better year by year.

Authors are advised to “Write What You Know”

At least for my primary storyline, that’s what I’m doing. So my protagonist’s disappointments turn out to be important lessons that ultimately lead her to a fantastic relationship.

Big Names who are Switching Genres

I’m certainly not alone in battling the genre storm. Robyn Carr, for example, a marvelous and very successful author, has said for several years that although yes, her novels include a romantic element, they are about the protagonist’s whole life. While embracing her original designation as a Romance author, she was also an early adopter of the term Women’s Fiction, encouraging readers, and perhaps more importantly, publishers to expand their awareness. In Nora Roberts’ most recent interview, she explained that she has roots in Romance, “But I don’t write romance anymore.” 

What is my fervent desire for my readers? 

I wish for them to find a sense of wholeness and purpose right alongside my protagonists. I want women to feel empowered not only to find and enjoy a beautiful romance, but that everything else in their lives is equally important and fulfilling.

Do you read or write women's fiction? What challenges have you encountered in the genre? And do you have any reading recommendations? Please do share your answers in the comments!

About Mara

Mara Purl is the best-selling author of the Milford-Haven Novels & Novellas a series of Women's Fiction books which have won 75-plus book awards, appeared on multiple best-seller lists, and are based on her hit Milford-Haven, U.S.A., with 4.5 million listeners on BBC Radio. Mara wrote for the A.P., the Financial Times of London, and Rolling Stone among many others. As an actress, Mara is best known from Days Of Our Lives and she's a frequent speaker and presenter at local and national book events, has served on the boards of author and publishing organizations for 25 years, and has taught writing and literacy programs in Colorado, California, Alaska, and Japan.

You can find out more about her at marapurl.com

by Ellen L. Buikema

We want the best for our characters, but no conflict means bored, or few, readers.

A hero has a quest and is warned that the road is fraught with peril. However, the hero discovers they are fantastic at everything. No problem unsolvable. They easily achieve their goal. Huzzah! The end.

Well, that story’s a bust. Everything is too easy. No conflict. Boring.

When your story drives directly from point A to B then C with no curves, hills, or potholes along the road, you are left without natural conflicts in the narrative. We all love conflict. That’s what makes a story interesting.

• Will the hero succeed in their quest, or not?
• What about the romance? Continue, or fizzle out?
• Will the hero sink to their flaws or succeed in dealing with them?

To create a gripping story, you must create tension.

Conflict, and how to use it

There are two basic types of conflict: internal and external. Internal is when the character struggles with something within themselves. External conflict happens when the battle is against something outside of themselves.

These concepts break down into different types of conflict.

Internal Conflicts

Person vs. self seems simple enough. However, there are many reasons for the struggles:

1. Faith/loss of faith

A horrific thing happens. How can God possibly exist after a character’s loss?

2. Moral conflicts

Your friend’s spouse having dinner with a very young, attractive person. Behaving, as if they are more than friends. They leave without seeing you. Do you say anything to your friend?

3. Self-image

The character’s perception themselves doesn’t match their behavior, like someone who feels they are as patient as a stone statue snapping at a waiter.

4. Sexual desires

Experiencing a deep need for someone outside of a committed relationship.

5. Interpersonal or societal conflicts

A protagonist acts out of character to gain popularity with a popular social group and feels bad about it.

6. Existentialism

A character questioning the meaning of their life, like a judge who no longer believes in the system of laws.

7. Love

One person wants to settle down and have children, but their partner isn’t ready for that responsibility.

Examples of internal conflict:

• Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars episodes 1-3
• Bridget in Bridget Jones's Diary

External Conflicts

Person vs. person examples:

• Katniss Everdeen and the others in The Hunger Games
• Dorothy and the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz

Person vs. nature examples:

• Christopher McCandless and the Alaskan Wilderness in Into the Wild
• Martin Brody and the water/ocean in Jaws

Person vs. society examples:

• Mae Holland and the “Circle,” a giant tech company in The Circle
• Ponyboy Curtis and rival gang cultures in The Outsiders

Person vs. fate/the supernatural/the unknown examples:

• Lord Asriel and the Authority in His Dark Materials
• Sonea and societal prejudice in The Magician’s Guild

Person vs. machine examples:

• Murderbot and humans in The Murderbot Diaries
• Case and AI in Neuromancer

Conflict through genre

Genre, the promise you make to your readers, will help to decide the kinds of conflict used in your story. More on genres here. The 17 Most Popular Genres In Fiction - And Why They Matter - Writers Write

When writing horror, person vs. the supernatural, person vs. machine, and/or person vs. nature are good combinations. If you’re writing a romance, common conflict types are person vs. person and/or person vs. society. Person vs. self may be used in any genre.

Often, writers use more than one type of conflict to add interest to their stories. For example, in The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood deals with personal battles related to identity, societal expectations, and mental health while she experiences a breakdown in 1950s New York.

