by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
 |
| Image: MorgueFile: Bang |
I recently read two posts that I found very interesting. Most interesting to me was the different positions they took (unknowingly…the posts and authors weren’t connected in any way) on the same issue–creative exploration.
One of the blogs is Original Impulse. The blogger is Cynthia Morris, who describes herself as a creative coach for others…I think of her as a writer, since that’s how I know her online. She’s a novelist and essayist and a proponent of having fun creatively, exploring creativity, and–as her site mentions–having a “creative adventure.”
I think I’ve watched with interest especially because she does things that I don’t do…she takes risks where I’m cautious. She does things on a bigger scale than I–she travels to France to sketch and recharge her creative batteries where I might go to a local coffee shop.
And she recently decided to forego her regular blogging and focus on writing…to focus on painting. She explains the hows and whys in her post “Getting Real, Getting Vulnerable, Getting Visual.”
Which I find really inspiring. I do. I never want to feel boxed-in, creatively. Of course, I’d have to adapt what she’s doing to suit my own life. My visual-artistic talent is sub-zero on any scale and I’ve got two kids who still depend on me a lot, so travel is pretty much out of the question. But…it’s just another reminder of those stories that are asking to be written. Some time soon I’m going to shift focus to them (and no, they’re not traditional mysteries.)
The other post, which took a strikingly different view, was by experienced writer James L. Rubart in his post “You Can Only Write in One Genre. Period. End of Story.” And, as he mentions in his first paragraph, the post title pretty much sums up his feelings on the subject…the remainder of the post he explains his position on the topic.
My post isn’t a tale of a good approach and a bad approach or what to do or what not to do. James Rubart has some very good points in his piece and he’s looking out for readers and writers, too…which I appreciate. Yes, readers can get confused when we branch out into different genres. We’ve carefully built up reader loyalty, then we’re pulling the rug out from under them. Worst case scenario, they feel tricked.
This, honestly, is one of the real joys of self-publishing. As I read through the comments, I kept looking for someone to bring that point up. Finally, near the middle of the (long) list of comments, I found someone–James Scott Bell, as a matter of fact. As James stated:
Branding has been an essential element here, due to readership building,
store ordering and shelf space. All that’s been turned around in the
digital age. I reflected on that
a bit ago. Traditional publishers are starting to catch on, albeit
slowly, to the idea that (to paraphrase the old Wonder Bread
commercials) a writer can build strong readers 12 ways.
There are many ways to address this problem and none of them involve short-changing ourselves creatively. For one, we don’t have to face a roadblock from an agent or publisher if we want to explore a different genre–we can publish the book ourselves.
For another…if we really don’t want a dedicated reader to accidentally purchase a book in a different genre, we could use a pseudonym. Yes, it means building up another brand. But it’s worth it. And…it’s easy enough these days to link the two names together on sites like Goodreads and Amazon. Our websites could also list the books with a disclaimer: it’s a different genre than they’re used to reading from us.
Creative freedom and freedom of expression is incredibly important for us to thrive and continue producing…and producing quality content. We need to find the balance between satisfying our own creative impulses and making it a satisfying experience for our readers.
Have you considered writing other genres? Or…even exploring other artistic formats?
Yes! Finally, someone mentioned using a penname in this whole “one genre” debate! This has been bouncing around in various blogging circles, and nobody ever seems to bring up pennames. Thank you!
I’ve written action/adventure since my teens, but lately I’ve begun dabbling in mysteries. As a kid, mystery was my genre of choice. I had a special place in my heart for the Three Investigators. But reading it and writing it are two completely different animals.
I paint, too, and sometimes it helps me to take a break from writing and draw some concept art of a character or a scene. Then I go back to writing with a refreshed mind. If you don’t draw, you could always make Pinterest boards. :-)
Elizabeth – As I read your post, I was thinking about how important it is for an author to stay enthusiastic about writing. Of course there are days when it doesn’t go well, and days when you wonder why you go through it all. But in the main, that spark has to stay there or the author’s writing suffers. And that is not fair to readers. So I like the idea of any kind of creative stretching that helps keep the author interested. Painting, music, trying another kind of writing, all of them help.
I am not a well-known author, so I really don’t have to think about this too much, but it seems to me a pen name is a perfect solution to the dilemma. I would never want to not write something that was compelling to me because readers might get confused.
Karen
Kessie–I’ve noticed that, too–why aren’t people mentioning pen names? Maybe the fact that I use one makes it so obvious a solution to me. The branding is a little bit of a pain, but it’s rare that readers are surprised that I have another series under a different name. On my pen name’s Facebook page, I’ve currently got the profile picture set as a cover from another series under another name. Easy enough to do.
You know, once you get into the swing of writing mysteries, it gets a lot easier.
