Developing a writing niche is not as easy as it may sound. I suspect it is
something that takes countless hours of honing and crafting. In efforts to minimize the length of time it would take to discover which genre is right for me, I sought wisdom on how
to precede. I was advised by a fellow writer to pen what
I love to read. Although sage advice, it
proved non-effective for me. I’ve been reading (as a hobby) since I was child.
Through out time, I have come to love many different types of books including
non-fiction. Writing what I read only leaves me where I started, clueless and unstructured.
Still searching for a solution, I've decided to write what
comes naturally. That has led me to a shorter list of genres, but a list to sift through none
the less. What’s a girl to do?
So here we go. To the narrowing….;)
Currents genres of choice:
Romance- Boy meets girl; boy can't keep his eyes off girl and vice versa. Eventually they agree to a cup of coffee, a few barriers here and there, then it's love from sunrise to sunset. I can never get enough of this type of story line. There are so many variations of how romance novels plays out but they usually follow the same end game: eternal love. I particularly enjoy Contemporary Romance, African-American Romance, Multicultural /Interracial Romance and even Erotica. Oh my!
My
baby, my first long project currently dubbed "the novel that could", fits very nicely into this
genre. Considering how much I use the word (in this blog let alone) it makes since for love to be my first. It’s rare that I can read any fiction story that does not
include some type of romantic plotting. There are exceptions to this rule but I think every
good story contains strong relationships. I just prefer the up close and personal kind.
Urban Fantasy- I use this term loosely to include Paranormal
romance, Paranormal fiction, speculative fiction and all things that go bump in the night
and even those thing that have found a way to travel by day ;). Let me just over emphasize that I LOVE ALL FANTASY in general but I tend to prefer vampires over dystopian rangers, parallel worlds vs imaginary universes and most things "low fantasy". Also, I dig Mary Sueisms, vamps on a diet, somewhere in these 350 pages there will be a moral high ground more so than the truly dark and morose. However, a good balance of both seems to make the best reads of all time.
Women’s Lit- I find myself interested (at least on a small scale) in
mainstream books that tend to focus on women’s issues and sisterhood. Some of
the prompts and short takes I’ve written have been along these lines. 
YA Fiction- Out of all the genres I am currently exploring I get antsy about this one the most. I find myself creating young characters often. However, I feel there is a strong responsibility in writing to this audience. One that I am still deciding if I am willing to take it on. My life’s work outside of writing has been(until recently) working with youth and young adults. I love this population of readers but I have to make sure it's the right fit before I venture on such a huge task. By the way WIP2 will most likely be a YA urban fantasy story because the main characters are teens and early 20’s.
No matter which genre(s) I'll ultimately call my own, it is my desire to write with culturally diverse characters, many who are
POC or come from marginalized backgrounds. There is still an abundant need to write about such characters.
I welcome you to join me on this journey. It'll be a wild one!
As I revealed in my last post, I’m changing this blog to
focus on my writing and reading goals. For the time being it will be a mix of
the genres that I now read and write in the most with a goal to discover which
is my most dominant focus. Bear with me during this time. :)
~Misty Miles aka TKP
~Misty Miles aka TKP
