WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT?
I recently looked at another author’s website and saw a page called, What I Write About. That got me to thinking… “What do I write about?”
I don’t think of myself as an author of any one particular genre. I’ve completed two novels, one a crossover between horror and a bunch of other things, e.g. history, romance, suspense, etc., while the other is pretty much a straight on cozy mystery, with a dash of grittiness layered on top. I’ve also started and stopped three of four other manuscripts, cutting across everything from young adult to noir.
So I’ve come to the conclusion that what I write is similar to what I read, or at least what I used to read in the good old days when bookstores were viable. I’d go into a store and walk around, taking in the new age background music, perhaps the smell of coffee brewing, the gentle whispers among friends, and so on, all on a subconscious level.
I’d pick a book up, stare at the title and the cover art, look at the description on the front flap, maybe read about the author on the back flap, maybe even read the first page. I’d do that for a while and finally home in on a book or two, paying no attention whatsoever to what genres the books were in, or whether the authors were famous or not, or anything else that might hint at a preconceived notion of what I was going to buy that day.
And then a feeling would rise up in me and I’d pull the trigger. And I must say, with very few exceptions, the choices were always good, the reading, exceptional.
And THAT, for better or worse, is also how I come by my choice of genre when it comes to writing. Now there was a method to my madness, I suppose... Simply put, I wanted to be entertained. But the question is, “What do I find entertaining?” Wow, that’s hard to answer. But gun to my head, I would have to call it, "Unique Ideas."
So what are Unique Ideas?
Unique Ideas might be that we’re all under a spell, as put forth in The Matrix, or that supernatural creatures exists, as in Dracula. But it also encompass the unique ways people interact, especially when they break through barriers, as in Driving Miss Daisy, or A Bronx Tale. I also love the idea of not being 100% certain if the main character is “all there."
Characters are of great importance to me in writing, too. I do believe it’s possible to write a great book without great characters… The Da Vince Code comes to mind …and that it’s also possible to write great characters with virtually no story, much less a Unique Idea. (A favorite author of mine—at least in the old days—comes to mind.)
But for me, writing seems to be a challenge to place interesting characters in situations that represent Unique Ideas.
In The Reluctant, Harlan Swanson finds a message that hints at a relationship between his recently deceased wife and a mysterious stranger. How? Why? He searches for clues, but except for the big moments that no one forgets, their time together melts into a mundane glob of day-to-day living. And yet, it was the very cut-and-dryness of their life that makes a separate, secret life, unimaginable.
So there it is. I hope I’ve given you an idea of what I write about. Happy Choices!