Tuesday, November 9, 2010

On Bieber, Gaga, and Genre Selection


We have any number of clocks in our house. There's a Napoleon Dynamite chiming clock that rings at odd, random moments and a faux-antique kitchen clock with huge Roman numerals on its face. And then, there are the radio alarm clocks. These digital gadgets are plain evil.

At 5:30 this morning, I was awakened by two of my kid's clocks blasting Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga simultaneously. Picture it happening to you . . . "Baaaaby, baaaaaby, baaaaaby. Ohhh!" plus "Rah, rah, ah, ah, ah. Roma, roma, ma Gaga." In Dolby sound. Of all the stereos in all the world, why did this have to happen to mine?

I can handle these songs individually. Together? Not so much. Had Dante been with me, he might have created another level in hades. (Yesterday, my wakeup song came from Whitesnake, but I kind of like the hair bands.)

Without any logical segue, I'll move on to my real topic. Genre. In On Writing, Stephen King said he was drawn to horror films because the only other option were stridently happy musicals and beach-blanket movies. The teenage King couldn't relate to the latter so he chose the former.

Here's the question: Is the genre we choose a result of what we're lacking in life? Or do we just write what we enjoy reading? Do we gravitate toward a certain audience and write specifically for them?

How did you decide upon your genre?

21 comments:

  1. I think it's a culmination of things you enjoy and things you're interested in/fascinated by and want to explore. I'd say my primary love is sci-fi; I was raised watching Star Wars like most little girls watch Cinderella (though I watched that too), and Star Trek was a weekly event almost until I went to college. I idolized my big brother, who read sci-fi because my dad read sci-fi...and on it goes. I definitely "own" the genre now, and almost all my ideas eventually warp into space. No pun intended.

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  2. I guess one gravitates to genres that interest and excite us, where we want to hang out and invest energy. I've always been drawn to very emotional stories and the impulse to invent one's self. In just a few, short years, one transitions from child self to nascent adult self. Why and how that happens is really fascinating to me, so YA feels like my right genre.

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  3. I am grabbling with that question at this very moment. I went into our public library (first time in ages, I'll have to admit. We don't have a very inspirational library.), and stood a moment and asked myself, "Where do you really want to find a book?" I ended up checking one out from the YA section written by the presenter from our writer's retreat. It's good. Read 3 chapters while getting my hair done. I think we want to write the kinds of stories that WE want to read.

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  4. I decided to write YA because most of my writing sounded ya. I guess I haven't quite grown up yet. =)

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  5. Funny you should mention genre. I am grappling with the very subject at the minute too. Will have to analyze it a small bit more.

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  6. I ditto Carolyn. I write YA, because that is my voice. I'm still a teen at heart. :)

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  7. Yuck! Talk about a rude awakening.

    Jai

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  8. Eww. What an awful way to wake up.

    I think the genre we choose to write in is a way of exercising things from ourself, past experiences and about obtaining something we always wanted.

    Or maybe that's just me.

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  9. If you read back-posts on my blog you'll see a long and tortured path to get to my genre. There are many genres I enjoy reading and have enjoyed writing. In the end, I settled on a genre that is a combination of (a) what I like to write, (b) what I'm good at writing, and (c) what I think I can most easily market myself as.

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  10. Since I write kid's books, maybe I do some issues of wanting to be younger... :O)

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  11. I ADORE Lady Gaga's Bad Romance!!!! I could play that infinitum!!!!

    I'll pass on young Beiber..!! :-)

    As for Whitesnake... that's another Dante level just for them!! LOL!! Oh I'm kidding!! They ROCK!! With headbands!

    Genre!!! I always loved ghost stories, dark fantasies and things that go bump in the night and was always drawn to create one insane creature all of my own. I so tried to go the literary fiction way but my heart and soul was not in it. So I reverted to my earlier genre of a dark ghostly type. Parnormal? Peut-etre! I have no idea!! But litfic it ain't!! I have lost the thread of this comment as I have Lady Gaga's Bad Romance blasting through my earphones!!!

    Take care
    x

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  12. In my case, reading YA books and being a young reader are part of the happiest memories in my childhood. That was when I fell in love with writing, and that is why I write YA - to hopefully convince other young readers that they love it too.

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  13. I write what I enjoy reading. I've always like women's fiction with romantic elements and chick lit books...I like books that have a range of emotions, and I think you get that in a lot of chick lit. I want to laugh on one page and cry on another. Hopefully that's what I do for my readers too!

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  14. That Baby song? Can't tolerate it. Ever since hearing it played non-stop for an hour... (I already blogged about the experience, so I'll say no more.)

    As for genre, it's a silly story. Once I outgrew the children's section at my library, I wandered into the adult section. But it was way too big. I had no idea where to start. The sci fi/fantasy section, however, was much more manageable. There I stayed.

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  15. I tend to gravitate toward certain authors I admire, rather than genres. It helps me find new and interesting subjects I have yet to explore. And stay away from little whiny boy singers and women who wear meat!

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  16. I tend to write the genres I like to read and the ideas that make me smile. I read widely so that probably helps :)

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  17. I woke up to talk radio this morning and the person had a really annoying voice and was yelling about Sally Jessie Raphael! So strange...
    For me, the character and the setting define my genre. I had a story to tell about a woman in a small town and it became women's fiction. Then a story of a 15 year old girl who lived in an urban/fantasy-like environment (though I'm not far enough along to see what that means exactly). Maybe someday I'll be able to stick to one genre, but it doesn't seem like it as long as these diverse characters keep coming alive for me :-)

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  18. I think there's a little bit of yes in all your questions. Sounds vague, I know :-)

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  19. I think I write what I read for the most part. Don't think it's filling any need, really. I just think it fits me best.

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  20. Hey Roxy! I digg your blog!!I LOVE ancient history so its only fitting that I would write Historical Fantasy.

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  21. I'd like to have a Napoleon Dynamite clock. Nice!

    Hmmm, genre. A tricky little devil that always shap shifts when I least expect it. I think we write what's deepest inside us. What communicates to us when we read it. We all have a story to share and we all have different ways of experiencing the same things. I think our genre is determined by how we see the world and how we feel we need to communicate with others.

    Great post!
    Jen

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