Oh….Pinterest! I have a presence there, but it’s pretty addicting! Ha! Although I did feel almost artsy when I was arranging those boards.
I’m a photographer as well as writer, with other creative things I like to do.
Different genres can also fit in with different aspects of our lives. My non-fiction ties with my speaking engagements, which is why I wrote those two book outside of my YA fiction.
@Kessie: One of the commenters brought up pen names in the comments of the second article, and I did in brief in my own article on the topic.
Yes, I responded to that the “you can only write one genre” article on my blog. I had a lot to say about that.
Such a great post, and I love James Scott Bell’s comment to the genre post to which you referred.
I write, I paint (oil, acrylic, watercolor), I draw (pencil, ink, oil pastels), I sew (clothing, costumes, duvet covers, quilts, etc.), I craft (Sculpey, wreath-making, bead work, more), I love to dabble in interior design, and I cook (by cook, I mean I take a recipe, tear it apart, and put it back together the way I envision it should be, and I develop recipes, too).
I’m the only one in my family – immediate and extended – who enjoys such a wide variety of creative endeavors. They theorize that I received 90% of our family line’s creative gene. :-)
As for genres… I won’t limit myself. To do so might stifle my creativity. ;-)
P.S. Hooray for planning a move t WordPress. I moved my site from Blogger to self-hosted WordPress in early fall, and am happily gobsmacked by the level of awesome. :-)
I don’t happen to think that an author is tied to one genre. Even traditionally published authors spread their wings and try new genres.
As one who visits a lot of author websites, I see the duality frequently. Linking isn’t all that hard to do. And some of the authors have entry page on their website, one picture/link to one genre and pen name, and another for their other persona.
Digital offers a lot of choices for a writer.
I publish a middle-grade fantasy series through a small press. That uses one name (M.E.Sutton). Soon (I hope), I’ll be published in a different genre, police-procedural mystery, and I’m using a pen name – because I don’t want kids stumbling on fiction with violence/cussing/etc. The names are linked on my Facebook page and my website. I reference it on Twitter.
Harder than maintaining one brand? Probably. But better than not writing a story that speaks to me very strongly.
Margot–It’s so important to keep the creative juices flowing, isn’t it? If we dry up and our writing dries up…we’ll lose the readers.
Diane–Right. You’re not *just* a writer…you’re a photographer and a public speaker. I’m more than a mystery writer (although I haven’t spent the time to figure out what, yet!)
Chihuahua Zero–I think you were an early commenter on that article. :) You seemed a little stunned by his post, which I understood…ha! No good to feel limited, is it?
Ellen–Ha! You hogged all the creativity! Seriously…that’s a huge amount of creativity there. Mine is very, very limited to writing. :)
Re WordPress…yes, I’m ultra-sick of Blogger! Was years ago, actually. When it moves into commenting problems, though, then it’s time to make a move!
~Sia McKye–Very true. Although it’s tough. I know I mentioned to my agent once about exploring other genres and she certainly wasn’t gung-ho about it…that’s only natural. Publishers have gotten very conservative lately and aren’t likely to take many chances. That’s why it’s great to have options.
Oh, that’s interesting–linking to the pen name persona on the main website and using a different photo for the pen name. I like that idea. Tying it all together, but different branding.
Karen–Pen names are the perfect solution, aren’t they?
Mary–Good luck with the mystery! Sounds like you’re setting it all up perfectly…linking to the other stories, but using a pen name. I’d definitely do the same when I change genres (which I definitely plan on.)
Exactly. I can’t imagine deciding not to write a story because I’m already branded in another genre. That makes me sad just thinking about it.
Constantly. I keep switching between thrillers and mystery, knowing that it’s a game of Russian Roulette with my career. Eventually one will get published, and that’s where I go with the rest of writing career. I’m back on mystery now, and it seems to be where I’m happiest. But I do hope that someday I can try some different things.
Ron–If you want to go traditional, I’d say find an agent who’s happy to work both genres and query separately. Or set up a pen name for one genre and link to them on your website. I know, as a mystery reader, I enjoy reading both thrillers (well, they scare me to death, but I enjoy them), and police procedurals, cozies, and even the occasional Noir. :)
Great povs! I think both positions are very valid. And you’re so right – the self pubbing and pen name use can solve it all! :)
My other creative outlet is music. I guess if I were to genre hop now, I could try writing song lyrics and music.
You said a mouthful with a little post.
Risk taking: sometimes you leap, sometimes you’re pushed, but just being an artist at all means making a leap of faith at some time. (Or maybe hundreds of little tiny hops.)
As for writing in one genre: That presupposes so many things. That you write in a firm genre, that the genre doesn’t change, that you are good at that genre (and know which you are best at).
