If you write about women, is it automatically called ‘Chit Lit’? If in the same book there is a murder, do you call it a ‘Cozy Mystery’? I’ve pondered this genre dilemma ever sense I began writing. The minute you put pen to page and throw it out there to the mass market, you are considered to be in one genre or another. I guess I’m all right with this because I do want readers who are interested in the type of books I write. Since nothing is ever new, I’m sure there are similar books out there that would make what I write fall into a genre. What bothers me is that slight confining feeling I’m beginning to feel when people throw me in this genre or that genre. To say that I’m a female, African American, does it make me a female writer or an African American writer who writes female stories about African Americans. What if my protagonist is a white guy from Jersey, who drives trucks across the country? What am I then?
I know that when I walk into a bookstore or buy on line, it is the story that always catches my eye and my wallet. If at the end of the day, I have a penchant for mysteries, suspense, romance, and science fiction thrillers, is that a genre. Lately, I want to find books to read out of my comfort zone. I want to discover an author I’d never read before. I’ve also had the urge to write out of my genre as well. Mostly out of curiosity, I want to dip my toe into water of a different color. I don’t want to find myself twenty years now, writing the same old thing. I’m content for the moment to be place in a particular genre by readers or reviewers. It’s not worth it to argue the point…or is it?
I know that when I walk into a bookstore or buy on line, it is the story that always catches my eye and my wallet. If at the end of the day, I have a penchant for mysteries, suspense, romance, and science fiction thrillers, is that a genre. Lately, I want to find books to read out of my comfort zone. I want to discover an author I’d never read before. I’ve also had the urge to write out of my genre as well. Mostly out of curiosity, I want to dip my toe into water of a different color. I don’t want to find myself twenty years now, writing the same old thing. I’m content for the moment to be place in a particular genre by readers or reviewers. It’s not worth it to argue the point…or is it?
