I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things, both with writing and blogging, and I appreciate those of you who’ve stuck around. 
The writing is going ok; I’m chugging along at about 43,600 words… But my mind is still bouncing all over the place, with ideas for stories bombarding me and begging for attention.
I reread Jane Eyre over the week, and it made me think about genres – specifically, how well we know, or need to know, the genres we’re writing in. The WIP I’m working on now is a historical fiction, set in late-Victorian London.
I’m not a huge fan of historical fiction; in fact, I’d be hard-pressed to name the last HF book I read. And instead of reading books from the genre, in order to gain some knowledge over the style and conventions, I’ve actually been reading books from the era, i.e. Thomas Hardy, Louisa May Alcott, etc. I feel like this is a better way of assimilating the culture, language, behavior, and other such characteristics of the era rather than reading it second-hand, as it were, in an HF novel.
I wonder if that works across genres though; I mean to say that if I were writing a crime novel, for example, I would be more likely to read some true crime books rather than going through novels in the genre. For mysteries and thrillers, I would be more apt to turn to Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, or Poe stories.
I know authors tend to write in the genre they most enjoy reading, but is that always necessarily the case? I mean, as long as the writing is good, plotting and pacing make sense, who cares whether you follow the conventions of the genre or not, right?
Right? :/
I tend to write the genre I’m most comfortable in – YA fantasy, however, I read everything. I do have an adult psychological thriller in the works but I haven’t written on it in a while. I should probably revisit it. Spark some creative juices.
Ya, I tend to jump around a bit :p especially when I feel myself growing bored with my current WIP
I think the only thing to remember about reading what was once contemporary fiction is that they had very different values and very different writing styles. What might have sold then may not sell now. I tend to d the opposite and when I’m in writing mode i try and not read any non-modern regencies. Glad to hear you are chugging along. I’m at 94K now and the end if finally nearing. Yay!
94k! Spectacular! Congratulations
I see your point, but I don’t read them to get a sense of the literary style (they tend to drag a bit at the beginning.) But more for the language, culture, and stuff.
I am pretty much omnivorous when it comes to reading, but there are some genres that I wouldn’t naturally gravitate towards (Science-fiction for example, although when I do read some good ones, I enjoy them). I can see what you mean that you want to absorb the time period through the literature of the period. But I also agree with Jessica, that styles have moved on. It might be useful to have a look at some historical fiction and see what is popular and why. Not to compare yourself with them, but simply to research the market a bit.
Ya, I guess I just like immersing myself in the language from back then. But reading historical fiction would definitely help in terms of seeing what sells…
I am not sure about “genre” classification, to be honest, isn’t writing about inventing, using what precedes to create new? I know we need some sort of taxonomy, but should it drive how we write, and what we write about?
No, it shouldn’t. I agree
But inevitably the writing will fall into some sort of genre or sub-genre… even if it, say, bleeds between multiple genres.
I don’t allow it to dictate how I write, but I do find myself thinking about it at certain points… like when I try to imagine what the reader would think of a particular scene or chapter…