There is much advice that says authors should pick a niche and build a career on that, or pick a character and write multiple stories about that character.
Here is a little test so you see what I mean, similar to Freud’s free association but hopefully not so significant!
I will say (write) the name of an author and you will say the first genre that comes into your head
- Bill Bryson
- Stephen King
- Barbara Cartland
- Enid Blyton
- Ian Fleming
I hope you said:
- Travel/humour
- Horror
- Romance
- Childrens
- James Bond/adventure
I struggle with this idea because I want to write on many different topics. I am a non-fiction writer and now have a business book (“How to enjoy your job”) and 2 books for authors (“From Idea to Book” and “From Book to Market”). I want to write books in other genres and on different topics – managing phobias, spiritual places in the world, creativity in the workplace … and many more.
I was despairing – thinking that I had to stay within the niche, and then I found this video on YouTube which reminded me that you can be successful in more than one area of writing.
Which one of the 5 authors mentioned above wrote “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”?
It was the hardcore James Bond adventure hero creator Ian Fleming. Very cool!
What do you think? Should authors stick with one genre or one character? or should we write what burns on our hearts?
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I think Fleming is just one example of many writers who have successfully crossed genres.
Don’t worry about it. Write whatever your passion desires! At the end of the day the readers will judge if it’s a success or not in commercial terms.
The heart burners. You only have so many books you can physically write in your small lifetime. put the effort into the stories/topics that matter to you and are worth that time. If they resonate with you they’re likely to resonate with other too.
Seems to me genres are crossing boundaries all over the place now. I think that’s why UF is so popular for instance – it can be dark, romantic, fantastic, hilarious, futuristic/sci-fi-ish, action/adventure, horrific, mythic, poetic, have social commentary, erotic, suspenseful, a puzzle (mystery), etc And there are readers for every combination or leaning.
Write what you love then worry about the genre it fits in. Once it’s written you can keep it in that form or adjust per editors/industry specifics.
At the very least you will have spent your time on something that’s important to you.
PS Have you heard of the NaNo spin off that challenges writers to write in a different genre every month? it’s a good stretching exercise. Sometimes you discover you can write/enjoy writing things you never would have tried otherwise!