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On Writing: A One Genre Pony...
Aug. 3rd, 2009 09:41 amI have lost all ability to write fantasy.
Or maybe I can't say that. Did I ever have any talent for it? I haven't written it in years. When I first started the whole 'writing' thing, that was pretty much exclusively what I wrote. I suppose 'Cat In Heat' - which is still one of my favorite personal triumphs - counts as urban fantasy, in a sense. But straight fantasy, swords and sorcery, magic, all that stuff? It does not flow from these fingers.
I tried writing a fantasy story last night. Over the course of two hours, I'd written a little over 100 words. In frustration, I deleted my two meager paragraphs and re-tweaked the idea. The same basic premise and the characters I had tentatively outlined were adjusted for urban horror. Suddenly, in half an hour I have around 800 words.
I've made a few attempts over the years to return to my roots. A handful of stories begun but never really delved into or flushed out. A page here, a page there. I can world build for days, but when it comes to the writing....
And this all makes me wonder. I've been reading fantasy for a great deal longer than I've been reading horror. Yes, I've been a Stephen King fan since I was about twelve, but I wasn't reading him for horror, I was reading him because even at that age I understood that he did amazing things with words and stories.
But considering my background... I shouldn't struggle with fantasy. From the day I can first remember being read to - 'Sookie and the Dragon' - until I was out of High School, it was nothing but fantasy and science fiction. I get the ideas, draw up my outlines, but can't do the actual writing.
On the other hand, when it comes to horror, I don't world build, I don't outline and I don't plan. But the stories come when I sit down to write. And I've decided that these days, I like writing horror. I like plumbing the darkest depths of the human psyche and experimenting with what makes us terrified. In a sense, I suppose I'm a one-trick pony. (The erotica doesn't count, because the erotica I write professionally requires little skill or talent.) Hey, maybe it is just because I'm one of those weird, New England born writers. And I certainly don't mind my limited genre ability - I'd rather write horror than a lot of things, and much rather write it than nothing.
But somedays...I really do wish I could hammer out just one good fantasy story.
Or maybe I can't say that. Did I ever have any talent for it? I haven't written it in years. When I first started the whole 'writing' thing, that was pretty much exclusively what I wrote. I suppose 'Cat In Heat' - which is still one of my favorite personal triumphs - counts as urban fantasy, in a sense. But straight fantasy, swords and sorcery, magic, all that stuff? It does not flow from these fingers.
I tried writing a fantasy story last night. Over the course of two hours, I'd written a little over 100 words. In frustration, I deleted my two meager paragraphs and re-tweaked the idea. The same basic premise and the characters I had tentatively outlined were adjusted for urban horror. Suddenly, in half an hour I have around 800 words.
I've made a few attempts over the years to return to my roots. A handful of stories begun but never really delved into or flushed out. A page here, a page there. I can world build for days, but when it comes to the writing....
And this all makes me wonder. I've been reading fantasy for a great deal longer than I've been reading horror. Yes, I've been a Stephen King fan since I was about twelve, but I wasn't reading him for horror, I was reading him because even at that age I understood that he did amazing things with words and stories.
But considering my background... I shouldn't struggle with fantasy. From the day I can first remember being read to - 'Sookie and the Dragon' - until I was out of High School, it was nothing but fantasy and science fiction. I get the ideas, draw up my outlines, but can't do the actual writing.
On the other hand, when it comes to horror, I don't world build, I don't outline and I don't plan. But the stories come when I sit down to write. And I've decided that these days, I like writing horror. I like plumbing the darkest depths of the human psyche and experimenting with what makes us terrified. In a sense, I suppose I'm a one-trick pony. (The erotica doesn't count, because the erotica I write professionally requires little skill or talent.) Hey, maybe it is just because I'm one of those weird, New England born writers. And I certainly don't mind my limited genre ability - I'd rather write horror than a lot of things, and much rather write it than nothing.
But somedays...I really do wish I could hammer out just one good fantasy story.