The person vs society conflict works as Esther's transgression show the cracks in societies values. Self-righteous onlookers deny seeing the lust for cruelty and others' suffering in their own conduct.

Whatever your choice of genre, decide which conflicts are the most important to you as a writer. If you are writing a love story that takes place in a haunted hotel, you may discover that the person vs. person conflict is more important to your overall plot than the person vs. the supernatural. So, you’ll spend more time creating the love story than making the story scary.

If you’re writing a horror/paranormal story that has a romance subplot, the person vs. the supernatural conflict will take up more of your attention than the person vs. person. It’s your choice as creator.

Final thoughts

A hero has a quest and is warned that the road is fraught with peril. Throw every challenge you can think of at them. Confronted with all kinds of obstacles, make them rethink their goals. Face their fears. Make them have doubts. Maybe they won’t reach their goals. But they do, and are better for it! The end. Now, that’s a better story.

What types of conflict do you enjoy reading in a story? Do you write characters with multiple conflicts? Is it important to have both internal as well as external conflicts?

* * * * * *

About Ellen

Author, speaker, and former teacher, Ellen L. Buikema has written non-fiction for parents, and The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon chapter book series with stories encouraging the development of empathy—sprinkling humor wherever possible. Her Works in Progress are The Hobo Code, YA historical fiction and The Crystal Key, MG Magical Realism/ Sci-Fi, a glaze of time travel.

Find her at https://ellenbuikema.com or on Amazon.

Top Image by John Hain from Pixabay

by Sarah Hamer

As a writing instructor, I often get asked about how to deal with the terrifying writers’ block. It’s usually from someone who had a great idea at the beginning of their story – swashbuckling heroes and heroines who have to rescue someone else from a dragon or fall in love or save the world. But their creative mind has dried up and they have no idea where to go next. The ubiquitous blank screen haunts them, and sleepless nights are usually right around the corner, especially if there’s a deadline looming.

But I don’t believe in writers’ block.

Instead, I believe in magic. Not the Harry Potter or A Discovery of Witches type-magic, but the magical imagination that lives within us.

After all, we’re writers! We have the ability and privilege to invent characters who can tell the human narrative through our own experiences. We get to express things in writing we might never share otherwise. We are allowed to laugh and love and cry and hate simply through waving our magic wand (also known as a pen or pencil or keyboard).

Find your magic.

I don’t know where your magic came from, since we all have our own creation story, but mine burst forth when I was a small child. I used to get in trouble for telling stories but now I get paid for them, and they feed my soul. It’s almost as if opening that vein and spilling my blood on the page purges worries and fears. In fact, reading books has taught me more about life and how to find solutions.

And, isn’t that what writing is best at?

Your own hero's journey.

After all, almost every story – from every continent, every culture, every time period – follows the same pattern, the one Joseph Campbell called “The Hero’s Journey." Characters, based on the human condition, start with a problem they can’t solve and, through a series of lessons, trials, tribulations, victories, and lumps and bumps, our hero/ine learns how to solve that problem, with lots of adventures to go along with it. How better to teach a child, for instance, how to deal with the fear of heights then to see that little train who “thinks I can” and discovers that it actually can?

That’s where the magic works the best. We create story after story that can show a path out of a problem and help others to do so also.

So, is it really writer’s block when we get stuck?

Or are we really just not allowing ourselves to allow the magic to flow? This doesn’t mean that, just because I think a story isn’t truly a story without a dragon in it, that it isn’t good. We all have our own likes and dislikes and shouldn’t try to force ourselves into someone else’s box. Besides, if we all liked the same book, there’d only be one.

We all have our strengths and our own stories to tell.

Writing is a magical journey into worlds and characters that we can only describe to others, even though they live in our minds, and the technical getting-it-on-the-page part is only a small side of the process. Don’t worry about all the "isms," "asms," and spasms of "writing rules," about a story being perfect (there’s no such thing!), about creating the next best-seller.

Instead, let your imagination flow. Create amazing -- and magical -- stories that resonate with your heart, that make your spirit soar. Stories that ignite the imagination of the readers. Because that empty computer screen will fill itself as you tell YOUR story.

Do you know where your magic comes from? Do you have your own personal hero's journey? Share them in the comments.

About Sarah

Sarah (Sally) Hamer, B.S., MLA, is a lover of books, a teacher of writers, and a believer in a good story. Most of all, she is eternally fascinated by people and how they 'tick'. She’s passionate about helping people tell their own stories and has won awards at both local and national levels, including two Golden Heart finals.

A teacher of memoir, beginning and advanced creative fiction writing, and screenwriting at Louisiana State University in Shreveport for over twenty years, she also teaches online for Margie Lawson at www.margielawson.com and for the No Stress Writing Academy at https://www.worldanvil.com/w/classes-deleyna/a/no-stress-writing-academy.  Sally is a free-lance editor and book coach, with many of her students and clients becoming successful, award-winning authors.

You can find her at info@mindpotential.org