Parents today have an interesting approach when it comes to finding activities for their kids. There is this belief that we have kids do a ton of different things. Many parents seem to think that eventually, the kids will just find something they like and stick to it. The problem is, many of these kids end up never sticking to one thing simply because they end up not getting good enough in anything. By the time they do think that single sport is "the right one" they now have to compete against kids who have been focused on that activity for a longer time and are amazingly good.
My sister-in-law and brother have done this with their daughter. She has done everything from piano, to ice-skating, to ultimate frisbee. At Christmas this year, we heard she is now looking at soccer and some sort of drama program. My bet, these will go the same way as all of the prior activities.
Now, why do I bring this up? The same thing happens for so many authors out there. They use the excuse that they are trying all of these different genres to see which one they like writing the best. When one story does not work out, or the rejections start rolling in on that first book, they jump ship and run to another genre.
And the same thing happens again.
The reason is that these authors have not taken the time to really figure out the how's and why's of their genre. This is not only the reason for their stories getting rejected, but also the reason why writing that first book is so difficult and challenging. These authors write these stories but, because they lack the skills necessary for that genre, the understanding of all the nuances, the stories just fall flat.
But how do we figure out what genre is the one we should be writing? Stop and look at what you read. Stop and look at the things you do in your life.
I worked with an author once before and she just didn't really get this figured out. She struggled writing those longer single title projects (hint number 1), and she was in a medical profession (hint number 2) and read a lot of these shorter projects (hint number 3). Would she write medical romances? No. She tried everything from women's fiction, to historical, to paranormal.
Later on, after you get settled in your writing career, you can play around with some other genres, but for now, find a focus. Stick to it. Learn it.
You will be happier!
I spent 45+ years in a health care career, and I simply didn't want to spend my writing hours in that same environment. I needed to change it up, for my mental health if nothing else. So in your example I can see why she didn't want to spend her "off" hours in the same stressful mental space as her day job hours. Everyone's different and needs to find their writing zone in their own way.
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