Too Many Voices!!
I have two completed manuscripts under my belt (bed?). The first, a Regency paranormal and the second, a contemporary paranormal.
I’ve started writing another contemporary paranormal but as I plotted this book, I’ve had to wrestle down another story idea that just won’t leave me alone. This one: a dark Regency, not a hint of paranormal anywhere.
I’ve started to wonder if I’m writing schizophrenic.
But something about each of these stories really sang to me. The characters. The plot devices. Just other elements. And they were both fun to write.
Also, maybe after just spending a year on a contemporary paranormal, I’d like to do something different for a bit.
I know there are writers out there who write more than one genre. A little voice inside me says, “That could be you! You could write one historical and one paranormal every year.” (Ambitious little voice. Mustn’t be plugged into what the rest of my body’s up to because if it knew we had another baby on the way, it’d probably sound less perky.)
The creative part of me says, “Go follow your bliss!” The practical one, the market conscious one, wonders if an agent/publisher might doubt my marketability.
Are any of you going at this thinking you’d like to write in more than one genre? Could you ever see yourself writing in another genre? If you do write in two genres, why and what interested you about them?
Books by the Crew
39 comments:
Never ignore the voices in your head. :)Even if you have to become 2 people (like I did, even though both my debut books are historicals), the more you have to offer, the more likely something will click with someone.And it only takes one someone. Good luck, Marnee!
I always thought I'd write paranormal. HA! Look what happened when I switched genres...
I agree with Maggs! Never ignore the voices in your head... go for it.
Maggie - LOL! Never ignore the voices. That sounds a lot like, Save the Cheerleader. LOL!
But I never thought of it like that, that it gives you more to click with someone else. Hmmmm...
Tiff - Having read one of your paranormals, I still think you could find a place there too. Never know what the future holds, right?
I always say... the more the merrier! That includes all those people begging to be heard in your head.
I absolutely love historicals. It was what first brought me to the romance world. I have historical scenes, snippets and conversations scattered about my file folders. After a while, though, I started getting nervous about being historically accurate. The only way to guarantee that meant research and that I DIDN'T want to do. Now, I realize everyone is shaking their head thinking you have to do research no matter what genre you write in, but it seemed far more daunting to research in an era I wasn't presently living in. So, basically, laziness made me choose to write a contemporary.
I say, whatever speaks to you write! I think agents/publishers are as fickle as readers. Sooner or later you are going to hit on what one of them wants. It only takes one. And if you follow your bliss you are more likely to write a great "Marnee book" no matter what genre it is in!
In case I haven't mentioned it before - congrats on the new little one! Very exciting.
I see no problem with you writing in more than one genre. A new name and voila, two different brands.
I write contemporary because the stories that pop into my head are contemporary. I guess that a "chicken or the egg" thing. Are they contemp because I am, or am I contemp because they are? Huh.
It's obvious I haven't had my coffee. I shall return - caffeinated.
Irish - Ugh, now you reminded me of my least favorite part of writing historicals.... Research. :(
A great "Marnee Book." I like the way you say that. And thanks for the congrats! We're really excited.
Bo'sun - It does sound easy when you explain it like that. Two names, two brands. :)
And I don't know about the which came first. I think we all just follow our hearts. So then I think it's what we are, that's why we write what we write.
I'm also drawn to writing both historical and contemporary. I've (so far) worked on the same as you; my first a regency paranormal and my second WIP is a contemporary paranormal.
If the "plan" worked out, I would love to switch back and forth. But when do plans (my plans) play out? I've enjoyed the suspense side of things more and more with the WIP, so who knows, might want to do that. Whether in a contemp or historical I don't know. Both my stories have sequel ideas. I hadn't thought so for my WIP, but something (darn those little voices!) is sneaking in there too.
Also, the common thread is paranormal. I have yet to write without a hint of paranormal and I'm curious to find out if any "voices" try to sneak that in to your straight.
I agree that you have to write what "speaks" to you. My only "problem" with that voice is thinking I must finish what I start before listening to that voice. That's the hardest voice to ignore.
Yikes, would love to discuss this all day - great topic! - but have to leave for school...what a long week!
Right now I have story ideas in at least 4 different genres...for me I'm not worried because I'm at the stage of still figuring out my voice and which of these it will naturally fit with.
I don't think there is anything wrong at all with writing different genres. The point is to write and hopefully enjoy it (don't throw anything at me for that comment since we all know enjoyment isn't always on the menu). :)
I had this same issue before NaNo of tryign to decide which book to write. Some very wise writer *cough cough* told me a lot of great advice.
Go with the one you've done the most preperation for and you'll soon focus on it again.
or
Give yourself permission to do some work on the new idea and see if it takes off or if you suddenly feel the other book callign you back.
Just my two cents.
