What genre do you write?

[sterling]

In a recent discussion with a writing peer, the subject of genres came up. She asked me what genres I typically wrote, or would like to start writing.

My answer was a lengthy ramble that could have just been summarized by two words: Speculative Fiction. But of course, I wanted to get into more detail than that, so we talked about it for several hours. Almost everything I've written falls into this category (both fanfiction and original fiction), with specifics in: post-apocalyptic, dystopian, fantasy, steampunk, and/or urban fantasy worlds. With the rare exception of a few horror and sci-fi works, I was actually a little amazed that my writing focus was so easily defined.

Even the genres I'd like to start writing for are under the big "speculative fiction" umbrella (one specifically would be alternate history, but I just don't know if I have the patience to do the kind of research I would need to do to make it feel historically possible).

So, some questions for other writers here...

What genres do you usually write?

What genres would you like to write for if you decided to try something new?

Comments

[finch]

I sum myself up as writing mainly urban fantasy and horror, though I'm working on steampunk, superhero and scifi projects as well. Urban fantasy and horror are generally the genres I talk most about and... "write most like" if that makes sense? Other urban fantasy writers tend to "get" where I'm coming from better than other genres.

I'd love to move toward a more mystery/noir style, since I enjoy reading those a lot. I just find it really intimidating.

[sterling]

What sort of horror aspects do you tend to get into? I'm always curious what sorts of things horror writers want to scare or disturb people with. For me, I tend to wade into the realm of frightening illusions by messing with reality in a way that tends to slightly disturb the mind. I don't get into gore or monsters as much, although admittedly, it can be fun to work on zombie fic sometimes. ^_^

Anything new always seems intimidating at first. I have the same problem... mostly because I try to visualize the entire project as a whole entity. It gets easier just focusing on it bit by bit, but that's not an easy skill to master (I still haven't).

[finch]

I like my vampires, my werewolves and my serial killers. I've played with psychological horror but I don't really feel like I'm good enough at it to pursue.

[sterling]

Ah, yes! Vampires are fun, too. For me, vampires tend to be less "monstrous" sometimes, and end up in a more fantasy capacity than horror. And they tend to accompany post-apocalyptic settings as well. One of my favorite ways to present vampires, is in a work where most characters have a morally gray compass. It fascinates me to experiment with which characters readers actually end up liking when I do that...