Genre Hopping: Yes or No?

Today I would like to briefly discuss something I've dubbed "Genre Hopping."

Basically, Genre Hopping means reading or writing different books in different genres. In case you're new and not familiar with how book genres work, here are a few examples I grabbed from a list online.

Fantasy

Adventure

Romance

Contemporary

Dystopian

Mystery

Horror

Thriller

Paranormal

Historical fiction

Science Fiction

Memoir

Cooking

Art

Self-help / Personal

Development

Motivational

Health

History

Travel

Guide / How-to

Families & Relationships

Humor

Children’s

Okay, that was more than a few examples, but you get the idea. Genres are just a way readers and writers and everybody else organize books into categories. 

Now sometimes people can fall into a "genre rut," meaning they either only read or only write one specific genre. There are various reasons for doing this.

Some authors write in a certain genre because that genre is particularly marketable. Some readers will stick to certain genres because those are the only type of books that can keep hold of their attention. I have a family member, for example, who will only read and reread a handful of books because they "have action happening in every sentence." If there's any downtime in the book, he's not having it. So naturally, he knows to stay away from cookbooks for example, since there isn't much action to be found among those pages. 

I've fallen into the occasional genre rut as a reader myself. Once I realized that I liked a certain genre, let's say fantasy, it was just easier to only browse the fantasy shelves in the library because I knew I had a higher chance of devoting my time to a book I would really enjoy as opposed to one that was just okay. A little while ago, however, I learned living in a genre rut could have its downsides as well. By only reading fantasy books, I was missing out on SO MUCH.

I came to this realization when I had the amazing opportunity to talk to a best-selling author recently. In preparation for our meeting, I decided it would be a good idea to read some of his work. The only problem, he wrote EXCLUSIVELY nonfiction books. Growing up, I can honestly say I never voluntarily read a nonfiction book. If it wasn't required for school, I pretty much wasn't interested. So, needless to say, I approached reading this author's books with the attitude of attending to a chore, something I hoped would be over quickly and checked off my list so I'd never have to do it again.

I read three of his works: one memoir, one study on human anatomy, and one book on the history of the universe. And can I just say, they BLEW MY MIND.

I read through them much faster than anticipated, learned a bunch of amazing new information, and laughed at this author's nonfiction humor more times than I've laughed during most of my favorite comedy movies.

The point here is that if I'd stuck to my original rut and refused to read anything outside the fantasy genre, I never would have discovered this amazing author and his work. By being willing to branch out a little, I opened myself up to an entire new genre's worth of material, since of course this experience has made me more open to reading nonfiction in the future.

This lesson can apply to writers as well, and again, it's something I have experienced personally. If you saw my last post, you might remember that I recently wrote a brand new book that in no way related to the fantasy series I had been working on for years. You can view that post here.

I wrote pretty much nothing but fantasy for my earliest novels, and that was due to the fact that I also read mostly fantasy. I basically wasn't comfortable writing in a different genre because I didn't feel I had the "reader's experience" to back it up. 

Well thankfully, I was able to break out of that rut with my latest novel, which is a historical fiction story that doesn't have a scrap of fantasy in it. And guess what, I actually had FUN writing it! Just because the book didn't fall into my genre rut, didn't mean I didn't love working on it. I am actually really proud of how it turned out and can't wait to start working on getting it published!

The research and characters and writing process were all so new and refreshing, it was like getting a writer's makeover. All the stress I had accumulated editing and re-editing and re-re-editing my fantasy books was completely washed away by the newness of writing in a different genre, and it was absolutely amazing.

So if you are stuck in a genre rut, either as a reader or as a writer, I would certainly recommend trying some Genre Hopping. Stretch your reader/writer muscles a little and dip your toes into some new genres. Even if you try something different and find it still isn't for you, that's OKAY. One of the great things about book genres, there are so many! I guarantee if you start branching into new genres, you WILL find one that tickles your fancy, and you'll be a stronger member of the literary community as a result.

Happy Hopping!