Idea stolen from Steph Bowe’s blog, because I thought the idea was fantastic.
There are a lot of genres and ideas I’d love to work with, and my to-do-list of ideas is a mile long… but here are 7 things I’d love to write:
- Calligraphy. My handwriting is atrocious (and my signature is even worse, urgh), but I’d really like to learn Calligraphy one day.
- Hard Sci-Fi. There are very few women out there writing hard, technical sci-fi (and there are some good discussions about it). I’d love to change that, but a little voice at the back of my head tells me I don’t know enough science and math to pull it off. I still plan or writing softer YA sci-fi, though.
- Contemporary YA. My writing always leans towards ordinary, flawed people going through extraordinary events.I’d love to strip out the fantasy aspects and do a contemporary, like something by John Green or David Levithan.
- A very ‘British’ fantasy or sci-fi. Ala Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams. Just something with a strong, British voice (or a strong Scottish voice, either would be good).
- Cyberpunk. This one is on the to-do-list. I love cyberpunk stories, and I’ve got the techie bones to pull it off, so at some point I definitely expect to write some awesome cyberpunk stories.
- Middle grade (children’s) fiction. Another one on the to-do list, I’ve got a few ideas for children’s stories that I’d love to try one day.
- A Memoir. Maybe when I’m older, and my life is interesting enough…
- Songs. I’ve been writing lyrics for years, and I’m pretty good at it, if I do so say myself. But apart from singing, my musical talent is lacking. If anyone knows an up-and-coming rock band in need of some dark and sarcastic lyrics, give me a bell and I will channel all my years of teenage angst into musical goodness.
What about you, writer-friends? I’d love to hear about what you want to write, so drop me a comment or link me to a blog post!
I don’t think I have a contemporary story in me. I like to escape reality with fiction. Of course, now I’ve typed this, I’ll probably go on to write one just to spite myself :P
My handwriting is also nothing to write home about… and if I did write home about it, no-one would understand a word of it so there’d be no point! And as for my signature… when I signed our marriage certificate, the minister peered at my scrawl and said “You need to put both first and last names,” to which I responded, “I did–that’s it!” At least no-one could guess my signature. :D
As you are probably aware (since you graciously drop in on my blog from time to time), I used last month’s A-to-Z challenge to practice some other genres in short form. It was a good experience for me–stretched me a little outside my perceived comfort zone. I say perceived since it seems I have a penchant for the creepy I didn’t think I had… :) Anyway, I say that to suggest perhaps you could set yourself a challenge to write one of these genres, even if only for yourself, and perhaps just as a short story to see how it fits you. Who knows what might come of it? Yes, it would take away creative energy from the WIP, but it might be a good creative diversion for a little while should you need one. Just a thought…
I have indeed been reading your shorts. That’s a good idea, I’ll definitely have to look into it — my critique partners have been talking about setting up a short story blog so I might be able to experiment there too. :)
Mum did some Calligraphy some time ago you should ask her if she still has the stuff and she may be able to teach you a little.
Oooh, good idea!
I’m a rather big fan of fantasy… Though, no matter what you write/publish, I’ll read/buy it! :D
Never fear, my main genre will always by speculative fiction (so fantasy of all stripes and the odd bit of sci-fi), but I like to vary it up every so often.
I’m right there for contemporary YA and ‘British’ fantasy and sci-fi. I always write something with supernatural elements to it so it’d be nice to challenge myself and write a story about real people with real life issues. And I love the style of Gaiman, Pratchett, and Adams. It’d be so much fun to write in a similar narrative to theirs.
Other things I’d like to give a go at are high fantasy, steampunk, and parody. Steampunk especially. It’d be completely new for me.
Steampunk is such a great genre. I’d like to try it out too, but I know in my heart of hearts that cyberpunk is more my forte.
I know how you feel about the calligraphy thing – I have been told by my teachers that if I don’t improve my handwriting, some examiners will just cross through it and give me zero (I’m just about to sit my A2s).
And contemporary YA is awesome – go for it!
Hi Amy, thank you for commenting! :)
Your teacher saying that about exams feels very unfair. When I was in school, I got lucky in that exams would still read your papers even if the writing was a struggle (and oh boy, mine was). Now I’m older I’ve developed some kind an inelegant block letter handwriting to try and keep my notes legible for work colleagues.
Does your school have any way around the issue — I know some schools let you use laptops to type up reports if handwriting it is difficult?
The only one I’ve written is MG, but it’s something I’d like to do more of. MG is very difficult for me….it’s so hard to nail a character’s voice at that age!
I really want to write a dystopian set in another country, such as Kenya or Uganda. I’ve never written dystopian before, and although I know it’s been done to death I think I could bring something fresh to the genre (hopefully).