For many authors, this is probably the reason you are having a lack of success with your writing career. You simply do not understand your genre or, at least, understand it enough.
Every genre and subgenre out there has distinct characteristics and nuances. It is just those characteristics that differentiate that genre from other genres. If you don't know what those differences are, or more importantly, know HOW those characteristics work within the genre, you will not find success.
I really see this a lot from male authors who submit projects they call romance. Yes, I know I am being very specific here with the male authors, but it really is one of the biggest issues. These authors A) have a romantic story; or B) have romance in their story, but these stories simply are not romance novels. When I meet with these authors at conferences, I love to pull up book covers and say, "Is this your story?" Most of the time, the scream "No way!"
But this also goes further than simply knowing the genre. It comes down to knowing how to make the story work correctly. For example, if you write a thriller, you may know of the components that go into this type of novel, but if you can't execute the novel correctly, because you don't understand HOW those components work, you will not succeed.
This is one of those big reasons I am constantly screaming to educate yourself BEFORE submitting projects.
No comments:
Post a Comment