Starting to write: Finding your genre

For so long I was hung up on finding where my writing fit in the world. Which genre was I writing in? Which genre should I write in? How does my work compare to other in the same genre? I didn’t know. My writing didn’t seem to fit a box.

These doubts affected my writing. I’d begin stories and leave them unfinished or I’d put off writing a story because I couldn’t place its genre. I lost confidence in my writing. It was like trying to drive with the handbrake on.

Perhaps my need to fit my writing into a neat box was an attempt to receive acknowledgement for my writing. If my work could be identified as literary fiction or romantic fiction, then I’d received some validation, a sign that I was on the right track.

I took a few short writing courses, read around the subject and this is what I learned.

Just write the story

Start with the story. If you’re not already writing within a certain genre, don’t begin with the thought, ‘I’m going to write a crime novel’. These days I begin with the story, let the plot and characters run free. Without the story there can be no genre! A writing workshop tutor of mine once said, ‘Your job is to write the story, genre is the publisher’s job.’

Look at themes

Reviewing my writing for themes was a useful exercise in identifying what I like to write about. Themes of loss, secrets and the past seem to show up in my work.

These common threads weave through historical fiction and timeslip fiction.

That led me to researching how to write historical fiction which helped me understand what readers of the genre expect.

I was then able to amplify certain elements of my stories and work with a focus I hadn’t had before.

Choose your bookshelf

Ask yourself where your book would sit on the shelves of your local bookshop? Back when we were able to go into bookshops, I’d browse the shelves for hours to find authors writing similar books to mine and make a note of the cover design, the blurb, the title.

Knowing where in the market my writing might fit was a useful exercise for other areas of my work too, such as marketing and creating a synopsis for my book.

I needn’t have set out to find my genre because ultimately it chose me. I recall its hazy outline in my formative years when history lessons held me rapt as I felt the pull of the past.

I discovered historical fiction in my late teens when browsing a Borders bookstore (remember them?). I progressed quickly from C J Sansom’s Shardlake series to Philippa Gregory’s Tudor novels and then to Lucinda Riley, Elisabeth Gifford, Sarah Waters, Kate Quinn, Kathryn Hughes and the list goes on!

The very act of committing words to paper is a subconscious one and if you write often enough the right story and genre will find you.