One reason to write genre/entertainment fiction would be because you love that genre (I really love cozy mysteries, although I have no idea how to write one) but another reason might be for the learning experience of writing a completed manuscript. If you (or any of us, including me) wrote an entire romance novel, beginning to end, following the formula (which there's no more shame in than if you followed the recipe the first few times you attempted a complicated cooking dish) you'd learn infinitely more than if you took a writing class, or series of classes.
I know Janet Evanovich wouldn't make the reading list of any university fine literature classes, but she entertains and brings joy to her readers. She started with formula romance, and you can tell that she wrote them very tongue-in-cheek, and appears to still have that laid back (while not condescending) attitude towards her early work.
Maybe a little research would yield some more satisfying examples of the romance genre? I'm not sure what all's out there, but with so many romances published I would hope there's an imprint and at least some authors who write strong female characters. Once you got your name out there (even a pen name, like Janet Evanovich did) you'd have your foot in the door as far as getting an agent/publisher for the books you'd prefer to write. Maybe you'd even end up falling for the genre...who knows? There's such a huge reader base and such an enormous support system for romance writers.
I've talked about this with my family, and my 13 year old son actually made an excellent point. He said when you're learning an instrument you start small with Hot Crossed Buns and whatnot, work your way up to covers of famous bands, then start with the most rudimentary music composition (okay, he didn't say rudimentary, but that was the gist). Using the training wheels of genre/entertainment fiction writing formulas while we're learning the craft is an excellent idea, not a shameful one, and naturally your own style and values will thread themselves through the basic structures of the formula.
It's all so hard to figure out! Sorry this reply is so long ^^; and best of luck.
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Date: 2009-08-14 11:09 am (UTC)I know Janet Evanovich wouldn't make the reading list of any university fine literature classes, but she entertains and brings joy to her readers. She started with formula romance, and you can tell that she wrote them very tongue-in-cheek, and appears to still have that laid back (while not condescending) attitude towards her early work.
Maybe a little research would yield some more satisfying examples of the romance genre? I'm not sure what all's out there, but with so many romances published I would hope there's an imprint and at least some authors who write strong female characters. Once you got your name out there (even a pen name, like Janet Evanovich did) you'd have your foot in the door as far as getting an agent/publisher for the books you'd prefer to write. Maybe you'd even end up falling for the genre...who knows? There's such a huge reader base and such an enormous support system for romance writers.
I've talked about this with my family, and my 13 year old son actually made an excellent point. He said when you're learning an instrument you start small with Hot Crossed Buns and whatnot, work your way up to covers of famous bands, then start with the most rudimentary music composition (okay, he didn't say rudimentary, but that was the gist). Using the training wheels of genre/entertainment fiction writing formulas while we're learning the craft is an excellent idea, not a shameful one, and naturally your own style and values will thread themselves through the basic structures of the formula.
It's all so hard to figure out! Sorry this reply is so long ^^; and best of luck.