What will you be writing about?

I am also not very good at pinpointing genres. I am presently torn between 'autobiography' - not quite because there's a high degree of exaggeration, 'ecology' - because that's the underlying theme although it isn't obvious in the content, 'philosophy' - because there's a high degree of exploration of Life the Universe and Everything, and probably one or two other potential categories which haven't yet occurred to me.

As I write this post, two things become clear. Firstly, I wonder if most other authors have the same difficulty (and does it really matter) and secondly, it makes me appear to be ever so pretentious (which I hope I'm not)

Derek

Hi Eveline

I almost always write mystery thrillers - that's what I enjoy reading, and that's what I want to write (and it's what I find easiest to write, TBH).

For NaNo a couple of years ago, I wrote two seaside-based, linked novellas of c. 25k each. I enjoyed the writing, and I could picture places easily. This year, I'm writing a suspense thriller. Again, seaside-based, and probably using the same character I used in the novellas. My problem is that it has a supernatural element, and I'm finding it hard to avoid the cliches we've seen in films - empty house, lonely location, strange history. The Sixth Sense, Amityville Horrir, Poltergeist, and loads of others. I think I've found a creative niche, though ;)

Essex Writers Support group

Hi Derek

I think genres do matter, if you actually want to be able to go and publish your writing. Bookshops (and hence publishers) want to be able to categorise your novel, to know where to place it either physically in the shop or on the internet - especially if you're a relatively unknown author. Think of Waterstones, and on which shelf your book would sit, alongside other, more well-known authors.

Gerald

Essex Writers Support group

Hi Gerald,

Perhaps I didn't express myself clearly enough. I'm not saying that genre doesn't matter, but that when a work fits into any of a selection of genres, choosing the 'best' one may not be as important as it might seem. Part of my work with Authorsonline is involved with advising authors when I think that their selected genre is incorrect (following proofreading) and helping them to choose a better category to file under.

I do think of Waterstones and I have to say that they do not always make the right choices in my opinion.

Derek

My husband has been nagging me to sort out all my things in the study, which we've been unable to get into for most of this year. So with Nano in mind I've finally done it today. I've got my two main characters sorted out, and where they live, but I'm still not sure whether they're going to solve a murder or if one of them is going to fall in love with a ghost. On past experience I'll probably end up with both these scenarios. But it's Nano, so anything goes!

Ruth

I'm going for the fantasy genre again. As doolols said, it's what I like to read so it's what I want to write :)

Interestingly I have a similar main character to NaNo 2008 (a girl aged roughly 15 years), but unlike last year I actually have a rather thorough plan. Last year I had a vague idea and just wrote and went where it took me. This year I have been organising my reams of notes ready for Sunday. I don't have an exact ending, but the beginning and middle are very detailed.

I think some stories can fit into many genres. With publication it's important to put it in the genre that it will sell best in. For NaNo it's not important. You may end up taking it in a completely different direction anyway. Wild West gun slingers may be just the thing to carry your period novel over the 50k mark :D

I'm off to finish organising my notes.

Jacqui :D

NaNoWriMo 2009 Untitled:
NaNoWriMo 2008 Chosen: 66354 WON

I've posted my novel synopsis to my profile but I'm now a little torn between LGBT Romance and something more... erotic.

Having read J L Langley's work, I guess that if I'm going to get published, I need more sexual themes but for now I'm going to keep it clean and really write a book I'd enjoy reading.

Stu

I'm guessing mine is romance, but loosely if that makes sense, as a lot of the book is thought rather than action. (Though of course there is some things that happen in it, otherwise it could get a bit dull xD)
I'm also including poetry in mine at the start of each chapter, just to make it a bit different.

I guess mine's realist horror/fantacy. I'm doing a couple of OU courses and they're very up on 'name that genre'. My problem is that when ever anyone asks me, 'what's your book about?' I never know what to say. I'm good at describing other people's books, just not my own. This either makes my books amazing or utter crap.

This one's about a woman who wonders around her dark basement flat, eating a strange, sticky spread from old peanut butter jars, knowing that there is something strange about her, knowing she's not quite human, but she can't remember what it is. She gets her spread through a dealer who won't talk to her, and to make matters even more confusing for her, every day she wakes up seems to be in a different time to when she fell asleep. eventually she decides to venture out and discover what she is.

I'm aiming for Chuck Palahniuk meets Jane Austen. Kinda...

"I just threw up in someone's mouth and I've no idea why."
"My name is Wolf. This is not the name I was given, it is the name I took."

http://ionimountain.blogspot.com/

I'm writing an adventure novel, which has a touch of mystery and angst to it. More adventure then anything else though, My 'synopsis' reads more like a blurb then anything else.

There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them. (George Orwell)

This is my first Nanowrimo so I'm being organic. This usually leads me into a kind of autobiographical magic realism. It's better than being blocked! I'm signed up to a lot of Motivational Newsletters and Blogs for Writers, and this kind of thing is often called "Pantsing"! I look forward to reading the entry for "Pantsing" one day in the Penguin book of Literary Terms! ;-)