We’re blessed by being mystery writers — a genre which is series-oriented AND blessed with flexibility. Series, in mystery, are like subgenres. Each has a flavor. And many mystery writers have written different series to explore different ideas or styles. Or done stand alone books between series books. We as readers are richer for it — but if we don’t like it, we stick to the series we like best.
Alex–I hope you’ll do it!
Considering that Amazon, blog posts, websites and book back covers all have descriptions of each book (and the genre, in most cases) how in the world can a reader “accidentally” pick up a “wrong” book from a writer?
Take Ayelet Waldman, for example. There’s no way I’d confuse her Mommy Track Mysteries with her memoirs or her literary novels. Readers read, and that includes dust jackets and book descriptions.
This James Rubart fellow sounds like he ate some sour grapes. His reasoning is ridiculous and merely anecdotal. Sure, some people get pigeon-holed because they rocket to fame on a particular vehicle/genre. But if a writer considers herself an artist and wants to stretch her wings, it’s her responsibility to do so. This type of writer isn’t writing to pander to audiences, anyway.
I’ll write anything I please, under my given name, because it’s what I WANT to do. I’m sure not going to stop growing and creating based on a hypothetical lost soul wandering among the stacks at Barnes & Noble, clueless as to if I’m “that” author she assumed only wrote “those” kind of books.
Jemi–Easy fix! Can be time-consuming, but at least it’s not soul-destroying (as miserably boxing ourselves in would be!)
The Daring Novelist–It’s all a leap of faith, isn’t it? Starting out with believing in ourselves.
Good point. What if readers decide they’re done with a genre? (P.I. suffered that fate a while back). What if you’re actually stronger at a different genre?
Mystery has *so* much flexibility. You can go from tiny tweaks of differences (when Christie went from Poirot to Marple) to huge differences: cozy to noir.
Elizabeth,
Thanks for such a great post, and for mentioning me and my shift from writing to writing + images.
You don’t have to go to France to play creatively! I have something I am developing for summer that you – and your kids – will love. Stay tuned on that.
Regarding focusing on one genre, if you have a mission to succeed in the ‘traditional’ marketplace, yes, you have to play by those rules.
But with self-publishing on the rise, it’s just more fun for the person willing to apply her creativity to launching and promoting her books. It’s a lot of work, but if you can find ways to make it creative and fun, it is so gratifying.
Aside from that, in my experience, most people are writing because the love it. They can’t NOT write. And like many people here, that’s not where their creative exuberance ends.
It took me an enormous amount of focus and discipline and work to finish and publish my novel. Alongside that, I played with color and lines and form in my journals, and I developed creativity workshops to teach in France. Those allowed me to go to France to research my Paris novel.
Somehow it all fit together, and now that the novel is done, I get to play more with color and line and form.
Bottom line for me and I dare say a lot of us:
the creative force trumps market forces every time. We must create, and sort out how the world will receive it later.
Thanks again for mentioning me and my new, gulp, adventures!
Cynthia–I enjoyed your post. It was very inspiring…especially for someone who doesn’t get out much!
And you’re so right–there are rules, depending which direction we go in. I never really expected my agent or publishers to be thrilled when I mentioned experimenting with other genres…and they weren’t. :) But then, that’s the business side–it’s pretty serious, like all businesses are.
The problem for me is that my novels are never done…ha! I’m contracted into series, which I love, but which do–by definition–tie me down a bit. I think, for me, the way you experimented with art while you worked on your novel would translate into my developing a new concept/series for later exploration.
Creative force trumping market force…this is a new concept for me. :) I’m definitely a commercial writer and I write for my audience, carefully listening to them to determine what might please them most. At the same time, I’d like to modify what I’m doing so that I can pursue *other* projects for *other* audiences, making it just as pleasing for them, but also creatively satisfying for me. It’s an exciting time!
Good luck and best wishes on your adventures!
Janet–Well put! Ha! And I love what you’re saying about our personal freedom and creativity. Previously, I think, only the big names “got away” with writing multiple genres under their real name (Grisham comes to mind) and that’s because of the gatekeeper process. The publishers created a brand (now *we* do it) for their products with a cover and careful editing and they didn’t need the author to suddenly decide to mess up the brand for their name by going in a different direction (so, basically, they’d shut us down before we could do it…too much of an investment in us for us to do something different.) Now we can *all* “get away” with doing it.
You’re right–readers do have some responsibility to double-check the product they’re buying. If I like Panasonic TVs and I decide to buy a bunch of Panasonic products just because they have the Panasonic name on them, I’m going to end up with a huge range of stuff…not just TVs. It’s my responsibility to make sure I get the product I want with the brand I want.
Before now, though, authors*were* the brand. So if I told everyone I’d just bought a Stephen King book, everyone knows I’m going to sleep with the lights on. He wrote other stuff under a pen name, since he knew what his brand was. Nowadays, he could easily shift to another genre by putting the books out himself. Now, he’s such a big name that there *would* be reader confusion. But smaller name writers could get away with it easier. The publishers would be sure that the authors kept in line by sticking with their publishing house and sticking to their genre.
