Deciding what sub-genre to write was very easy for me when I started because my romance reading taste is quite narrow. I might be less knowledgeable about the romance genre as a whole because of this, but hey, I’m filled with confidence about my writing because I know where my stories belong without any doubt at all. That’s a great space to be in. On blogs and loops there are often comments like “I don’t know which genre to write’ or “I love more than one genre’ or “I don’t know which niche I fall into’ ““ I’m not going to pretend to have great advice for anyone in this situation. I haven’t a clue, sorry. I’m just so pleased I don’t have this problem.
Advice from many writers suggests choosing your genre and sticking to it until you have made a considerable name for yourself. I can’t see me writing anything but sweet stories. I’d like to think they might get a little funnier but right now my characters land on the screen with the belief they don’t have much to laugh about.
Romance stories we might want to share with our mothers or grandmothers are still out there. Not all romances have become so modern they’ve left all old time values behind. There are lots of very successful sweet/traditional romance writers out there (in single title as well as category) who are making a living writing what many might see as outdated or old fashioned stories. Their continuing success tells me there remains a great demand for such stories – I intend to do my best to help fill that demand.
I would love to write romance novels that have family values and I also like paranormal romance. The only problem I have is getting my thoughts on paper and then turning them into a good story. Any suggestions on how to make my writing follow my thought process? Or is it true that once you get it out of your head, it takes on a life of it’s on?
Hi Beth, My advice is – go for it. Sit down and commit to giving it a real serious attempt.
How you write depends on your own personality, but this works for me when I get stuck. And I get stuck a lot! Maybe it will help you.
I don’t plan, stories flow out of me (when there’s not a huge bolder stopping that flow). I start at the beginning and intend to work chronologically but that often doesn’t continue. If I get an idea of something happening later in the story, I write that scene immediately. I end up with lots of scenes which I then have to decide how to assemble as a complete story. It does mean a bit of re-writing as I have to add backstory etc into previously written chapters but I find it keeps my enthusiasm afloat. Struggling through a less exciting scene wears me down – housework may even beckon me if I’m not careful – but later, joining two critical scenes together with a little narrative to make them fit, is a breeze. If you feel assembling your thoughts into some order is what’s stopping you, I suggest you commit those thoughts to paper in any order they come out. Write up any ideas – settings, themes, characters you’d like to write about, storylines, plots – anything at all that interests you. Then sit down and look at what you’ve got. Could they all fit into one story, or many stories? Juggle them around until you have isolated them into groups, things that can be used together in one story. (If you want to write a sweet, and you’ve come up with a great vampire character, then put him aside until later). I have a notebook for my ‘story ideas’ I call them. Odd pieces that come to me now and then. They’ll all get weaved into a story one day. Start expanding on those initial ideas in any order you feel like – and expanding them some more (or finding more ideas to include). You might surprise yourself with just how much you can write.
I hope this might help, please don’t try to follow anyone else’s set rules, just write. Until you get the feel of sharing your thoughts with your computer, just write.
To answer your second question – yes, I believe the characters go where they want to. I started something new this morning, writing in a light not quite comical vein, intending this would be my first ‘funny’ story. By page 3 my heroine is already cowered with angst, angry and frustrated at her life. Damn! not what I wanted at all.
Now my blog has finished, please feel free to contact me via my website http://www.anneashby.com if you feel I could help you any further
Go on, give writing a go, get those stories onto paper – good luck
Hi again Beth, I just thought of something further to add. Please don’t give up. If you dream of writing romance, write. Study the art (there are courses and advice available everywhere – often for free over the Net) and practice hard. Don’t let anyone put down your efforts. Especially don’t allow yourself to sell your efforts short.
best of luck