Hello,
I'm in the midst of editing book number four and it got me thinking about genre. Actually I started thinking about it after I read a Ricky Gervais interview, which you can read here. Ricky was talking about his latest show Derek, and how it isn't really a comedy and it isn't really a drama, it's just life. I feel exactly the same about my latest novel.
Why do we always feel the need to label things and put them snugly into a certain genre? On Amazon we're forced to select what genre our novel is. Agents and publishers want to put books into a nice little box so they're easily defined and therefore easier to market. Personally I've always loathed the idea of genres. Yes I understand that it makes it easier to categorise and sell, but I don't start writing a book thinking this is a comedy or this is a drama. I write a book with one goal - to write a story that means something. I want to write something true to life, honest, emotional, and with great characters. I'm always trying to write about life and as Ricky says in his interview, life isn't just funny or sad, it's a combination of the two.
Now I'm working on book number four, I feel to a certain extent a sense of calm about my writing. After book one and book two, I was nervous and worried all the time, hoping they'd do well, trying to figure out new ways to promote them. However, after watching three books come out, I sort of realise that most of what happens with books is out of my control. The only thing I can control is writing the book, but after that it's all a bit blurry. Yes I need to promote my books, and I do (I did a 17 stop blog tour for 'This Family Life' - and I have something coming up this week!), but I've stopped obsessing about it.
I guess this blog is about obsession. Obsession with genre, with marketing, promotion - all the things that go along with being a novelist - but which don't have anything to do with actually writing books. I think a lot of new writers probably get trapped into this whole circus of promoting (working out Amazon's mystical algorithm system, blog tours, interviews, giveaways, Facebook parties, making t-shirts, mugs, pens, and all the rest of it), but never, ever forget that at the end of the day, our job is to write incredible books. All the other stuff is just fluff. Some of it is enjoyable - I enjoy writing blogs, I had fun with my blog tour, and I always enjoy doing interviews - but the thing I enjoy the most is writing and whether it's a comedy, drama or a contemporary romantic family comedy drama, it's all the same to me - it's about telling stories.
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
