The Different Will Survive
Well, I can see from the plethora of comments after the last blog post I did, "How Weird Are You," that we have a lot of different people hanging out here. Writers and creative folk are often unusual, and for a lot of us, we have been different from grade school on.
And different is good.
Now I want to talk about different book ideas. Everyone is always watching the curve to see what the next "hot" genre will be. Chick lit is dead, some of them scream. The detective genre is overcrowded. Paranormal is hot--for now.
Well, guess what? In my humble opinion, every genre is "dead." By that I mean if you are just re-hashing the same-old, same-old, your work isn't living and breathing and original. Unfortunately, that's what some people do.
How do I know this? Well, interestingly, I spoke at a Florida RWA luncheon about the time Diary of a Blues Goddess came out. Spanish Disco had already been out for 8 months or so . . . And astoundingly, I remember a couple of women approaching me and telling me they were going to try to write chick lit "because that's what the editors are buying."
I will be the first person, being as I make my living writing commercial fiction, to tell you that it pays to know what editors are buying. But the fact is the women who spoke to me didn't even LIKE chick lit. They were true romance writers with perfect and virginal heroines, and they were studying the new genre of chick lit like a recipe and putting in a dash of this (gay sidekick, martinis), a sprinkling of this (overweight heroine who hates her job), a touch of this (fab location, label dropping) and voila! Hoping to make a chick lit souffle that an editor would buy. And then, I am sure, wondering why the rejections are piling up.
My best advice is one, write the book of your heart. It will show.
Two, be aware of genre, be aware of what's come before you, what's being bought, what's out there, and then find a way to TOP it. Be different, be creative, TAKE CHANCES!!! Because when genres become overcrowded and stale, it's the most creative who survive.
So, all you who posted at how different you were, and all my fellow oddballs and pals . . . when it comes to writing, remember that the different survive.
And different is good.
Now I want to talk about different book ideas. Everyone is always watching the curve to see what the next "hot" genre will be. Chick lit is dead, some of them scream. The detective genre is overcrowded. Paranormal is hot--for now.
Well, guess what? In my humble opinion, every genre is "dead." By that I mean if you are just re-hashing the same-old, same-old, your work isn't living and breathing and original. Unfortunately, that's what some people do.
How do I know this? Well, interestingly, I spoke at a Florida RWA luncheon about the time Diary of a Blues Goddess came out. Spanish Disco had already been out for 8 months or so . . . And astoundingly, I remember a couple of women approaching me and telling me they were going to try to write chick lit "because that's what the editors are buying."
I will be the first person, being as I make my living writing commercial fiction, to tell you that it pays to know what editors are buying. But the fact is the women who spoke to me didn't even LIKE chick lit. They were true romance writers with perfect and virginal heroines, and they were studying the new genre of chick lit like a recipe and putting in a dash of this (gay sidekick, martinis), a sprinkling of this (overweight heroine who hates her job), a touch of this (fab location, label dropping) and voila! Hoping to make a chick lit souffle that an editor would buy. And then, I am sure, wondering why the rejections are piling up.
My best advice is one, write the book of your heart. It will show.
Two, be aware of genre, be aware of what's come before you, what's being bought, what's out there, and then find a way to TOP it. Be different, be creative, TAKE CHANCES!!! Because when genres become overcrowded and stale, it's the most creative who survive.
So, all you who posted at how different you were, and all my fellow oddballs and pals . . . when it comes to writing, remember that the different survive.
posted by Erica Orloff at 7:29 PM
14 Comments:
Excellent advice, Erica. Every great novel I can think of did not follow a trend--it set a trend. For newbies and veterans alike, better to blaze a trail than to wander in someone else's smoke.
Jude:
Great way to put it. I know when I wrote "Do They Wear High Heels in Heaven"--a chick lit book, yes, but about a woman with breast cancer and the gay man she has a 20-year friendship with, orders from the chains were brisk--and my editor felt it was because the book was not a cookie cutter of what was already out there. I am convinced those "heart" books that you pour yourself into and really feel will eventually find an audience.
E
Yep. Know your genre, and then drive 70 in a 55.
Jude:
That's a great saying, too.
I sent a new book proposal to my agent today--something very different, a paranormal with some thriller elements. He said, "I like it when you take chances." I was so grateful for that encouragement. Take chances is a good writer's motto.
