What Inspired You to Write Your Genre?

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A year ago I was struggling to figure out what it was I wanted to write. I had worked on various genres of screenplays previously, and had a half-finished adult novel sitting in a drawer.

One day I saw Taylor Swift on Oprah. I had never seen her speak (I'd only seen pictures of her) or heard her music before. There was something about her that made me want to hang out with her. She seemed like a nice girl, and like she'd make a fun girlfriend.

It got me to thinking about being a teenager, and I started re-reading some of my old Judy Blume books, like Forever. After that I picked up Ellen Hopkins' Crank and Glass and basically never looked back.

I admit since I'm so bad at sticking with things, I was very afraid of throwing myself into the YA world, only to change my mind a few weeks or months later. But it's been over a year now and I'm just as in love with YA now as I was back then.

To narrow it down even more, I've learned that I love writing teen comedy stories. I have a bunch of fleshed out ideas for more serious stuff, but it always ends up depressing me. I can't write something for months on end and be depressed all the time. I love having a mc right now who actually makes me laugh out loud.

What (if anything) inspired  you to write in the genre you write in?

Comments

Stephanie said…
I write what I know and what I love to read myself. I have always been drawn to comedy...I love to laugh. These days I rarely waste my time with dramas or mystery or anything like that...books or movies or tv shows...cause I know they just won't give me exactly what I want..and I want to laugh!

And I am a sucker for a love story!! I love the HEA!! And combining that with comedy...golden!!

Now this is where I've been and where I am now...who knows where I'll be next year or 5 years from now!! Tastes change...I may be ready for something new.
October 11, 2010 at 12:43 PM
Lisa Miles said…
Sounds perfect to me!
October 11, 2010 at 1:00 PM
Pat Tillett said…
I'm sorry to say it, but I've never settled on just one! someday...
October 11, 2010 at 6:59 PM
Michelle Gregory said…
i settled on fantasy by accident. i'm not even a big fan of many fantasy novels. but i do like magical elements, and i do like The Chronicles of Narnia. maybe C. S. Lewis is my influence. i don't know.
October 11, 2010 at 11:01 PM
Janna Leadbetter said…
Taylor Swift seems like such a down-to-earth girl. I'm glad to have her out there as a role model for my girls.

I can't narrow it down to one person or writer, but it's the ones who write women's fiction that I most identify with. The themes, the voices all pointed me that direction.
October 12, 2010 at 10:35 AM
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