MG Minded Talks - Genre

Welcome to another installment of MG Minded Talks! We will ask each of the bloggers a series of questions and they will share their responses. This month we are talking about genre. Here's the questions:

1) What genre is your current WIP in?

2) Do you always write in this genre? If not what other genres have you written in?

3) What's your favorite genre to read?

Jamie

1) MG fantasy

2) No I write MG/YA fantasy and sci fi (in various forms, superpowers, sci fi/thriller, space opera to name a few)

3) I read what I write, MG/YA fantasy and science fiction







Stacey

1) YA contemporary

2) NOPE! I started out writing YA fantasy, but also have written some MG fantasy, historical, planning some possible steampunk. Some thriller. I write anything YA/MG.

3) actually, fantasy is usually my favorite. I do love some contemporary but fantasy was always my first love





Brooks

1) The one i just finished: YA Contemporary. The one I'm getting ready to start: MG Contemporary

2) Generally, but my first manuscript was a MG fantasy.

3) I love reading contemporary and horror.






Tom T.

1) Current WIP is Adult...YES..that's right...adult..an adult black comedy...I am absolutely bonkers..

2) Nope, this is the first time I'm attempting it and it's an absolute headache. I normally only go for MG or YA Adventure as that's what I started with and feel most comfy writing.

3) Fav Genre? I really can't say.....it's all across the board. Lately it's been Fantasy / Sci-Fi.




Dan K.

1) Current WIP is MG Humorous

2) Yes

3) Adult Thriller








Tom M.

1) My current WIP is MG horror.

2) I'm pretty grounded in all things MG at this point, though what genre inside of that depends on which story wants to be told the most. My last MS was MG contemporary with a literary slant, my next one will be a MG satire.

3) As far as what I like to read: For fiction, it's less about the genre and more about the story and the writing. For nonfiction, I like reading biographies and oral histories.


Jason

1) Current manuscript is MG Superhero Adventure.

2) I've also written MG Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror and adult Fantasy and Horror. Basically, I'll write anything that includes adventure and an fantastic premise.

3) Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and the occasional psychological thriller.






How about you? What genre's do you typically enjoy reading/writing?

Telling the Stories That Want to be Told

Back in early May, I was anxious for the release of Wilder Mind, the new album by the band Mumford & Sons. I’m using more than one meaning of “anxious” here; I was excited to have new music from a band that’s become a favorite of mine over the past few years, but I was also a little concerned. There was every indication this new album would be a serious departure from their signature sound.

Initially I was a bit disappointed with the changes, because the band had always been such a reliably unique feature on the landscape of popular music, and the sound of the new album was definitely a step away from that direction. But I kept listening and gave it every fair chance to connect with me. Eventually it did, to the degree that when I listen to it now I hear more similarities to their previous work than differences. The new songs convey the same emotional resonance as the older ones, and have the same storytelling aesthetic. The band still wrote the songs that wanted to be written, but just wound up writing them differently than before, and trusting what followed.

I thought a lot about how my reaction to this album could be like a middle grade reader expecting a certain kind of story from a favorite genre. Most kids in the middle grade age group will identify what they want to read by genre more than anything else, whether they realize they’re doing it or not. They’ll think, “Well, if I liked reading Book A, which has this kind of story, then I’ll probably like Book B because it has a similar story.” This kind of favorite-associating connection is a common discussion point between teachers and parents while searching for ways to engage reluctant readers. Scary books, funny books, books about animals, sports books, myths and legends, historical fiction, science fiction, graphic novels, sad books, adventures, non-fiction, or something from a series -- all of these and more are explored while trying to find that magical gateway that will get a child interested enough in reading. A lot of middle grade readers, both the tentative and the self-motivated, are more likely to try a book if they have a good idea about what to expect from it before they commit to reading.

So where does that leave us, the middle grade writers? Should we focus on horror stories because the Goosebumps books have had such staying power? Should we start sketching characters for graphic novels to take advantage of that current popularity, or create a boarding school filled with extraordinary people where we can send a misfit character who will make friends and enemies, face challenges, and have adventures? Should we mold our story ideas to conform with the most popular genres, and then keep driving along while always staying in the same lane?

Of course not. I’d like to think anyone who would seek out a blog devoted to middle grade literature would understand the futility of chasing trends as a key to success. But what about establishing a platform when you’re starting out, or even just trying to find a niche?

Let’s take me, for example. I don’t read a lot of fantasy. I don’t have anything against it, it’s just never been something I’ve actively sought out. If I decided to try and write a fantasy novel, I’d find myself at the beginning of a steep uphill battle because my passion isn’t there. But what if I was lucky enough to have a tidy little pile of published books years from now, and one day a brilliant idea for a fantasy story came out of nowhere and smacked me upside the head? Would it be better to take it on and work out the idea, or ignore a story I felt strongly about and move on to something else I felt was more expected of me?

