Don’t be Afraid to Write in a Different Genre (It Might End up Being your Best Decision Ever) by Megan Earling

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Writing in a new genre can be a daunting experience. As writers, genres sometimes become closely intertwined with our identity. We may casually say, I write fantasy or I’d love to write a historical romance, but not completely realize just how much our chosen genre dictates our identity as writers until we finally take the plunge to venture outside of it.

For over three years, I had been working on a post-apocalyptic novel. I finished it right around the beginning of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Considering the state of the world at the time, the last thing I wanted to think about was zombies eating people as the result of an infectious disease. There were a bunch of other things wrong with that novel, the most glaring one being that I was no longer excited about it. So, I made the difficult decision to set it aside and start fresh. Also during the pandemic, I had been reading a ton of young adult contemporary romance novels to help escape the real world’s chaos, and they inspired me to create something of my own. This ended up becoming my debut novel, The Steinfelds Throw a Winter Wedding.

I remember feeling like I was betraying what I thought was my true identity as a writer by trying another genre, mainly because I always thought I was more of an action-adventure, post-apocalyptic kind of girl. I had been raised on loving the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, and the Walking Dead. I believed that because I loved those so much and continued to love them as I got older, that post-apocalyptic, action-adventure, or fantasy had to be my genres of choice forever. But they had inspired me to create a novel that ultimately no longer excited me or felt like mine. I then remembered I had also been raised on Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Disney Channel sitcoms, and 1980s John Hughes movies. I can be equal parts rooting for Rick Grimes and watching the March sisters cry over Beth, but one part of that identity excited me so much more in terms of my writing compared to the other. I occasionally find myself questioning my own tastes, but it’s just who I’ve come to be. It took me seven months to finish the first draft of my debut young adult contemporary romance novel, versus three years for the post-apocalyptic project I set aside, which showed me all I needed to know about where my true passions were. For right now, young adult contemporary romance is the genre my writerly identity best aligns with.

If you’re on the fence about trying out a different genre because of how it may affect your identity as a writer, this is your sign to take the plunge. It may help you access a completely different side of yourself that you never truly realized was there before, or give the reassurance that you and your writing journey are finally exactly where they need to be.