Some distractions for you

I was doing really well at buckling down and writing while the girls are asleep, but then Jessica Day George quoted Oscar on Twitter and there went my productivity out the window.

So now I’m here to offer you some distractions from your work. Aren’t I nice?

First off: fully-clothed female superheroes. I abhor the scanty outfits, and Mike Lunsford’s designs are brilliant. With the possible exception of Wonder Woman. Not sure what’s going on with the khaki pants there. But still much preferable to her incredibly uncomfortable-looking metal bathing suit.

Also, Oscar. Go watch it if you don’t know what I’m talking about, if only for the sake of seeing Tim Curry as an awkward linguist. If you aren’t crying laughing by the end of it, we can’t be friends anymore. And apparently YouTube has it in German, if that’s your thing, though it’s really missing out on Sylvester Stallone’s gangster accent.

Also, have you ever started reading a book, and you really didn’t like it, but you couldn’t put it down? SO frustrating. And the stupid thing is, when I finished the book, none of my ebook holds were ready from the library, so I checked out the sequel. What is wrong with me?! All I want is to read Son of Neptune! Is that too much to ask?

Okay. Your turn. What’s distracted you today?

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Sylvester Stallone and Crossing Genres

There seems to be a lot of discussion lately about whether it’s a good thing to write multiple genres as an author. Is it better to seek out the wider audience by hitting several genres, or to stay loyal to your followers by continuing in the same genre you succeeded with?

So let’s talk about Sylvester Stallone.

I have no love of Rocky or Rambo or The Expendables or really anything he’s done, with one exception. In 1991, he was in a movie called Oscar. Hilarious. I quote it incessantly. (Sorry, Boss!) One of my favorite comedies of all time.

There are others who think it’s utter ridiculousness and would rather spend their time watching what I would term visual torture. I have my preferences, you have yours, they have theirs.

What does this have to do with writing?

There are always going to be people who won’t like your work. It’s the occupational hazard of being an author. If you change genres, there will inevitably be people who say you should have stuck with your original, even those who say you have no business straying outside of your genre. Jane Austen herself complained, “Walter Scott has no business to write novels, especially good ones.–It is not fair.–He has Fame & Profit enough as a Poet, and should not be taking the bread out of other people’s mouths” (from a letter to Anna Austen, September 28, 1814). If Sir Walter Scott couldn’t avoid getting lambasted for changing genres, I’m afraid you probably don’t have a chance.

So?

You, as an author, are not writing for readers, agents, publishers, editors, or anyone else. You are writing because you have a story inside of you that has to be told. Don’t forget that. The second you start writing for someone else, your writing will take a dive faster than Spiderman 3.

Should you write in various genres? Certainly not if you’re doing it for the sole purpose of garnering a wider audience. But if you’ve got a story and it just happens to be in a different genre from what you’ve previously written, go for it! Give it to the world and be proud that you were able to get another world of characters and places and relationships and rules out of your head and onto the page.

What do you think? Do you write in several genres? Do you read books of various genres from the same author? Are you going to go watch Oscar now because I told you it was amazing?