Sticking to one Genre in Fiction

I don’t know about you, but most people seem to like it when an author fits into one category and you always know what you are going to get when you read one of their books.

The cheif excetption to this rule would be Stephen King who has jumped genres many times and in most cases I would say successfully.

As an author I am a genre jumper. I like to write a few things at a time in different genres as I need to have different focuses for different creative needs.

I have just completed a modern day female protagonist police procedural, an early 19th Century mystery and am currently writing a speculative fiction/horror novel (as well as ghost writing an apocalyptic military fantasy book).

I need to have these different things going on at the same time as they all exercise different parts of the creative brain. This may not work for some people who will find it better to work on one project at a time and get that done before going on to the next one.

Whatever way you work, it is fine so long as it works for you. When I started out I had the idea that working on one book at a time was the only way to get it done (I still think this even though I can’t do it!)

Since staring working on multiple books at the same time, however, I have noticed a marked increase in production and I am finishing more books than ever.

So, to conclude: As with almost all things in writing fiction, there is no right way to so something. You have to find what works for you and go with that. It’s the only way you’ll be happy and a happy writer is a productive writer.

Should you outline you Novel or just wing it?

Back in the dark ages when I first started taking writing semi-seriously, I would certainly have considered myself a ‘Pantser’ when it came to writing a book. By this I mean someone who wrote by the seat of my pants with no real idea what was going to be in the book apart from how it started and how it ended.

The opposite to a Pantser is a Plotter, someone who writes out a summary of the story, whether in broad strokes or scene by scene, before they start the actual writing of the book.

Over the years, I have been drifting more and more towards the latter. I started out writing Literary Fiction, and surely high art coudln’t be planned?

I was wrong.

Apparently it can be.

There is no right way to go about writing a book. There are plenty of ways that won’t work for you based on your personality type, time constraints and a whole host of other factors.

As with most things in life, experimentation is the key.

I have written some novels start to finish Pantsing all the way and I have also written a couple that had each chapter outlined before I started.

Both ways are rewarding. I think Pantsers feel that plotting takes away from some of the creativity of writing, but I am here to tell you even if you plot the novel down the finest detail the story will still change as you write it.

I have come to a half agreement with both plotting and pantsing.

I often plot the first, say, ten chapters, and then write the first twelve chapters. If I am doing better with the last two unplanned chapters, I stick to this way. If I was doing better with the outline, I plot ten more chapters and try again.

I feel I will be a 90% plotter over the next couple of years, but for me, this plotting has seen production of my books soar.

I have gone from an one book a year (possibly two max) to publishing 5 books so far in 2019 with at least one more to come and perhaps about 5 or 6 more in 2020.

For me plotting is becoming king.

How about you? What’s your writing process in regard to getting the story out? Let me know in the comments.

If you would like to know more about my own books or writing progress, you can sign up to my mailing list HERE (and get 2 free books while you are it!)

How much faster can you write with Dictation?

For the last couple of years (or much longer for some people) if you are a writer you will no doubt have heard about Dictation.

You may have run out and spent a wad of cash on Dragon Dictate or some other software, realized it doesn’t work perfectly straight out of the box and gave up, or perhaps you had a gut reaction that this ‘wasn’t for you.’

Either way, and anywhere in between, there is no denying that dictation is here to stay. When Microsoft adds the option to dictate to the Word ribbon, that generally speaking means it is now immortal.

There are countless versions of Dictation software out there and that means there will be a wide range of quality issues and also personal preferences.

I have used Dragon Dictate for PC and found it worked very well, but at that time I just couldn’t make myself write without my hands.

I turned then to mobile apps and services. I was hoping when Google Docs added the feature that would be all I needed, but any time I have tried it so far, the results have been poor.

What I have settled on for now is an app for Android devices called Otter. I find it to be excellent for use while commuting and there is very little in the way of editing once you have used it a few times.

I convert the transcript to a Google Doc right from the app and it is simple. I just have to format the text to fiction writing and hey presto!

Now, to the question I asked at the top of this post. Is it faster?

Yes, definitely.

How much faster?

I think my record for one hour’s physical writing on a computer with my hands hovers around the 1,200 mark. Generally it is lower, probably closer to 900 words per hour.

With the Otter App, I have ‘written’ 1,500 words in 8 Minutes! That’s 11,250 words per hour!

That’s the equivalent of writing the first draft of a long novel in 8 hours- something that would usually take me about 70-80 hours.

Of course, this example will only work if you have the story already mapped out in detail and know for each session exactly what you will be talking about, but I’ll save that part of the writing for another post.

For now, give it a try on an app or service of your liking and pop me a comment to let me know how you get on.

Who Cares About Passive Voice?

Anyone who writes will most likely be familiar with Passive Voice.

It is a form of writing often frowned upon by critics and writers who always make the case for Active Voice over Passive Voice.

The difference between the two can seem minimal when only one sentence of each is used as an example:

Alice made the dinner- Active Voice

The dinner was made by Alice- Passive Voice.

As you can see, either way we still got to eat dinner, but if you fill a book with the passive version readers will get turned of very quickly.

But is that true?

I have been writing for many years now and still fall into the passive voice trap when rushing through a scene, but generally speaking it will only account for about 5% or less of the finished novel.

To date, I have not had one person comment or leave a review complaining about passive voice. The only time I have ever been pulled up on it is when I am Ghostwriting for another author.

So what’s my conclusion?

Readers in general don’t give a damn about passive voice once it is kept to a minimum, and some authors are obsessed by it!

If you are a writer you can self-edit your work using many tools that will search out your passive voice sentences for you. Microsoft Word, Prowriting Aid, Grammerly and the Hemmingway App all have good features for this. (I like Hemmingway App’s one the best- it will give you a nice coloured layout and a percentage score of Passive Voice in the full text). Check it out HERE (No affiliate link)

In conclusion, don’t fret about Passive Voice, simply try to keep it to a minimum

You can check out my slightly passive voiced books HERE

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