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I've been thinking about the different writing projects that have been piling up in my list of unwritten works (which is my only list so far). I find it interesting that of all the topics and genres out there, my interests fall into such a narrow scope (when you break it down).
On my list I have some 15 non-fiction titles I would like to write--on topics such as religion, history, politics, philosophy, business, and money (often integrating or contrasting several at once). That may seem broad, but to me (and the outlines make it clear) they all follow the same basic core thread of philosophical thought that guides my life and is the foundation of everything I know and believe no matter the topic.
Not surprisingly, my fictional aspirations follow the same trend. Thus far I have 3 novels on my list and one screenplay (of one of the novels). Only one fictional story is non-religious in theme and setting, but even it, as a pure escapist fantasy story, is influenced by the over-arching philosophical canopy that is found in all the rest. The others are historical fiction and romance/comedy?
I have a few more obscure thoughts about other fictional stories bouncing around in my head and room for a large number of sequels to one of the planned novels, but nothing concrete as of yet. I certainly would expect any new inspirations to follow suite with the above-noted trend.
posted
I'm just the opposite. My "already written" list and my "ideas waiting to be written" lists are populated with stories so wildly different from each other that I'm not sure what kind of writer I am (except that I hope that I'm a good one). Maybe if a 3rd party looked at them, they could find a connecting thread, but I certainly can't. They are different themes, genres, and in many cases I think even different writing styles. I don't know if that means I'm broadly talented, or if it just means I'm still trying to develop an artistic identity.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
I had a few projects in mind over the years, and have even finished some of them---fifty thousand words of a bad Harlequin Romance novel comes immediately to mind---but the bulk of what I've written is science fiction. But there's always something coming along...
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I write a pretty diverse range of stuff, ranging from horror to lighthearted fantasy. I do, however, almost always end up coming back to many of the same themes, as I do feel that art should have meaning and therefore tend to express my feelings and views on things in most of what I write.
I'm primarily an intuitive and of a personality type that tends to see the underlying connections between things, and so I don't really tend to see this recurrence of themes as narrow, because they are all a part of everything.
Posts: 2626 | Registered: Apr 2008
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Too, there are fields of literary endeavor that could be considered "cousins" or "sisters" of each other...science fiction and fantasy are closely entwined, but the links could extend down (or up) into horror or mystery or even non-fiction science writing.
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posted
I would say that in many ways, Fantasy and Horror (at least, horror as we mostly tend to think of it) are more strongly tied than Fantasy and SciFi. At least, content wise...most "horror" is really fantasy that is meant to inspire fear and usually takes place in a modern setting.
With sci fi it depends a lot on the breed. Hard SF tends to have relatively little in common with fantasy, but softer versions may have more and especially old school sci fi did tend to have a large epic sweep in common with high fantasy or sword and sorcery type.
I tend to think of it in terms of stuff that contains supernatural or super-scientific elements versus stuff that doesn't, though science fiction can sort of cross that boundary, since hard sci fi is tied much more strongly to science and often written from a materialistic viewpoint. On the other hand, Star Wars is labeled Science Fiction and does certainly have advanced technology, other planets and all that, but structurally is a lot like High Fantasy and has magic.
My mystical bent is part of why I don't really write sci fi. All the things I'd do with science in sci fi, I'd usually rather just do with magic, although I should really do some stuff combining the two, in the spirit of the 80s cartoons I grew up on (and even some of the live action stuff really.)
Posts: 2626 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
Been meaning to add my response here for a couple of days.
I write mostly SF and Fantasy-which now includes steampunk, space opera and Urban Fantasy and one or two short Hard SF-but I have also written general fiction stories and what I call Romance but I'm not sure if it is straight Romance--it's usually has something to do with marriage relationships. Relational stories maybe.
I do want to write a true Romance--at least the one I have in mind--and Mysteries. That last though I'm not sure if I have the right mind set for. And one type I think would be suspense. I have two ideas for that.
As to Horror I have an idea for that too even though I don't like reading it. But I think it could very well be subset of fantasy. Horror usually goes together with SF and Fantasy.
Hard SF does usually have less of the wild nature of some SF--unless it's written by Ian Douglas. He writes Hard Space Opera.
There are Mystical stories which isn't quite the same as UF even if they might be related. I don't think I have any desire to write that--------yet. Posts: 5289 | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
I write myth. Whatever genre it happens to end up as my goal is usually to achieve the kind of sensation that myth gives people. I prefer to write sci-fi (soft sci-fi, I'm not so good at the math) and I prefer to read Fantasy. I've done all sorts of things and sometimes I wonder if my efforts would be better spent on literary writing. I fear it's my english majorin' seeping in.
Posts: 1895 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Actually, writing any one genre should look like a series of Venn diagrams, with elements in common within any one genre.
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