We all start somewhere with writing. Maybe we start writing in our favorite genre. Maybe an idea hits us and we start there. Maybe we start with technical writing.
I began writing as a teenager. I probably wrote a hundred short stories during my high school years. They were a mixture of fiction - romance, fantasy, science fiction, horror… In my twenties I completed a novelette involving an alternate world. Even had someone critique it.
Jump ahead ten years and a wisp of a dream that would inspire my YA series. I poured myself into those books and they came so easy. I never envisioned YA though. Sad that New Adult wasn’t around then, because that’s where they should be placed. I’m still proud of that series, especially the final one.
I also wrote a non-fiction self-help book. It tied in with my motivational speaking and only took me three months to write.
Now I am in the middle of edits for my next book, another non-fiction title. I took a little longer to write, but I had so much more going on than during the first one.
As I revise and continue researching to get all the details right, I realize something. This is very comfortable. Although the amount of work and research to put this book together seemed overwhelming, I’m enjoying it. It suits my personality - I’m extremely organized and a detail person. With non-fiction, I think I am finally writing in my proper genre.
Do you ever stop to consider why you write your current genre? If you’ve been frustrated by revisions or rejections, do you stop and wonder if this is really what you were meant to write? Is there a possibility you are good with this genre, but with a different one, you’d be excellent? Are you really writing to your strengths?
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