Knowing Your Genre As A Writer

To every writer there’s a niche and a home to which they feel most comfortable. Most writers are introverts on the inside even if they get to share and talk about their ideas. And for many introverts, there is a fortress of solitude, a genre is likened to this—a fortress of solitude or “expressitude”(Don’t mind my expression).

The longing to splash my ideas and focus them in a direction led me to non-fiction writing, the same way your inner longing would draw you to writing in a particular direction.

I wouldn’t bore you with the different genres that exist. You can go further by getting an expository on the types which exist. Each category, fiction and non-fiction, have several genres under them. My job would be to lead you to finding out where you best fit in. It starts with,

1. Your Idle thoughts: what do you think of while sitting in a bus, train, looking out the window or just merely lying down facing the sky? Writers are imaginative people, everything has the ability to strike a thought, any movement, any conversation and even the dress sense of a pedestrian. Start with what you think of when you are doing nothing. If you think of the ills in the society, perhaps you are an activist at heart. If you are carried away by fashion and lifestyle, try it. And if you are fascinated by food, that’s another good place to start. Mind you, you may think of a lot at once so the next point should be considered.

2. Pick one subject and do an idea dump: Being idle and having the space to day-dream isn’t always bad when it gives you the time to express yourself on paper. It’s not bad to day-dream about ideas, it only becomes bad when it stays in your head—they begin to jump out and you eventually lose them. So write them down just as they come. Dump the fascinations on paper. When you feel drained stop and think again. Another idea? Write again till you feel drained.

3. What idea did you love writing on?

The third step here is to ask yourself which you loved writing on. The thing about writing when the idea is hot is that you are able to detect where you feel drained. At this point, you read it up and you feel sure you have a reflection of your mind’s eye on paper. Once you detect what you felt relieved writing about, you are well on your way to finding your genre.

4. Try writing on the same subject or idea again: your work isn’t done till you write and keep writing. Every subject is generic, your ability to pull it apart and derive topics around it gives you your genre. For instance, if you love writing stories, what kind of stories? Children stories- you can write a story from a toddler’s view, folktales etc. If you love non-fiction, you may begin with yourself, then biographies and then stories people tell you. You must be willing to expand on the idea you love best.

5. Finally you can be more:
Personally speaking, a writer can write, no matter the genre, if only he/she is willing to research and study books on the subject. Your ideas and thoughts are parts and pieces of what you occupy your mind with. As long as you are willing to increase the knowledge you have, you can write on a lot of genres. This doesn’t stop you from having a favorite where you are most comfortable reading, thinking and writing about.

Finding your genre is as easy as just writing what comes to you and expanding your knowledge on it from time to time.