IWSG Day & The Next Phase

OMG, it’s September already?! Where has the time gone? Well at least it’s the favorite time of the month for us writers because it’s IWSG Day. The first Wednesday of the new month where writers come together on a blog hop. To help support each other in their success and when they’re downtrodden. Thanks goes to Alex Cavanaugh for creating this camaraderie between us.

And thanks goes to the awesome co-hosts for the September 6 posting of the IWSG: Tyrean Martinson, Tara Tyler, Raimey Gallant, and Beverly Stowe McClure! Don’t forget to stop by and say hi. 😀

Interested in joining us? Click on the badge above. Our Twitter hashtag and handle are #IWSG and @TheIWSG.

What’s going on with me this month?

Well, I’m back from my blogging break. But now that I’m back, I hardly know what to blog about. Coming up with posts for the next couple of weeks won’t be as easy as my first post back. A “To or Not To” post about pen names. If you’d missed it, please visit and add your two cents.

Advertisements

IWSG Day & Writing in the Right Genre

It’s the third day of the month and you know what that means. It’s IWSG day again! And on this illustrious day us writers share our woes and triumphs. As well as encourage our fellow writers on our writing endeavors. As always, thank you Alex Cavanaugh for creating this writing community haven!

To find out more about the group and/or maybe even sign-up, click on the badge above.  And don’t forget to check out the co-hosts for September:  C. Lee McKenzie,Rachel Pattison, Elizabeth Seckman, Stephanie Faris, Lori L MacLaughlin, and Elsie Amata!

Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG.

So, what’s going on with me in this month? Well, something’s been on my mind since August and the Wattys. And it’s about genre, specifically what is the right genre to write in.

The Writer’s Recipe

Credit book image: GraphicStock

If no two reader reads the same book, then no two writers writes the same book.

With all the veritable creative writing tips out there on how to write a novel, why is it so hard to write? Can it be as it is an arduous process you often have to do alone? That writers will lose their morale and give up? That we begin to doubt ourselves and wonder if we’ll ever write like Nikki Giovanni or Maya Angelou. Or like John Grisham or John Steinbeck. Like J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin.

No matter how many writing advice given and followed by other writers, how can we stand out from the crowd? In “What You Talkin Bout Genre?,” I stressed the importance about knowing the genre you’re writing in. To know your genre you should read similar works and following its particular writing formula. That is step one in writing effectively for your specific genre. Step two is studying your own writing and figuring out your writing style.

What You Talkin’ Bout Genre?

All writing is categorized. And in more ways than you can count. You have your genres, your subgenres and you can even create your own by mixing it up. But why? You’d think that writing is writing but I’m afraid not. Just as fiction writing is different from nonfiction, you also have different types of fiction.

As a writer you have to understand that all writing is not created equal. Each has a stylistic criteria and or formula. And to help recognize and incorporate that into your own writing, you must read a lot. Study the cliches and reinvent them. Knowing your genre criteria will help you write it more effectively in the long run.