E
Why do I feel like singing a chorus of "hallalujah!"?
:-)
M
Michele:
Amen!
:-)
E
The scenario you described is happening in "ethnic lit" right now and I just shake my head at that kind of approach to writing.
Books are not easy to write. Characters haunt us in our dreams and then vanish to parts unknown. Scenes that seemed so compelling in the outline, put you to sleep while writing them. And then even a book of the heart isn't guaranteed to sell, so why go through all the bother with a book that means nothing to you, or worse, that you hate?
I sometimes get laughed at or scoffed when I tell writers not to follow trends. I'm sure they think that it's easy for us published authors to say that, but hell, it's true. After reading your blog and the comments, I feel as if I'm in good company.
Mary:
I totally hear what you are saying. I have once or twice posted something similar to this sentiment over on the eharlequin boards, and one time that I did, I got a mildly irritated response from someone who was unpubbed who basically said because I was pubbed I could do "whatever I wanted." I wish it was that easy!
Funny . . . I saw the same thing with ethnic lit recently. I see a lot of titles and they all sort of fall into a pattern.
When I pitched my next RDI, it was so wacky in premise. Angels, demons, signing bonuses in hell, all sorts of crazy but funny stuff. My editor bought it two YEARS ago when it was nothing mroe than an idea--long before paranormal was in. And it's not even a paranormal. It's just a comedy. Anyway . . . I just think write what you love.
E
Mary:
Meant to add that I relate to the idea of things vanishing form our dreams or not coming out how we want it to. I started Invisible Girl no less than 5 times. But then once I got the voice, I nailed it. But man, it took a few shots.
E
I do understand the business-oriented (you can call it mercenary if you like) thinking of switching genres just because it's 'hot' even though it's not a genre you don't even enjoy reading!
But I do not understand how the writer in you can do it.
Yeah, go ahead. Switch genres if you've always wanted to write an urban fantasy 'cause it's hot now. Or because you've had this idea for awhile now and the genre's hot.
I could do that. I have done that--that's how I chose my current WIP.
But I couldn't start writing an erotic romance just because it's selling like mad. I read it and I enjoy it, but I can't write one, and I'm not going to suffocate my 'muse' in order to get published--because it won't happen this way.
Another way of saying the same thing might be to write what you are passionate about because that will show up in your story. If you are writing formula, then you are just going through the motions and that will also show up in your story.
At the backspace conference the agents and publishers all said the same thing: it is all about the writing. If you write well, they can sell it. It doesn't matter what genre it is, just write well.
OK, back to edits to make the characters even more compelling... :)
milady:
Good point. I've taken pen names to write in other genres--but always because they were books I'd always wanted to write--like YA.
E
Ah yes, different. A tough thing to accomplish for many, which is why I am more inlined to say I like a 'book' rather than an 'author' (present company, and several others excluded, of course ;0)
Chick-lit, in many instances has become as bland as oatmeal. One more chubby gal wearing Manola blah-blah shoes and I'll yak!
Having said that, I've been told time and time again I have a chick lit 'voice'. So basically, what I think I'm doing is genre-crossing romance/womens fic told with attitude and comedy. It works...or will when I can find the courage to give it wings. But I believe it is more difficult for a newbie to venture out of formulaic genres. Many mainstream imprints seem determinded to pidgeon-hole you as author A writing for line B. Been there, tried that. Can't write bleeding-heart too sweet to be true romance, and like Milady said, can't carry off erotica/romantica either. Even when I try, it just comes out...the way IT wants.
So thanks to you, Erica, and all the other trend-breakers who don't just go through the motions. I think you're helping pave the way for those of us who don't just want to produce an 'insert-new-name-here kinda story.
Elaine
Hi Elaine:
I have to backtrack in that yes, I think it's easier to be accepted doing something different if you've been published before. I had a transvestite best friend in Diary of a Blues Goddess, and I don't consider "her" character to have been stereotyped. She had real issues and wasn't there only for comic relief. If I hadn't been published before, I don't know if I could have gotten away with that, not to mention the "Greek Chorus" of trannies in that book.
However, that said, I still think if you write a really good book, with a voice that you really FEEL an editor or agent will separate you from the pack. And being different, not just following a trend, helps.
E
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