Writing Genre (Fighting Genre?)
I’m always a little bit afraid when I start writing something in a very set genre. I recently got to read a friend’s Zombie story. My first thought was “Wow, that’s brave. There’s so much established zombie lore” (can you call it zombie lore if you’re not that into zombies?) “and he went for it anyway.”
The same fear? reticence? I’m not sure… makes me hesitate before I think about messing around with time travel, space travel, or little people running candy factories. I find myself worried that I’ll transgress the genre establishment and they’ll come after me. I’ll wake up with a scary looking writer hovering over my bed saying, “You messed up faster than life travel. I’m afraid I’ll have to take your pinkie fingers.”
I guess this is where it comes back to being widely-read… if I’ve read enough, researched enough, done my due diligence, I’ll probably get to keep my pinkie fingers.
Maybe this is a part of the challenge of writing speculative fiction. Maybe I should write thrillers instead. When it doubt, blow it up, right?
I think possibly the best example of someone challenging a genre at present would be Twilight. Yes, it’s emo, and yes, Stephanie Meyer managed to take vampires from scary beings who burst into flame in sunlight, and made them into sparkly, feeling, caring people. I’m sure many vampir…ists? vampire enthusiasts…? I digress. I’m sure many fans of the typical vampire tale were mortified (hehehe death joke about vampire fans) by this new take. While this is true, Meyer ended up writing four best sellers, getting movie deals for all 4 books, and has turned her take on vampires into a multi-million dollar venture.
In conclusion, challenging the stereotype of a genre IS scary, and will raise the ire of some, but that does not mean you shouldn’t do it.
…it just means you should write your story for a specific target audience…or y’know, commit to writing a quality story. A sort of Admiral Halsey take on it, “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”
I agree with both Mattmack and the admiral.