Comments on YA Highway: Dabbling in a New Genre

HORROR. YES. My current WIP is straight up horror ...

2012-01-09T23:14:10.510-05:00

HORROR. YES. My current WIP is straight up horror too, and I'm glad I'm not alone! (though mine threatens to cross girl-eats-boy territory more than girl-meets-boy.)

I love it when I read these types of blog posts. I...

2012-01-09T14:51:58.985-05:00

I love it when I read these types of blog posts. It's nice to know there are other people out there thinking the same things as me!

And yes, I have a note written on my bulletin board: "Even Stephen King hates his first drafts." Puts things in perspective. :)

Love this post!! I must admit, I've often po...

2012-01-09T12:23:33.691-05:00

Love this post!!

I must admit, I've often pondered this predicament before... like "Hey self, someday when you're published, you're going to be stuck with one genre."

[gulp]

But why oh why must we be limited?!

In my opinion, this is a terribly tragedy. I would just as soon like to write about mermaids as I would about a delicious YA political thriller, thank you very much. And why shouldn't I be able to?

We should protest.

Ha.

Kidding... cause lets be honest... what power of sway to the Un published hold? Nada. [sigh]

P.s. New stalker alert! ( ;

I totally agree. We read so many tihngs. Why can w...

2012-01-09T10:24:04.321-05:00

I totally agree. We read so many tihngs. Why can we only write one. I intend to publish in more htan one genre. I don't mind if I have to use pen names to do it.

This is a great blog post. I do tend to stick to t...

2012-01-09T10:02:32.203-05:00

This is a great blog post. I do tend to stick to the same genre, despite loving to read many different types of book. I've always wanted to write historical fiction but found it too daunting- so much research! But maybe I just need to give myself a good kick.
I'm definitely going to start looking at writing a wider variety of genres now- thanks for the encouragement!

This couldn't have come at a better time! I...

2012-01-09T05:51:10.400-05:00

This couldn't have come at a better time! I'm about 8K into my first Middle Grade MS and it's killing me to work in a voice slightly younger than my usual YA voice. Unfortunately, this story -can't- be told in YA(its main character told me so), therefore, I'm slogging away in MG land.

Screenplays: kids adventure (produced), drama/thri...

2012-01-08T16:28:54.547-05:00

Screenplays: kids adventure (produced), drama/thriller (award winner and optioned); two rom coms (one award winner, one optioned); family holiday comedy (optioned); period horror (placed in contests); contemporary horror; action/crime (placed); crime/drama.

So...WTF?

Completed Books: lower mg adventure (published); MG quirky fantasy adventure (agented TWICE!); YA verse novel (agented and publisher offer pending); MG sports novel (to be published 2012)

WIPs: YA chick lit sci-fi romance; MG paranormal adventure; Lower MG historical

I think that's it.

Conclusion: I HAVE NO GENRE!

Thanks for this! I'm slowly realizing that th...

2012-01-08T16:21:23.353-05:00

Thanks for this! I'm slowly realizing that the characters from one of my projects might be in the wrong story--and the wrong genre. They're more real to me than any characters have ever been (ironically, including characters I've drawn from life) but they may not live in a dystopia, I think. Oops! I appreciate the hope and helpful reminders here as I try to figure out where they belong.

I have a secret identity that I'm going to use...

2012-01-08T14:14:18.364-05:00

I have a secret identity that I'm going to use for the romance projects I'm working on. Of course I'm not published in ANY genre, but it's good to prepare for the future, right? :)

My comfort zone is usually horror and fantasy. Bu...

2012-01-08T13:23:41.567-05:00

My comfort zone is usually horror and fantasy. But I've recently had an idea for a contemporary YA and vampires, ghosts, or werewolves haven't made an appearance so far! I've surprised myself.

One genre that would be a challenge for me is sci-fi. But I'd still like to try it out in the future.

This is a crazy conincidence, because just last ni...

2012-01-08T13:10:30.648-05:00

This is a crazy conincidence, because just last night I came up with a contemperary YA idea that I got really excited about...when all I've ever written is sci fi and dystopian. Then, I woke up this morning and wondered what on earth I was thinking.

Thanks for the words of encouragment. :)

I will chase my ideas wherever they're going. ...

2012-01-08T12:53:18.308-05:00

I will chase my ideas wherever they're going. 1st novel, straight up YA contemporary fantasy, 2nd, mafia thriller vaguely based on greek mythology, 3rd MG adventure, 4th princesses, 5th Colonial Sci-Fi. Who knows what's next?

I went back to my college files last night and found 30 pages of the most depressing YA contemp. It is a wonderful journal of the horrors of middle school, and I'm so happy that I never, ever have to live through that again, either personally or vicariously. Possibly YA contemp is just not for me.