It’s a common lament among writers: Why is genre important? Can’t I just write whatever I want and let the marketplace figure out how to classify it? Or perhaps: My work is a mix of genres. I don’t want to be pinned down. I like to mix it up. Let’s look at why genre is…
Tag: Readers
In Love… But…
I’ve fallen in love. With a book. But as with every relationship, this isn’t a perfect love. There are some things I wish my significant other would do differently. I wish there were a little more dimension, that it were more dynamic, with more surprises and some intricacies to keep me guessing. Still, I love…
Re-readability
Re-readability – qualities of a book that readers keep, cherish, and re-read more than once.
Chasing The Dream
I’ve made the point before that dissecting trade journals, studying and diagramming the latest trends in the fiction market, and trying to target your work to whatever is currently hot in the industry is the quickest way to drive yourself insane – even if you can churn out a bestseller in a matter of months…
Unstructured Narrative
Many writers have experimented with non-standard, or unstructured narrative styles. Some to varying but undeniable degrees of success – some mixing reality and fancy like Hunter S. Thompson, others displaying a non-linear narrative like Kurt Vonnegut, still others jumbling everything up in what can be argued to have no sense whatsoever but an irresistible rhythm…