If I had to define what type of writer I am, my first label would be fantasy, closely followed by romance. That's just what I like to write. It's what I like to read as well.
FURY I considered romantic fantasy. DRAGON QUEEN was fantasy, with touches of YA and romance. MORGUE TREE is YA fantasy. ONE THOUSAND is historical fantasy (also with romance). And LAST OF THE ELVES is romantic fantasy.
All of these are novels or WIPs. Big projects, as it were. However, while my short stories have similar elements of fantasy and love, they also tend to branch away and take other routes.
I recently wrote a short story for a for-fun contest on the WD Sci-Fi/Fantasy Forum. We had to take two eerie pictures (one of a misty castle and dragon and the other of a skull-mountain oozing blood) and write a horror story. I've never considered horror one of my strong suits, but I had a lot of fun exploring the genre. Making it eerie and creepy and giving it a not too happy ending.
But it still ended up being fantasy. And it still ended up having romance.
WTF?
So I looked at other stories. "For the Love of a Zombie" is about a vampire turning his beloved into a zombie, a bit of dark humor. But still, there was fantasy and there was romance.
"Eater of Worlds" is about a man returning to his homeland to destroy it and finds out it's his sister's fault that he has to do so. Fantasy, check. But romance? No. Yet there is still love there. Between siblings.
"Faceless" was a play into sci-fi. As a short story, it's possible that escapes my niche of fantasy and romance, but as I've thought about expanding it into a novel, what has it become? You guessed it. A romance.
"The Vulture and the Dove", about two clashing winged beings in a future Tokyo, also had the fantasy and romance.
It's like I can't escape it.
So, tell me, when you've branched out from your typical genre, have you noticed familiar things slipping in? Or can you completely break away from your usual writing style?
Assuage my curiosity. :)
I read lots of different genres and write in different genres but I do find that there are certain elements or themes in my writing that are pretty much constant because that's what appeals to me. That's what I find fascinating or interesting or attractive.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a good thing because I know what I like and what I don't like. At the same time I'm always experimenting with different genres and ways to tell a story.
Jai
I LOVE super dark, scary stuff and find a bit of horror slipping into my sci-fi, historical fiction, YA - you name it. Somehow I can't get away from the blood and gore. Although nothing I've written would be solely categorized as horror, I do find that the scary stuff finds its way into everything I write.
ReplyDelete