Mr. Wrong and Mr. Write

One of the books I’m reading about writing is called Chapter After Chapter, by Heather Sellers. In Chapter 4, called “The Book 100,” Sellers recommends reading 100 books of the kind you want to write.

Surely any advice that gives one permission to buy more books is pure genius. So I’ve started amassing my Books 100, mostly in $8 paperback form so as to keep the complaints from Kevin to a dull roar.

I don’t care to pigeon-hole my own writing into one genre, as it seems to have elements of several. But in general, if you absolutely had to call it something, it would be Fantasy. So quite a few of my Books 100 are “urban fantasy,” some are thrillers, some are flat-out horror. All of them have a paranormal bent of some kind. ¹

Many authors read “in their genre” and some studiously avoid it. I can see the pros and cons.

On the one hand, if you have chosen a specific “genre” in which to write, it’s probably because you enjoy reading it. Enjoyment in itself is good enough reason to read something, but it has the added bonus of often being emotionally and creatively motivating.

I also think that the more you read something, the more you learn about it; thus if you read a lot of successful books in a genre, you’re probably going to learn (consciously or not) many things about what makes them so successful.²

On the other hand, there’s always the risk of burn-out. (I love Anne Rice’s world, but by the time I got to the 800th book, I was pretty done with vampires for a while.) It’s also possible to read so much fiction of a certain type that your imagination can unwittingly start to follow the crowd rather than take the road less traveled.

And sometimes, at about book 75 or so, you can begin to think that Everything Has Already Been Done.  This can be discouraging or challenging, depending on your attitude, but ultimately surmountable. It’s only catastrophic when one of those things is your idea.

One of my 100 is the first book of an urban fantasy-mystery series that took the genre by storm when it first came out. It’s original, funny, well-written and a darn good yarn.

Or at least, that’s what all the reviews tell me. I haven’t been able to get past the second page. That’s where I read that the book’s main character has exactly the same primary paranormal trait as my main character, and it’s messed up her life in precisely the same way, and it plays a large role in the rest of the plot.

Catastrophe.

I’m both flattered - “great minds” and all that - and incredibly disappointed.

I will get over it; I will think of something new. In fact, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. Maybe something about this part of my story was wrong for me, and letting it go, as agonizing as it is, will clear the way for what’s right.

It’s like no matter how certain you were that it had to be done, breaking up with Mr. Wrong was still painful. But later, when you are sighing in the arms of Mr. Right, you are so glad you did.

Technorati Tags: writing, fiction, creativity

1. If you really want to see the books I’m reading, click here to see my catalog on Library Thing. [↩]
2. Whether you can implement those things yourself is a different story, no pun intended. [↩]

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