Wednesday, August 5, 2020

IWSG: Choosing a Form

I always find the IWSG's Question of the Month intriguing and thought provoking. This month's question holds true to that!



This Month's Question: Quote . . . "Although I have written a short story collection, the form found me and not the other way around. Don't write short stories, novels or poems. Just write your truth and your stories will mold into the shapes they need to be." Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn't planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?

My Answer: When I first started writing, I just wrote my truth. But then I had the rude awakening that "my truth" didn't fit into the genre norms and was quickly rejected along traditional publishing avenues. At first, that was very disheartening. Then I studied the qualities and expectations of different genres and worked to master the craft of writing. That led to having two books published within the traditional marketplace. Now, I find myself being drawn with my whole being back to writing what I WANT to write, regardless of genre expectations. It's hard finding a balance between writing for myself and writing to satisfy the dynamics of a certain genre.

What about you? Do you choose a form/genre in advance?


4 comments:

  1. Not wanting to write according the the traditional publishing rules is one reason I went Indie.

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  2. I don't choose in advance. Traditional publishers are looking to see where the book will sell and I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but it sounds like you want to write something closer to your heart and maybe indie is the path to go down for that.

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  3. It is a balance. But if you aren't writing what you are happy writing about, why write?

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  4. I think it takes a lot of discipline to write to 'someone else's rules'. Discipline I'm not sure I have, lol. More power to you!

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