I think readers haven’t been in the *habit* of checking our description because gatekeeping publishers have made sure we stick to our brand. As more and more of us experiment, they will *learn* to check the description. There’s just so much competition for readers now…because there’s so much product on the market…that many of us (myself included) are scared to turn off the readers we do have.
I’ve had readers to Facebook and email me saying, “I just love your books. I’ll read anything you write.” I’ve been lucky enough to get 5 or 6 of those notes, but each time I’m mentally shaking my head, thinking, “You won’t want to.” Because one day, I’m going to write something so radically different that it *won’t* be an “Elizabeth Craig book.” It’ll be such a different facet to me that it won’t belong with the rest of my body of work.
But I’m thinking you’ve looked into the future here and you’re right–writers are going to experiment more with this freedom and readers will learn to double-check the genre their favorite authors are writing in.
This is interesting. Yes, I’ve considered writing in different genres, and actually have, on the magazine side–nonfiction for smaller children. I also wouldn’t mind writing a grown up book at some point. (right now I write for teens)
Great points, Elizabeth, about how the gatekeepers made authors stick to “brand”. Personally, as a reader–even in “those days” (gosh, how fast things change!)–I’ve never felt entitled to “force” an author to write in a particular genre (mentally), which means I wasn’t surprised if they wrote something different. In fact, I was always surprised and delighted at their talent to do so!
I read a post by Fauzia Burke, founder of FSB Associates, saying that their experiments/research showed that it was better for authors on Facebook to have ONE dedicated author page instead of multiple book pages. I’ve been pondering this for weeks, but I think I’m going to create an FB author page today. That way, ALL of my books are covered under my name–non-fiction, fiction, blogging, reviews…everything I write.
I agree with Joel: readers are smart! And, quite frankly, if I had a reader that would honestly and seriously whine if I jumped genres…I wouldn’t care if they stopped being a fan (because those are the kinds I can do without).
Btw, Elizabeth, laughed at “oh no you wouldn’t”. LOL You’d be surprised at how loyal some fans are, especially if they enjoy how we string words together. ;o)
I write business books about marketing and customer service, books about publishing, and mysteries. I write folk songs, alt-country, aggressive rock, and Arabic trance.
I market myself as a package. I trust my fans not to buy a book on self-employment believing they’re getting a mystery.
And when my homage to P. G. Wodehouse is done in next year, I’ll clearly explain what it is, and trust my fans to realize it’s not a Chandleresque cozy like my other fiction.
I think we’re safe assuming our fans are smart people. They’re readers, after all.
Julie –I’m thinking the reverse! I might want to write MG one day. :)
Joel–Y’all are truly fascinating me! I’ve never, *never* thought about marketing future works in other genres as a whole branded Elizabeth Craig Package. I think I’m afraid the readers are…well, they’re smart, of course!…but that they might be as absentminded as I am. But they probably aren’t writing stories in their heads, so maybe they won’t be as out of it as I am. It’s also occurring to me that the whole traditional publishing concept of marketing is further ingrained into my brain than I thought it might be.
And…I’m feeling tremendously dissatisfied with what I drew from the hat in the gifts lottery. Non-fic, fic, *and* you write music? That’s absolutely amazing!
Hi Elizabeth .. great comments you’ve got here. It’s interesting to read everyone’s thoughts on pen names and branding …
Cheers Hilary
Janet–As a reader, I am too. :)
Did you create your FB page? Mine links to my other page with the pen name. Then I do have a separate personal account since I’ve got pictures of my kids and all….they’re not public figures and don’t want to be….so I’ve got a grand total of 3 FB pages. A remarkable number for someone who dislikes FB as much as I do!
Hilary –I love all the comments and ideas. Thanks for coming by!
You know, Elizabeth, I decided not to. Reading this blog post convinced me it was a waste of time: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-hill/do-authors-need-a-facebook-page_b_2703282.html
Ah, Elizabeth, give me a week, and I’ll have you writing songs in whatever your favorite genre is (unless that’s opera.)
And you already write both fiction and non-fiction, right? (Your entire blog is about 10 books worth of non-fiction.)
You probably don’t realize it, because none of us see this in ourselves, but your personality comes through loud and clear in your posts and comments. I’ll bet most of your regular visitors are here because they’re drawn to you, not just some specific aspect of your art.
The product is you. I’ve never seen a southern gal yet who couldn’t own a room if she wanted it.
(And if you’d like to chat in more detail about who what when where and why, I’m so delighted to share.)
Did publish a non-fic, but pretty much same tone and subject as my fiction. It’s not doing too well, but right now that is true for all my work.