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Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!
Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the February 7 posting of the IWSG are Stephen Tremp, Pat Garcia,Angela Wooldridge, Victoria Marie Lees, and Madeline Mora-Summonte!
Click here to view everyone in the Blog Hop.
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February 7th question – What do you love about the genre you write in most often?
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For the love of…
I don’t know if I have a genre that I write in “most often.” I split my time evenly between three to four different genres: Spy Thriller, Urban Fantasy, High Fantasy, and Romance (There’s generally a romantic subplot in all of my WiPs but I do write some straight-up romance as well. Mostly short stories for fun.). Granted, I write in High Fantasy the least because world-building takes planning and I am a total pantser, but it is a genre that’s included in my current WiPs.
One thing I love about writing in fantasy, that I also play with some in my spy thrillers, is the ability to suspend belief and create scenarios and objects and magic that doesn’t exist in our reality. Need a way to unlock a door? There’s a spell for that. Need to find someone? There’s a spell for that. Need to *gasp* kill someone? There’s a spell or cursed object for that. In a pickle that you can’t quite get out of? Someone who can help with just the right kind of magic or skillset will show up! Now, I don’t use magic in my thriller, but I do get a bit techie with weapons and spy technology that may not actually exist and play with the idea of secret agencies and shadow governments and conspiracy. I watch a lot of media like The Blacklist, Nikita, Kingsman, Mission Impossible, Jason Bourne, etc, and that definitely has an influence on my thrillers.
I also enjoy being able to be candid with my writing. This is especially true with my spy thriller but also with the urban fantasy. This may make me sound like a terrible person, but I don’t have to hold back on explicit content. That is somehow personally very freeing. I work as an elementary school teacher, and I have to censor myself heavily on a regular basis. It’s nice to have the escape into my writing in genres where I don’t have to self-censor.
I also like how action-packed these genres can be. Fantasy and thrillers are typically exciting to read. Page-turners. I like to throw in some sort of mystery the characters have to solve in the midst of their action-packed quest. I have a ton of fun writing them. I hope they’re just as fun to read!
It seems I’m drawn to these genres for similar reasons. I don’t particularly find any appeal in writing stories set entirely in the real world that have to follow all our rules. I’d rather introduce magic or things that might require a suspension of belief.