Fuck your genre

I do not need to know my genre to write well. Hell, give me a basic plot: boy meets girl and boy looses girl due to a character flaw he obsesses about hiding. I could write that story for any genre. Genre means rules to meet the reader’s expectations. Romance to Sci-Fi to Fantasy, all those genres have constructs to define them in clear terms. Speculative and Fiction tend to blur.

What I am focusing on is writing well. Grammar, sentence structure, and words are the essentials to writing well (I almost put down “good writing”). Once I have a stronger grip, I’ll be able to build and form stories. Working out characters, settings, times, introductions, actions, climax, and resolutions will give me the keys to publishing in print.

Genre comes from my agent or editor; it may even come from the publisher. I don’t know. I haven’t made it that far. First, I have to interest someone in publishing my work. The only way to do that is to write well.

Besides, how can I ever be objectionable enough to judge my work? I have a hard enough time sifting through to clean it up. Shifting headspace to focus harder taxes my poor, cracked brain; dyslexia is hard enough. I can’t expend extra energy to dissect bookstore category for my work. And why would I do that when I haven’t even found someone who’s willing to publish me?