Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Genre?

Genre. 
I'm calling on other writers to help me out here.  I have no idea what genre I fit into.

The history of how I came to what I write about starts from when I read Little Women as a child.  I had a huge imagination, and like Jo, I wrote fantasy based stories.  When I read the professor's advice on writing what she knew, it got the wheels turning and I actually stopped writing.  I figured a teenager growing up in suburban Wisconsin didn't have much interesting material to write about, so I went about my life seeking adventure.

I took a course to be an emergency medical technician (EMT) when I was 19 and worked in the inner city of Milwaukee for a couple of years, and did ski patrol on the weekends.  I backpacked through Ecuador, S. America when I was 20 for a month, and then got on the waiting list for nursing school at the local tech college, and moved to Ecuador for 10 months.  I ended up staying for three years instead, and lived in three different locations including the rainforest.  I fell in love and married my husband, and then we both moved to the States so we could pursue education.  I studied nursing and he studied computer programming.

Now after all these years, I'm back to writing.  Although I'm not Hispanic (funny thing is I look more Hispanic then my husband because I'm 75% European descent and 25% Philipino, AND I speak fluent Spanish now), I know a lot about the Hispanic culture because of living there, my husband, and my friends.  So that's what I write about.  My WIP is about a young American woman who travels to S. America and is inspired to study nursing and return as a volunteer.  She ends up in the rainforest in a small town where she discovers they are growing cocaine.  The government steps in and puts an end to it, and the cartel seeks retribution.  Oh, and she falls in love with the doctor running the clinic where she works.

So, what genre is that?  Mainstream?  Romance?  Help!  I'm so confused.

Then so I can get to know YOU better, how did you end up in the genre you write in?

19 comments:

  1. I'm not so good at the Genre thing but it sounds like a Contemporary novel to me. Or maybe a Mystery, depending on exactly how it plays out.

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    1. Thank you for your comment! I wonder what the difference is between Contemporary or Mainstream, but I know it won't end up a mystery. I love reading mysteries but I'm not sure I'd be good at writing them.

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  2. Hey Honey! There's a tag for you at my blog.:)

    http://mistoftheblossomrain.blogspot.com/2012/02/tag.html

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  3. Romantic thriller? Think that would work. It's great that you've got so much life experience to draw from.

    I'm still not sure what genre I am either. I guess my novels would have to be called thrillers because of the situations that happen, but I don't think they follow the normal rules. I'm very interested in how the characters are affected during the story.

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    1. Thanks for the feedback, and you're right, genre isn't as clear or as easy for everyone to fit into.

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  4. If it's not focussed on the romance or the relationship - it wouldn't have to be a romantic novel, right? I personally don't know anything about writing, although I read a lot...and "contemporary" or "suspense/action" sounds good to me... :)

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    1. I'm inclined to agree. The novel I'm working on is more about life in South America, with a little action and romance on the side. It was really important to me to not focus on romance, because there were other stories I wanted to tell.

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  5. Thriller/Romance??

    IDK!!

    SOunds fun, though.

    I just FELL into writing YA.

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  6. Unless the main plot is about the romance, your story sounds like general fiction.

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    1. I think you're right, romance is not the focus for me.

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  7. I'd call it a romantic thriller, or just thriller, if it's light on romance but that's just my term for any kind of adventure story set in contemporary times. Honestly, there is so much that can be put in more than one genre these days that I'm not even sure it's necessary to specify.

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  8. Yes, I'd say General Fiction/ Contemporary. :D

    Sounds like a fun project! :D

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    1. Thank you! This has been very helpful and now I feel a little more confident about how to categorize my writing.

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  9. I was told about three months ago that my style of writing is called 'Stream of Consciousness'.

    Hmmm...

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    1. Hmmm is right! Now I've got to check out your blog!

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    2. Hmmm is right. What does THAT mean?

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