Melissa - it does sound like we've worked on the same stuff. :) LOL!! Both of my stories have a suspense kind of angle too them as well, though I think that's pretty common for paranormal. There's that need to save a life or the world thing going for it.
The newest idea also has some suspense to it, even though it's straight.
Sabrina - I like the idea that I could see where the other story goes and see which one takes precedence. At least I'll get the one that isn't working out of the way so I can focus.
I actually would love to be able to write a historical. I just always figured if I ever wrote a book, it would be historical. But that was back before I learned of voices and plots and how to weave and arc. lol And I don't have the voice for a historical. I even tossed around an idea for a contemp romance. With not one shred of paranormal elements. But I wanted to kill someone in the first five pages, so I figured contemp romance probably wasn't my bag either.
I think what interests me the most about adventure/suspense/mystery (with a dash of romance) and urban fantasy/paranormal is how dark you can take it. And nothing is off limits. I like no-holds-barred.
Dude, writing in multiple genres certainly doesn't seem to hurt Sherrilyn Kenyon, Nora Roberts, and the many many others who are multipublisheed. I think Sherrilyn has about 2-3 stories going on at the same time... *LOL* You can make it work out. Whatever.
I have lots of little half-stories that could either be historical or category contemporary (not that I have the discipline for a category, but whatever). Or perhaps even women's fiction. I had a story when I was younger (think 18 or so) that was clearly young adult ala Christopher Pike/Stephen King (rather pyschological) but I couldn't imagine tapping into YA fiction now. I don't like reliving the world of my 17 year old self or care about the problems of modern teenagers, whose concerns seem to mostly revolve around getting a pair of jeans to fit in or having their Crackberry taken away. I suppose if historical YA were truly popular, I might be able to pull that off, but I'm not sure I'd want to. I enjoy reading a good YA novel, but I don't think I'd enjoy trying to write for them.
Darn HTML tags...
Sin - I could totally see how you'd like the darkness of the contemporary urban fantasy. :) I love how dark your voice gets.
Though I think you could write historical too. I suspect you could write anything you'd like.
:)
Chance - LOL! That cracked me up. I love me some Whitman. And I think you all are absolutely right. What's to lose?
Hells - You put me in there with La Nora and Sherrilyn. It works for them, but they're goddesses. If I ever elevate to godlike status, I might feel a little more confident. LOL!!
And I love a good YA novel too but I'm not sure I want to try to mess with that voice right now either.
It is too early in the year to start having to listen to Walt Whitman. I'm going to ban him from the ship, and you're going to need to start quoting a new hippie. Yeats is good. Quote some Yeats. Or Frost, about the road not taken and miles to go before you sleep. Whatever. But if you keep up with the Whitman, I'm going to build a time machine, go back in time, and throw him down a well at birth.
LOL! Hellie now playing Dr. Who!!
My kiddo is completely engrossed in this Canterwood Crest series by Jessica Burkhart. We're on book 7 of 12 and this woman better create a new series after that because my child will not be able to handle if she doesn't. LOL!
I think the heroine is in 8th grade and I get to hear updates every day. It's all about boys and best friends and mean girls and making the competition riding team. It would almost be nice if those were the biggest conflicts I had to create.
And to my child, whether Eric will take Sasha back or if Callie will ever speak to her again for trying to steal her boyfriend (who was Sasha's BF first and she didn't try to steal him at all), is major life and death stuff.
I'm down with some Frost quotes.
And to my child, whether Eric will take Sasha back or if Callie will ever speak to her again for trying to steal her boyfriend (who was Sasha’s BF first and she didn’t try to steal him at all), is major life and death stuff.
How is this different from most romances? *LOL* I mean occasionally for the adults we'll throw in the potential death of a child or puppy, but otherwise, much the same.
Hells - Whitman hater....
Bo'sun - I used to love the Babysitters Club. What was going on in their little lives definitely was important to me at your kiddo's age. :)
For one, if Sasha would sit down with Callie and have a heart to heart, telling the truth about what really happened, this could all be cleared up. Though Sasha believes that would break Callie's heart.
And if Eric would listen to Sasha's explanation as to what he really saw when he caught her and Jacob, that could be cleared up too.
Basically, if I tried to make these the conflicts in a regular romance, I'd be told the stakes aren't high enough and everything could be settled with a conversation or two.
For a 10 year old, these are MAJOR stakes. For anyone over 18, apparently not so much.
The best way out is always through.
--Frost
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
Bo'sun - I see the problem. I'm with you. :) But I guess heart to hearts are tough when you're ten.
:)
Hellie - I love the "The best way out is always through" one.
Marn - I'm just happy to see her so excited about reading. She's been opening the book before bed and I have to hunt her down because she missed her bedtime. Makes my heart happy. :)
Wow, when I kill a blog, I really kill it.