The way I see it, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with a writer trying to demonstrate the kind of range they potentially have, especially when they’re still working to become established. Since there really aren’t any guarantees in publishing, I think the first rule has to be for a writer to stay true to their passion. If that means living inside of one genre for all the reading and writing you do because that’s what you love, great. You’ll have plenty of background knowledge to work with, and that will translate into your writing, and you’ll still likely find ways to keep yourself challenged. But if not? Well, I think that’s okay too. You still have to write something you feel strongly about, and maybe your stories will take you in different, unexpected, and exciting new directions.

If publishers do guide their established writers to work inside the genres that fit their familiar platforms? I suppose that would be the kind of problem I don’t think I’d mind having. But until it happens -- if it ever does -- I’ll just keep telling the stories that want to be told. Even if that means sometimes telling them differently than before, and trusting what follows.

Genre: Shackles or Rocket-Powered Jet Pack?

If you put any serious effort into writing stories, regardless of whether they’re 400,000-word epic fantasies that stretch the limits of Microsoft Word’s ability to keep your words safe without getting corrupted or a short story hand-scrawled on the back of a new band flyer, sooner or later someone is going to ask you what it’s about. Which is good, because you should probably want to talk about what it’s about, at least if you have any interest in having people who aren’t your mother read it.

All too often, though, on the heels of being asked about the subject, comes the standard assessment of your work’s perceived genre.

“Oh, I don’t read fantasy.”

…or…

“Wow, sounds awesome! I love Sci-Fi! Have you written any others?”

And just like that, your work will forever be pigeonholed, and may the Three Laws of Robotics save you should you find the inspiration to veer off course and work on something—gasp—off genre.

“I liked your romance novel. Why didn’t you stick to that?”

You subversive radical, you!

The problem gets even stickier as you carve out success along your journey as an author.  Most publishers will want you to build an audience with each new book, and there’s not nearly as much reader crossover between Historical Mystery and Science Fiction as you might think. So if your first book is a fictionalized version of Betsy Ross solving the mystery of the White House while spy single-handedly fighting off Redcoats, it’s going to be a bit of a trick to get them to buy your follow-up, where four orphan kids befriend a lonely ghost who leads them on a rollicking adventure through space.

I’m not saying that no one will want to read about both Betsy Ross and four orphans with a restless spirit in the Pegasus galaxy, but it’s probably a pretty small set of people. Not exactly how you want to build an audience. You know, an audience that pays you to write?

As you can probably tell, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this. That is, considering whether genre, as a label, is a blessing or a curse. Because I’m the guy who’s writing Betsy Ross and the Spirit Space Gang.

I mean, I’m not exactly. I haven’t written those books (although I might have to now…that Betsy Ross adventure sounds pretty cool and who doesn’t love orphans in space?), but since I began writing, I’ve written one fantasy horror for adults, MG novels in science fiction, mystery, horror, and fantasy, as well a second adult novel that’s kind of, sort of, fantasy. Or maybe Sci-Fi? I’m not sure what you’d call it just yet.

Well, besides awesome, but I’m not exactly objective about it.

And as my agent and I stalk the corridors of publishing in search of the right editor, I understand that sometime soon I’m going to have to limit my expression to fit a publisher’s marketing concept. Which scares me a little, since I started writing MG because I wanted to share my writing with my kids. Those rascals, it turns out, have tastes that are just as varied as my own.  They don’t want to read just fantasy. They want fantasy and mystery and origami science fiction.

Wait…is that a thing?

Either way, it’s hard to argue that genre won’t become a shackle around my ideas. That’s especially an issues for new authors.  I mean,  sure, if you’re Stephen King, you can write The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption and  The Gunslinger and no one’s going to bat an eye.  He could probably write stereo instructions at this point, and as long as there was a bloody corpse in there somewhere no one would complain.

Which I guess says a lot about King’s genre. He’s the master of the that “Bloody Corpse” section of the bookstore.

But the options seem a lot more limiting for you, and me, and anyone else just starting the trek down Publication Road.

Maybe, just maybe, you don’t have to let that genre label own you. Sure, a publisher might not want to pay for a cozy mystery when they just signed you to a three-book deal for dragon stories. But that doesn’t mean they control what you write. They may control what you publish, and, admittedly, squeezing in time to scribble down a few lines about Miss Ginny’s search of the stables at the Brokeback Bed and Breakfast might be a challenging when you’re on deadline to deliver Dragon-Hearted Two, The Enflamaning, but if her story means that much to you, you’ll find a way.

Or at the very least, you’ll occasionally give your imagination a 10 minute break to run with it.

Because, really, isn’t that what got us all here to begin with? Not genres labels, or shelving locations, but an imagination strapped to a rocket-powered jetpack, screaming around freely and coming up with exciting stuff.

So not matter what I end up getting paid to write, I always intend to give my mind a little jetpack time.

After all, pen names exist for a reason, and you never know what story might launch your career into new and exciting heights.

What genre(s) do you write? Do you stick to one primary one, or let your mind bounce around like a Super Ball in a glass laboratory?

Pud’n

PS: Don’t forget that tomorrow is MG BOOK BOMB 2015! Don’t miss out on the fun!