Genre? What Genre??

I'm in pensive mood, on two accounts.  I'm reacting partly to a blog-entry by Claire Delacroix (writer of romantic historical fiction) on writing the dreaded book synopsis (http://www.delacroix.net/blog/?p=69).  In the course of this article, she analysed the components which make up the genre of historical time-slip romance.  The second item of interest was an interview with a bunch of young actors on the BBC News Channel which discussed the soaring popularity of the Vampire genre, following the success of the Twilight books. 

I find it impossible to write according to the rules of a specific genre.  I cut my teeth writing fanlit, but even then, I'd established my own style before I started getting it circulated more widely.  I always preferred to write for me, rather than aim at a target audience.   I was brought up on science fiction and fantasy; as a teenager, my favourite authors were Bradbury, Le Guin and Tolkein.  Later on, I became familiar with C J Cherryh's work, and I was hooked.  I still think there's no finer exponent of space opera.

I came late to historical fiction.  I only started reading it once I'd established my own voice in the genre.  But often when I read historical fiction I feel cheated, particularly with the Scottish stuff.  Everything revolves around Kings and Queens and History (with a Capital 'H').  In a way, it often seems a bit divorced from reality.  It fails to reflect the complexities of everyday life, which is precisely what I find so fascinating about history in the first place.  In the real world, people don't get up in the morning and say, 'oh, I think I'll make some History today'.   History is what happens when a bunch of folk just try to do what's best for themselves and their families in what can sometimes be a very hostile, difficult environment.  Sometimes these folk are royalty, but most of the time they're carters and stable-hands and cooks and country gentlemen. 

In my book, good science fiction and good historical fiction have a lot in common. I enjoy writing historical fiction because it allows me to view the Past differently, to go beyond the facts and extrapolate in a way I cannot do if I'm writing for an academic or professional readership.  When I started writing historical fiction, I thought I'd be a bit different, and write my history from the bottom up.  I took a fairly low-key (but real) historical character, do my best to recreate his life by following him through the historical sources and then I'd see how the big events played out through his powerless eyes.  In other words, it was historical fiction inspired by the mix of poltical thriller and space opera as practised by C J Cherryh. 

Big mistake.  Try marketing the thing, especially in Scotland.  One awfully nice publisher said something along the lines of 'this is great.  We'd take it if you wrote about somebody famous'.  The rest didn't really want to know at all. 

All this is by the by. My novel eventually found a publisher and while this has not been without its share of angst and frustrations, given current circumstances in the world of publishing, I ain't complaining.  Okay, I'm unlikely to hit the big time, but at least I've written something I enjoy reading and that reflects what I think the story is (and maybe even was) about.

When I embarked upon a brand new project , I was determined to do things differently.  I wanted to write genre in the form of a time-slip romance, but when I started to write it, it did its own thing and now it's more like a thriller.  But it isn't quite a thriller.  It's speculative, but it's not science-fiction.  It's not literary.  It's not historical fiction.  To be blunt, I don't know what it is.  If I was given ten minutes to pitch it to an agent, I wouldn't know where to begin.   

During the process of creation, the problem of classification has been immaterial, but there comes a time when you need to try and sell the thing and that's when the trouble starts.  When the publishing world is run according to the rules of marketing, something which slips between genres just doesn't work. 

Why can't I just write straight-forward genre?  Life'd be so much easier then.  Less challenging.  

On second thoughts, it would probably be less fun, too. 

Genre? What Genre??

I'm in pensive mood, on two accounts.  I'm reacting partly to a blog-entry by Claire Delacroix (writer of romantic historical fiction) on writing the dreaded book synopsis (http://www.delacroix.net/blog/?p=69).  In the course of this article, she analysed the components which make up the genre of historical time-slip romance.  The second item of interest was an interview with a bunch of young actors on the BBC News Channel which discussed the soaring popularity of the Vampire genre, following the success of the Twilight books. 

I find it impossible to write according to the rules of a specific genre.  I cut my teeth writing fanlit, but even then, I'd established my own style before I started getting it circulated more widely.  I always preferred to write for me, rather than aim at a target audience.   I was brought up on science fiction and fantasy; as a teenager, my favourite authors were Bradbury, Le Guin and Tolkein.  Later on, I became familiar with C J Cherryh's work, and I was hooked.  I still think there's no finer exponent of space opera.

I came late to historical fiction.  I only started reading it once I'd established my own voice in the genre.  But often when I read historical fiction I feel cheated, particularly with the Scottish stuff.  Everything revolves around Kings and Queens and History (with a Capital 'H').  In a way, it often seems a bit divorced from reality.  It fails to reflect the complexities of everyday life, which is precisely what I find so fascinating about history in the first place.  In the real world, people don't get up in the morning and say, 'oh, I think I'll make some History today'.   History is what happens when a bunch of folk just try to do what's best for themselves and their families in what can sometimes be a very hostile, difficult environment.  Sometimes these folk are royalty, but most of the time they're carters and stable-hands and cooks and country gentlemen. 

In my book, good science fiction and good historical fiction have a lot in common. I enjoy writing historical fiction because it allows me to view the Past differently, to go beyond the facts and extrapolate in a way I cannot do if I'm writing for an academic or professional readership.  When I started writing historical fiction, I thought I'd be a bit different, and write my history from the bottom up.  I took a fairly low-key (but real) historical character, do my best to recreate his life by following him through the historical sources and then I'd see how the big events played out through his powerless eyes.  In other words, it was historical fiction inspired by the mix of poltical thriller and space opera as practised by C J Cherryh. 

Big mistake.  Try marketing the thing, especially in Scotland.  One awfully nice publisher said something along the lines of 'this is great.  We'd take it if you wrote about somebody famous'.  The rest didn't really want to know at all. 

All this is by the by. My novel eventually found a publisher and while this has not been without its share of angst and frustrations, given current circumstances in the world of publishing, I ain't complaining.  Okay, I'm unlikely to hit the big time, but at least I've written something I enjoy reading and that reflects what I think the story is (and maybe even was) about.

When I embarked upon a brand new project , I was determined to do things differently.  I wanted to write genre in the form of a time-slip romance, but when I started to write it, it did its own thing and now it's more like a thriller.  But it isn't quite a thriller.  It's speculative, but it's not science-fiction.  It's not literary.  It's not historical fiction.  To be blunt, I don't know what it is.  If I was given ten minutes to pitch it to an agent, I wouldn't know where to begin.   

During the process of creation, the problem of classification has been immaterial, but there comes a time when you need to try and sell the thing and that's when the trouble starts.  When the publishing world is run according to the rules of marketing, something which slips between genres just doesn't work. 

Why can't I just write straight-forward genre?  Life'd be so much easier then.  Less challenging.  

On second thoughts, it would probably be less fun, too.