Creative Challenges Within a Single Genre

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Whenever I talk to anyone about my writing, the question usually comes up:  would I like to try writing anything other than mystery?

Then I explain that I actually have written something other than mystery.  But it was a one-off, a ‘cozy zombie’ book (yes, I did make that genre up).  But that was what’s called an ‘attack book.’  The story had been bothering me for years to write it, and finally I did to get the story to shut up.

What people seem most surprised about is that I don’t get bored writing my genre.  That I’m not tired of writing the same types of stories.

I’ve always said that I found it a special creative challenge to work within the confines of genre and series.

In lots of ways, it’s much easier to write in a series.  For one thing, it’s a good deal faster.  You’ve already got your main/recurring characters.  The setting will likely be the same.  You put these characters into new situations in the same setting and have them respond.

In other ways, it’s that creative challenge I mentioned.  Oh, it’s easy enough to come up with something shiny and different for the first few books.  But then you usually run into a couple of problems.  One, you need to take careful note of story details so you won’t contradict yourself with something you stated in a previous book in the series (just ask me about one character’s cat allergy.  Or, rather, please don’t).  A story bible is very useful for this.

For another, you’re trying to keep things interesting.   Trying to allow the characters to grow but have them still be recognizable.   Trying to keep the series fresh and not have it go stale or be too similar to the other books.  At the same time, you can’t let things get too different, or readers likely won’t be happy.

And then there’s the genre strictures.  For a cozy mystery (the subgenre I write), the stories have a particular pattern to them.   I also need to adhere to the genre guidelines (amateur sleuth, no gore, focus on the puzzle not forensics, etc).

I came across a blog post recently by writer Wendy Paine Miller that linked over to an interesting TED talk by artist Phil Hansen.  A tremendous setback forced him to change his art forever–but the change (as he calls it, “learning to be creative within the confines of our limitations”) made him successful.  In fact, he states that limitations can be “a source of creativity.”

Although Hansen’s limitations were physical, I think we can find that same creative drive within a genre and find just as much satisfaction that way.

Not every writer wants to stick with one genre.  Some receive their creative satisfaction by writing many different genres and types of stories.  But I think that we don’t have to do that to obtain creative satisfaction.  That it’s possible to get it from within the confines of our genre.

Do you see the creative challenges in series writing or in sticking with a particular genre?   Have you seen this TED talk (and have you got any others to recommend?  I love that stuff).