Marnee, I think you should definitely listen to Maggie and Tiff and those voices in your head.
As with any cerebral activity, if you force yourself to concentrate on one topic only you are likely to get stale and run out of gas. Having more than one topic means you can follow your mood, especially if there are no contractual commitments.
Women are also supposed to be good at multi-tasking, so you might indulge in some parallel processing and work on more than one project at the same time. You might even find a cross coupling so that ideas for one project cross fertilise with those for another project.
In science some of the most exciting research can come from a multidisciplinary approach, so that a team might have biologists, physicists, mathematicians, engineers and philosophers all aiming at some common goal and swapping ideas. A good example would be modern consciousness research.
As an author you work alone, but you can still get the benefits of the multidisciplinary approach by working in different genres.
As Helli says, it hasn't hurt Nora Roberts, Sherilyn Kenyon or Jayne Anne Krentz. Just depends whether you have the ability to do it well.
I reckon you might! :D
Blog killer...
I should get that on a shirt.
And that would be a great title for a rap song. LOL!Though it would be Blog Killah.
Bo'sun - I think whatever gets kids your kiddo's age reading is worth conflicts that are meh.
Q - focusing on only one topic making one stale. Maybe that's what's been making my brain stale out on my current story. And you always bring things around to the scientific aspect. I love that. It makes the madness that happens in the loneliness of my house sound understandable.
And no one is a Blog Killah.
Yes, listen to the voices inside your head! By all means, write whatever they tell you. That's the only way to write something gorgeously fresh that the publishing industry will snatch up.
And, if you're really lucky (or unlucky as people who've experienced such things tell me) maybe your gorgeously fresh idea will cause controversy and an internet kerfuffle will break out! And then people will buy your book because they love you, and other people will buy your book because they hate you & at the end of the day, you've got some awesome sales numbers & you've started a whole new trend.
Not that there's anything wrong with vampires. Just that we could (IMHO) use a new trend.
I'm late today because I've actually been working. Surprise! I'm glad I got here in time to beg Hellie not to kill Whitman. How can a romance writer kill the man who wrote
"Urge and urge and urge,
Always the procreant urge of the world."
LOL!
Of course there are lots of other poets to quote too. Like Sharon Olds--
How do they come to the
come to the come to the God come to the
still waters, and not love
the one who came there with them, light
rising slowly as steam off their joined
skin?
Sorry for the tangent, Marnee! I think listening to the voices is probably good advice, but I often have to tell my voices to wait til next week or next month. They can be tempting distractions, offering me another way to wander from finishing the task at hand.
These are the times I know I'm pedestrian. Neither of those poems makes a lick of sense to me.
My current WIP is one the Cap'n would hate-Yep, it's a regency with a Duke. But I also have a couple of contemporaries waiting in the wings.
Terri-my 10year old daughter LOVES the Canterwood Crest series.
Di
Di - Shhh.. don't tell the captain but I love me some Regency's with dukes...
Susan - I've never been a trendsetter. LOL! Though that would be cool. I do like the new twists that people take. And I love me some internet kerfuffle.
Janga - Thanks for the poetic inspiration today!
I think that listening to the voices, at least to see if this new idea goes anywhere, might have to be the answer. I'm not sure I have a choice. The other story's characters are quiet behind this new one.
Marnee, I've stayed within the historical realm, but I've written in three completely different eras, all of which I'm comfortable with. I don't think I'll write a contemporary, and I'm kind of iffy on the paranormal.
Nice blog today.
Whitman ban. Hellie, yer killin' me! I'll bargain wit' ya. One a month. And that's a good quote! Totally explores the concept a' havin' more than one voice/genre/character in yer head.
I like Janga's too... Urge, urge, urge... *shiver
He were a real sexy poet... I'll find a good passage about admirin' men as they bathe...
And I wonder what a historical YA would be like...instead of the conflict being about boys, it would be about...lengths of hair ribbons? Tutors?
Marnee, I'd love to see you pay attention to those voices.
When they pester me, I sit for hours and write a detailed outline, complete with the scenes in my head and pivotal dialogue. Sometimes it energizes me, and I start writing the book. Other times I feel confident setting it on the back burner until I can finish what I'm working on.
It's nice to have a folder full of ideas for future manuscripts.
Marnee~
Your secret is safe with me. I'll keep you in mind when I'm ready for an objective reader.
Di
Di - Do you get to hear all about Jacob and Eric too?! LOL! It's cute and the books do sound good. Jessica definitely keeps the drama factor up.
Renee - I think that the different eras within historical are like their own genres. There definitely seem to be different expectations.
Laura - That's a great idea, just seeing if it's meant to be at the forefront or on the backburner. Best I learn now. :)
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